Method of tracing corrosive materials

Abstract

A method of using an inert fluorescent tracer in an industrial water system wherein the water of said industrial water system contains a certain amount of a corrosive material, is described and claimed, as is a method of using an inert fluorescent tracer to trace the corrosive material itself. Combinations of inert fluorescent tracers in corrosive materials are also described and claimed.

Description

FIELD OF INVENTION [0001] This invention is in the field of industrial water systems. Specifically, this invention is in the field of the use of fluorescent tracers in the water of an industrial water system where significant amounts of a corrosive material are present. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Industrial water systems exist so that necessary chemical, mechanical and biological processes can be conducted to reach the desired outcome. Industrial water systems include the following: cooling water systems, including open recirculating, closed and once-through cooling water systems; boilers and boiler water systems; petroleum wells, downhole formations, geothermal wells and other oil field applications; mineral process waters including mineral washing, flotation and benefaction; paper mill digesters, washers, bleach plants and white water systems; black liquor evaporators in the pulp industry; gas scrubbers and air washers; continuous casting processes in the metallurgical ind...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0012] 3) providing a fluorometer capable of detecting the fluorescent signal of said inert fluorescent tracer, wherein said fluorometer has a sample cell that corrosive materials can be placed in without rendering the sample cell unusable;

[0020] (d) providing a fluorometer capable of detecting the fluorescent signal of said inert fluorescent tracer, wherein said fluorometer has a sample cell that corrosive materials can be placed in without rendering the sample cell unusable;

Problems solved by technology

A limitation of these control methods is that none of these systems measure the treatment product concentration directly online, so if there is a mechanical problem, for example, if a pump fails, a drum empties, or high, low or unknown blowdown occurs, system volume changes or makeup water quality changes; the correct treatment product concentration is not maintained.

Because this problem is common, cooling tower systems are typically either overfed with treatment product to ensure the level of treatment product in the system does not drop too low as a result of high variability in product dosage or the treatment product is unknowingly underfed.

Both overfeeding and underfeeding of treatment product are undesirable due to cost and performance drawbacks.

A known difficulty with the use of inert fluorescent tracers in industrial water systems is the susceptibility of some of them to degradation of their fluorescent signal upon contact, for a sufficient length of time, with corrosive materials.