Archive for September, 2010

Point of Entry Filters (POE) vs. Point of Use Filters (POU)

Thursday, September 30th, 2010

In many commercial applications, several water filters, including those which are dedicated to specific pieces of machinery, are needed. In these cases, individual filters, known as “point of use” (POU) water filters are located inline just before the water is dispersed or enters the machinery for which the water is intended.

As POU filters are usually application specific, they can be tailored to the needs of the user, and are often used in place of a generic reverse osmosis system. This fact makes a standard POU water filter easier to maintain, but usually more expensive. Because of this, it behooves the business owner to take measures against the premature degradation of the POU water filter. The easiest way to accomplish this is to install a “point of entry” (POE) water filter.

POE water filters perform water filtration for the entire commercial water service. They are responsible for purifying the water supply to all faucets, pieces of machinery, and toilets. The advantage of this approach to water filtration is first that only one system must be purchased for an entire service, and second, that it greatly improves the life of any other filters present down-line.

The most popular POE filters used are either sediment prefilters, or carbon filters.

  • Sediment filters are responsible for removing sediment that can clog softeners, prematurely foul carbon filters, or ruin the down-line plumbing. In addition, they reduce TDS (total dissolved solids) or many other harmful chemicals like nitrate, nitrites, etc.
  • Carbon filters are effective for certain trouble water conditions such as bad taste or odor.

Still other POE filters are designed as an entire system. These units typically employ a four-stage filtration process. The first stage of filtration removes sediment in the water that may clog the filter, reducing its effectiveness. The second stage uses a chemical process called water atomization to alter the molecular structure of chlorine and turn it into the harmless molecule, zinc chloride. The third and fourth stages of filtration involve activated carbon filters to filter pesticides, and other harmful chemicals.

By removing chlorine and other harmful chemicals at the point-of-entry, the whole service is provided with cleaner, healthier water at a reduced cost to the business owner. Pre-filters are typically much less expensive than down-line, application specific filters, making their replacement cheaper than that of the filters the POE filter is saving.

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Canadian Company Pioneers Oil-Separation Technology

Saturday, September 25th, 2010

News stories this year have brought the issue of oil contamination of water to the forefront for even the least interested of parties.  In fact, the recovery process since the Deepwater Horizon oil platform explosion on April 20th of this year was the top story of nearly every 5 o’clock news program around the country for several months.  Questions of how best to contain the spill, cap the well, and clean up the gulf have been especially important as we attempt to ascertain the true effects of the contamination on our seas and ocean life.  So far, no one seems to have a “magic bullet.”

That all may change however, as a new oil and water separation technology, pioneered by Canada’s Cancen Oil and Wescorp Energy, Inc. has been showing some promising results.  Still in its preliminary stages of testing, the “H2Omaxx” system is outperforming even its creators’ expectations.  “We are very pleased with the preliminary results from the unit’s operation,” said Cancen CEO Keith Talbot, “H2Omaxx has been effectively processing a wide variety of waste streams from the Alberta oil sands, which are considered to be some of the dirtiest and most difficult water to clean in the oil industry.  H20maxx is successfully cleaning produced water — which contained in excess of 25% oil and 10% solids and also contained asphaltines and grease — to new, higher levels once thought unattainable with conventional methods.”

The H2Omaxx system utilizes tiny bubbles of nitrogen gas – ranging from one micron down to a nanometer – to lift oil droplets to the surface of a holding tank that can then be skimmed off.

While still in its initial phase of testing, the unit is showing promising results that both its creators and onlookers alike can’t help but “wonder if” could be signs of prospective application outside of oil sands.  Wescorp has designed the H2Omaxx technology unit in a variety of sizes, including a mobile unit and commercial units.  With the ability to process up to 65,000 barrels a day, the commercial unit could certainly be used in an oil cleanup situation.

The oil spill is long from gone.  In fact, nearly 25% of the oil calculated to have exited the well over the last 4 months is sitting nearly a mile under the surface of the ocean in a 22 mile-long strip.  Hopefully, with the help of technologies like the H2Omaxx, we can reclaim our oceans for the environment.

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Hydroblend Cuts Long-Run Costs

Tuesday, September 14th, 2010

For applications in which water is heated past its boiling point, it is advisable to employ measures designed to reduce the level of lime and other minerals in the water service to safeguard against scale buildup in water boilers. Such buildup can lead to machinery damage, and if left unaddressed, failure.

While the most common example of applications in which this is a concern is the brewing of coffee and other fine coffee beverages, the filtration of, and control of scale in, water used in steam equipment is extremely important. Because each piece of steam machinery, such as those used in the food service industry, by definition contains a boiler in which water is heated past its boiling point, harmful scale buildup will result if water used is not appropriately treated.

There are two popular methods of addressing the presence of scale in a water supply, depending on whether scale has already formed or not. They are:

Polyphosphate Granules

Generally used to clean boilers which have already suffered an amount of scale buildup, polyphosphate granules, such as Everpure’s proprietary formula “ScaleKleen,” remove limescale quickly, easily, and safely in an environmentally friendly manner from OCS brewers, steam, warewashing, and other equipment. Because activated citric acid is the typically the primary ingredient in these non-toxic blends, they are safer to skin and won’t burn clothing like conventional deliming acids. In addition, they are sewer system disposable, so you can pour it down the drain.

Hydroblend Scale Sticks

“Hydroblend” scale sticks are the second component of a two-stage water filter designed by Everpure. Scale inhibitor feeders (scale sticks) reduce scale inline by dispensing a controlled amount of Hydroblend, a sophisticated blend of polyphosphate compound which inhibits scale. As such, scale sticks present in dual-filter systems designed for OCS brewers, steam, warewashing, and other applications significantly reduce scale inline, effectively preventing scale from ever forming.

While both methods are used in modern commercial settings, each approach has its advantages. Polyphosphates have been used in the prevention of mineral scale and corrosion control for years as a cost-effective method of controlling scale within a water supply. Hydroblend products on the other hand, are comparatively new, and marginally more expensive. There are however, several advantages. Hydroblend products are:

  • 100% active, so there is no residual product left over.
  • specifically designed to provide mineral scale prevention and corrosion control in high temperature and high hardness applications, while phosphate granules are not.
  • designed to ensure that the product feed rate is consistent over predictable time periods.
  • available in various configurations allowing it application to many different processes.

Regardless of which approach is used, it is important to monitor and control scale levels within a water supply. Doing so will prevent costly repairs and possible replacements.

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