For years, Cortec Corp. (St. Paul, Minnesota, USA) has served the water treatment industry by providing effective and easy-to-use treatments to prevent corrosion during the layup of boilers, cooling towers, and closed loop systems.
As restrictions on the use and disposal of chemicals such as molybdate leave water treatment specialists with fewer options, Cortec has recently developed a molybdate-free version of Cooling Loop Gator, which is the group’s corrosion inhibitor to preserve idle cooling loop systems.
According to the company, Cooling Loop Gator MF offers simple, safe, easy, and effective corrosion protection for cooling water systems during seasonal, short-term, or long-term layup. This is a critical time when idle equipment is at higher risk of corrosion, which can shorten an asset’s life and complicate startup operations.
While the standard industry practice has been to simply shut down a system and drain its water, this process leaves cooling system internals vulnerable to a problem that could be easily mitigated by applying Cooling Loop Gator MF, the company explains.
According to Cortec, the inhibitor is non-hazardous and non-irritating while being free of nitrites, phosphates, and chromates. Workers can throw these water-soluble bags directly into the cooling water and circulate the water for about 12 to 24 hours to obtain a good protective layer before shutting down.
Once the bag and powder dissolve, the vapor-phase corrosion inhibitors adsorb on all metal surfaces, thereby reaching recessed areas and interior cavities to form a strong molecular layer that protects metals above and below the water’s surface.
After application, the water can either be drained out (flushing application) or left inside (wet layup). All valves should be covered, closed, and shut off to keep protective vapors within the system.
Benefits of the inhibitor technology include the following:
- Meets increasing molybdate restrictions and eliminates other environmental hazard and disposal problems;
- Protects multi-metals, including galvanized steel and yellow metals (copper, brass);
- Protects inaccessible and recessed surfaces;
- Does not need to be removed prior to startup;
- Reduces chemical consumption and cost upon startup;
- Increases worker productivity and safety.
With Cooling Loop Gator MF, water treatment specialists can experience revolutionary benefits in corrosion protection while measuring up to tighter molybdate restrictions in certain areas, the manufacturer concludes.
Source: Cortec Corp., www.cortecvci.com.