Slightly OT - Looking for a rust inhibitor

Hi Group,

I have a question about water additives to eliminate rust.

At work, we have a water tank, (1500 gallons) which is used to cool a large stationary engine. The tank is in a small room, open to the atmosphere, and an external pump supplies water from the tank to cool the engine, then returned to the tank. Combining the large volume of water, and the limited use of the engine, the water temperature is never raised about 130F or so. We use a simple water filter inline to give some measure of filtering, but over time the water does get a bit of a rust buildup on the tank floor. Is there some sort of water additive that will eliminate rust? The obvious choice is some sort of automotive anti-freeze solution I suppose, but did not know if there was something out there for the larger water volume we are dealing with.

The water is changed annually, but we do not want to have any toxic additives that would not allow the water to be discharged into the parking yard behind the shop.

Any ideas out there? All positive comments welcome!

Ryan

Reply to
Ryan
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Ryan Sounds like you're looking for central heating inhibitor, Fernox may do something suitable. Martin.

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Reply to
Martin Whybrow

Cooling water treatment is critical to engine life and you should be using the type and concentration recommended by the engine manufacturer. Cooling water treatment does more than just prevent rust in the engine and piping, it protects the engine components from cavitation and corrosion and helps to ensure proper heat extraction. Contact the engine manufacturer or nearest dealer for details.

If the tank is showing signs of rust and/or corrosion just imagine what is going on inside the poor engine.

Rick

Reply to
Rick

What's a "stationary engine" ? Modern or old ? What pressure is this system running at ?

The additives of interest would be either domestic hot water inhibitors, like Fernox, or vehicle antifreeze. Fernox is good for low-temperature atmospheric presure systems with lots of cast iron (old engines and hopper cooling). If there's a pump, a sealed system, or aluminium components, then go with a vehicle antifreeze.

If toxicity is a concern, then use a propylene glycol antifreeze, not an ethylene glycol. You can often buy this from farm shops, as it's non toxic for dairy herds (cows just love the sweet smell of glycol and will cross a yard to lick up spills). I don't see why you need to replace it all every year either.

-- Die Gotterspammerung - Junkmail of the Gods

Reply to
Andy Dingley

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