BacComber water treatment - pseudoscience?

[kaon]

Hi all,

Two of my premises still use these guys for water treatment of cooling towers. (roughly 4000 RT of cooling towers for water-cooled chillers)

Sounds suspiciously pseudo to me, and it is hard to gauge effectiveness, so probably the only reason we've stayed with them over the years is that they're cheaper than the traditional chemical methods of controlling scaling, corrosion and bacteria.

Any thoughts?

http://www.ecospec.com/new/faq.html

What is unique about the BacComber water treatment?
The BacComber water treatment system is a non-chemical technology that has proven results over the control of scaling, corrosion and microbiological growth including bacteria in cooling water and boiler applications. The ULF (ultra low frequency) technology efficiently addresses the scaling and corrosion issues, eliminating the use of any chemical dispersants and inhibitors. Efficient control of bacteria and algae growth is achieved without any microbiocides with the revolutionary Nano M+ emitters together with the ULF treatment.

What is the ULF treatment?
The treatment produces time-varying low frequency waves through a control unit causing water molecules and ions to be energized as they are recirculated in the inductor coil component.

How does the ULF Descaler provide effective scale control?
At a higher energy level of the water molecules, the increased solubility enables calcium and carbonate ions to remain in solution instead of forming into calcium carbonate hard scale, known as calcite. If any energized calcium ions manage to precipitate, they will form powdery aragonite instead of calcite. Unlike calcite, aragonite can be easily dislodged from surfaces and flushed away. The increased solubility also helps disintegrate existing scale in the system.

How does the ULF Magnetite Generator control corrosion?
The BacComber ULF Magnetite Generator energizes the oxygen ions and water molecules to promote the formation of magnetite, Fe3O4. Unlike common red rust, this black magnetite layer adheres strongly to the steel surface underneath the red rust, protecting the base steel from further corrosion. The black magnetite provides consistent, long-term protection for steel structures in the cooling system, as it is able to regenerate itself when damaged.

What is the Nano M+?
The Nano M+ technology encompasses the use of rare and precious metals like Palladium, Rhodium, Silver and Copper in controlled quantities for efficient disinfection purposes.

Is the Nano M+ treatment similar to chemical biocide control?
No. Oxidizing biocides is a strong corrosion agent whereas the M+ treatment does not contribute to any corrosive side-effects. The treatment discharges the M+ ions into the cooling water stream to achieve 2 functions-control the multiplying of bacteria and alter the DNA of the bacteria, killing it effectively. With a consistently low level of bacteria count, slime and biofilm produced as a bacteria byproduct becomes non-existent. Algae control is drastically effective as well.

[Randy S.]

You'll need a solids separator to deal with the crud that drops out of the water, usually in the tower sump. Towers with a V shaped sump will work better because the solids are more easily removed. They'll need to be drained or periodically circulated during the off season. The best ones I've seen are in systems that operate 24/7/365.

I've seen some of this electronic mumbo-jumbo kinda sorta work, and mostly fail miserably.

Get a tube cleaning machine, too.

[slimwoodie]

best indicator ..

head pressure, and the bottom of the pond ....

oh, and getta tube cleaning machine, too ...