 |
 |
| To make hard water soft it is necessary to remove the Calcium ions in solution and this is normally done with a water Softener using salt. Here, the Sodium ions in the salt (NaCl) are exchanged for Calcium ions in the water. This process is known as "ion exchange". Many people however because of the cost, plumbing requirements and addition of chemicals now favour the preferred method of hard water treatment ELECTRONIC ! - treating the water with a selection of low frequency electro-magnetic radio waves.
By coiling aerials around the cold water feed to the boiler or chiller heat exchanger, a series of very low frequency radio frequencies can be induced electronically into the water. This effect runs in BOTH DIRECTIONS in the body of the water and causes the bonding together of tiny impurities. Now, when the cold water is heated, the Calcium and Carbonate ions in solution use these clusters as nuclei for crystal formation instead of the normal deposit areas such as heating elements. The reason for this is that the total surface area of the clusters is so vast that they become the preferred alternative for crystal seeding. The result is water in which the Calcium and Carbonate ions have deposited out to form what can be likened to "chalk dust" in the body of the water. These tiny crystals remain in suspension and do not form deposits although they can form a white sludge at the bottom of a tank if the water is static. Once this "chalk dust" has been formed, the surrounding water is now much softer although there will still be some free Calcium ions so the water cannot claim to be totally soft...just softer. The softer water causes Lime scale to now gradually break down and eventually even the most scaled up appliance will become free of scale. |
Strangely enough, the amount of energy required to achieve this conditioning effect is quite small and the skill is in producing a sharp clean square wave. Little Plumber employs a specially designed digitally enhanced circuit to produce an extremely efficient range of square waves with low power consumption. There is simply no need to produce huge voltage outputs to achieve excellent results.
SUMMARY: Hard water is caused by dissolved Calcium ions in the water which precipitate out as limescale. Normal methods of treatment including ion exchange have now been largely superseded by the electronic method, which causes the Calcium to seed out in the body of the water. Applications Boilers Blankets of scale around heating elements block effective heat transfer and flow. Dissolving it automatically will save significant heating energy and the need for periodical manual cleaning. Chiller Heat Exchanger Dissolving scales with the following advantage : " No pressure drop induced. " No intrusion into to existing pipe works. " No problems with notched condenser tubes. " No media replacement cost. " No water spills. " Low installation cost. " Trial installation available. |