Closed loop hydronic lots of solids

[bigwilly104]

I Have a system that is called a reheat hydronic system for building heating and cooling. It has a Laars 1million BTU boiler with a boiler loop pump. This drops onto a large loop with one grundfoss pump. The building has small coils throughout that heat air to diferant zones as needed. The problem is I am getting a large amount of solids in the system. They clog up my strainers at the coils and the main strainer on the roof. I also am loosing pump berings and seals way to fast. the water is running at 180 Deg. F. I have had the water tested by Nu-Calgon many times and they just suggest using their Ty-lon B20 treatment this is a Nitrite Borax corrosion inhibitor. I have treated as they suggested. The pumps are steal failing and I still have sollids in my strainers. there is very little steel in the system just the boiler, two pumps, the strainer, the air seperator, and the triple duty valve. The solid looks like flakey dirt when it first comes out wet, as it dries it becomes like a fine sand. Is there a way to get the solid tested to tell me if it is somthing that is coming in with the make up water. If I don't find a solution soon I will loose the contract this is a constant problem. Any advice would be nice.

 

[quark]

It can be rusting or there may be silica in the system. You may also have microbial induced corrosion if the sludge is gelatenous. Be in touch with two treatment people and give samples to both for suitable suggestion of treatment. Compare both the guys and you will have facts in hand.

 

[stanlsimon]

One source of crud in the piping is well water. Wells can pump "microsand" particles into make-up water.
Another source is introduced during the construction phase when pipes sit around outside. The foreign matter is not destroyed but simply circulates.

They make separator and filtration systems designed for hydronic systems, I had an apartment building that had crud in the pipes, they fought it by draining and refilling for years. After installing the centrifugal separator the problem went away.

 

[monaco8774]

You could try getting the solids tested in a lab, you can use XRD (X-Ray diffraction) techniques to tell you exactly what they. However to know how much of them you have in solution you will need a water sample aswell and get that fully tested for dissolved solids content.