Condenser descaling chemical ?

[licensed to chill]

Got a Carrier 30HX with a severely scaled condenser tubes(Heavy silica)
Was told to use AMMONIUM BIFLUORIDE.

Anybody have any experience with this chemical?
How many lbs per gallons?

[Healey Nut]

Employ the services of a suitable company to do the descaling for you .
The chemicals used for descaling are nasty evil s&%@, plus if you do it wrong you can do even more damage than there already is . If they do it wrong its not your fault .
Show them the chiller tell em have at er and stand back and watch .

[JEF1980]

Rydlyme works great and you can put it down drain when your done.

[licensed to chill]

I have descaled dozens of chillers so being around chemicals is nothing new.
Due to neglected water treatment standard chemicals like rydlyme will not work. We contacted water treatment co. and was recommended the specific chemical listed above.

Just curious if anybody has used it before.

[Octopus]

I like to ask our treatment guy about it but am I incorrect in thanking that TSP dissolved silica,

[nique]

wow and I thought rydlym worked for everything. once had a cement truck driver dump his leftover in the cooling tower (never did get the explanation) anyway it filled two chillers. ran the rydlym and good to go, must be the lym in the cement.

[Russ57]

Silica is tough. I would farm it out too. First time you eat up a condenser you will wish you had. Stuff happens....power fails and pumps burn up in the middle of the night when nobody is around to notice.

But yes, the chemical you list is one of the ones you will need. There are others and I assume copper tubes. If so then you are looking at something that needs to be disposed of properly as it is a hazardous waste.

Silica is tough enough that it could actually be cheaper to retube/replace condenser bundle.

[milkyway]

wow and I thought rydlym worked for everything. once had a cement truck driver dump his leftover in the cooling tower (never did get the explanation) anyway it filled two chillers. ran the rydlym and good to go, must be the lym in the cement.

WHAT !!!!!
Cement truck did what, really?

[nique]

Ya like I said I never did get the explanation but oh what a mess. It was a dang good thing all the screens were in place to stop all the gravel. It was kind of funny at first cause we had just brushed the tubes and all of the son the tubes are fouled. We obviously blamed the chemical guy. It wasn’t till we pulled the screens and found all the gravel that we started putting the pieces together. Good part is they got it on camera.

[ICanHas]

ammonium bifluoride works by releasing HF, which dissolves glass and silicates. One of the most dangerous chemicals out there.

HF is not your ordinary acid. That thing is crazy dangerous. It goes through your skin and if you get enough on you, it takes you out by systematic fluoride poisoning.

If you're doing artistic glass etching on the table, its not a huge deal, but industrial cooling tower cleaning involves enough quantity of HF for this hazard.

[Stohr]

I've used scale dissolver from united. It changes color as you are flushing it so you know when it's done and neutralized. I think the ratio is 3 parts water 1 part dissolver. It comes with litmus paper as well.

[ICanHas]

Scale dissolving is much the same, EXCEPT when it comes to silicates.
They're usually a mix of organic acids like oxalic and citric.

Highly concentrated phosphoric acid and caustic soda can dissolve silicate too, but they also aggressively attack aluminum, zinc and brass.

Get the MSDS. If it says hydrogen fluoride/hydrofluoric acid or its derivative like ammonium bifluoride, I would avoid it and hire a specialist. That chit is extreme poison.

[hw chiller man]

I service a refrigeration unit in a plant that makes HF acid. You absolutely do not want to come into contact with that stuff, If I could show you video of an HF acid burn, you would run, not walk away from the stuff.

[Russ57]

And this is why I said the job needs to be farmed out. This is not at all like dealing with normal scale.

[eurotech]

Dynamic Descaler ® is the trade name for a revolutionary liquid descaler that rapidly dissolves all water scale and lime plus it removes mud, rust, and other non-soluble sedimentation deposits safely and effectively.
***Advantage:
- High efficience, safe for equipment, cost savings
- Fast. Equipment is cleaned within a few hours.
- High inhibited - Non corrosive with superior corrosion inhibitors. Your equipment will not be harmed!
- It is safe to be used on Steel, Iron, Brass, Copper, Plastic, Rubber and other materials found in most water cooler and heated equipment
- Clean the complicated systems, non-installation or move the equipment
- Return non-scaling surface and operate as original status
- High-power descaling
- Save time, money, reduces energy.
- Extend the lifespan of your equipment
***Environmentally friendly, safe to humans
- Readily Biodegradable - SGS Certificate
- Non-chemical for cancer - SGS Certificate
eurotech.vn/dynamic-descaler-152.html

[R123]

This is a 5 year old thread. I'm sure he got it cleaned up by now. Are you a salesman for this stuff?

[stanbyyourword]

haha

[Healey Nut]

Are you a salesman for this stuff?

What was your first clue

[LlamaFan]

Only issue with rydelime is if there isnt enough calcium in the scale it isnt useful against silicates. I am not sure of the exact % that is required though, I know we had sent the test results to the rdyleime guy who told us it would work for our situation.