Field Validation of Electrochemical Water Filtration System on Open Loop Cooling Towers at Automotive Plants

Technical Report · Mon Sep 09 04:00:00 EDT 2024

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/2565278· OSTI ID:2565278

Earni, Shankar ^[1]; Pevzner, Amy ^[1]; Karki, Unique ^[1]; Rao, Prakash ^[1]; Charland, Ross ^[1]; Weissert, Josh ^[1]

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1. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Open loop cooling towers play a pivotal role in rejecting heat for chilled water systems serving industrial processes, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning loads. Exposure to outside conditions can present certain operating challenges to system performance including scaling, corrosion, and biological growth. These issues are mitigated through the use of effective cooling tower water filtration and treatment systems to reduce contaminants—along with other total suspended solids (TSS) and total dissolved solids (TDS)—in the system. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office is interested in an electrochemical-based filtration system with the ability to remove TSS particulate down to 1 micron. The removal of finer particulates reduces the need for blowdown and, in turn, makeup water use and chemical treatment in the cooling tower. Additionally, the removal process can reduce fouling at the condensers, resulting in better heat exchange and energy savings. Two Industrial Technology Validation program projects validated the electrochemical water filtration system at the Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Mississippi plant in Blue Springs, Mississippi, and the Nissan Canton Vehicle Assembly Plant in Canton, Mississippi. Researchers found that installation of both systems resulted in water and chemical treatment savings with minimal impact on energy use.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Industrial Efficiency & Decarbonization Office (IEDO)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-05CH11231
• OSTI ID: 2565278
• Report Number(s): DOE-EE--2933; ark:/13030/qt96g45150
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION