Posted to News on 18th Jul 2016, 16:25
AquaDART: automatic chemical dosing for water systems
NCH Europe is launching aquaDART, a package of fluorescent traced water treatment products and monitoring equipment designed to accurately control the chemical dosing of water systems in industrial applications including food manufacturing, continuous production environments, commercial buildings and facilities.
Short for Direct Analysis Response Technology (DART), aquaDART continuously monitors and adjusts the water treatment programme to ensure industrial water-cooling systems stay free of rust, corrosion, mineral scale and microbiological contamination.
The system works in combination with fluorescent dyes to precisely maintain dosing levels within tight control parameters. Each chemical inhibitor used in the dosing regimen contains dyes in trace amounts (ppb level), making it invisible to the naked eye.
An in-line fluorometer uses a beam of light to excite the fluorescent dye molecules, causing them to emit light at different wavelengths. Based on the intensity of the remitted light, the system can adjust the feed rate automatically to control the concentration of inhibitor present in the cooling water.
Dr Simona Vasilescu, of the Water Treatment Innovation Platform at NCH Europe explains: "Accurate dosing of water cooling systems has traditionally been a bug bear for many plant and facilities managers. Traditional inhibitors can be hard to control at the right levels, firstly because system dynamics can vary greatly between applications and, secondly, because most inhibitors are not easy to test for. Over feeding the product can result in high operational costs and under feeding can result in aggressive corrosion or instant scale deposition.
"We developed the aquaDART system to automatically measure the concentration and make micro adjustments in real time. To make it even more powerful, the system offers remote monitoring and control software that can alert the operator if the inhibitor level is too high or low. Optimised dosing reduces operating costs, enables better compliance and gives peace of mind."
The aquaDART system uses a controller with a fluorometer probe as standard. However, the system is also compatible with other probes designed to measure pH, conductivity and Oxidation Reduction Potential (Redox).
Facilities and business managers who want to take control of their water treatment programmes can book a site survey. More information about aquaDART can be found at www.ncheurope.com/en.
