Zeta Rod Blog

US Army Corps of Engineers Publishes Report on Cooling Tower Water Conservation Using Zeta Rod

The US Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research & Development Center (USACE-ERDC) has been evaluating the Zeta Rod for over four years at four different military bases. 

The main purpose of the evaluation was to be able to determine whether the Zeta Rod could help reduce the amount of water used by evaporative cooling systems in order to meet the water conservation requirements set by Executive Order 13423 while maintaing proper levels of protection against scaling, corrosion and biofouling. 

The first phase to the project was done at Davis Monthan AFB and Fort Huachuca in AZ. The full report has been published by the USACE. 

The results encouraged the USACE to expand the project and include two more bases: Warner Robins AFB in Georgia, and Ft Irwin in California. These two bases were selected given the quality of their water. W-Robins water is extremely soft and corrosive by nature whereas Ft. Irwin's water is extremely hard and with a very high potential for scaling. Davis Monthan and Ft Huachuca's water fall in between these two and remained as part of the project.

The 2-year second phase is scheduled to end in August of 2011 and a final report will be available by December 2011 or January 2012. 

In the meantime, the USACE-ERDC has already been publishing the results from this project. In their website they have published a paper titled: "Electronic treatment reduces water, chemical use in evaporative cooling systems." 

The USACE-ERDC also gave a presentation in the 2011 USACE Infrastructure Systems Conference in Atlanta, GA. Download Non-Chemical Treatment of Cooling Water - Beitelman .

For more information on how can the Zeta Rod help meet water conservation targets in Federal Buildings or help with LEED credits, contact Zeta Corporation at (888) 785-9660.

 

 

US Army Corps of Engineers' Engineer Research & Development Center Reports 20% Water Savings in Cooling Towers with Zeta Rod

From July 2007 to September 2008 the US Army Corps of Engineers' Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC)conducted an independent and thorough comparative study between the Zeta Rod and a conventional chemical water treatment program for cooling towers. Two sites were chosen for the study, Davis Monthan AFB in Tucson, and Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista, AZ.

The study looked at corrosion, scale and biofouling control as the parameters to be used as the metric to evaluate both programs, however, the ERDC had a special interest in water saving capabilities in order to meet requirements set by Executive Order 13423 regarding water conservation. 

This study was also the launching platform for the Zeta Water Management System, which allows remote control, data logging and monitoring of a cooling tower.

The Abstract of the report reads:

 The United States Department of Defense (DoD) has a specific legislative mandate to increase its conservation of water and energy. It also is interested in improving the effectiveness of open-loop, cooling water treatment processes at its installations worldwide, for purposes of extending the useful life of evaporative cooling equipment and reducing energy use/costs. A Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) was approved to demonstrate that, without using chemical additives, a capacitor-based water treatment system is capable of (1)providing equivalent protection to a chemical treatment program in preventing scale, corrosion, and bio-fouling; (2) allowing cooling systems to be operated in an enhanced water conservation mode; (3) delivering measurable reductions in water usage over conventional methods; and (4)providing control, monitoring, and wireless data transfer via the Internet.

Results documented in the subsequent demonstration and evaluation project showed the technology was able to meet every objective and also was able to deliver a 20% reduction in cooling water use over standard chemical treatment methods.

Application of this technology would allow the DoD to (1) reduce chemical usage, exposure, and disposal expenses; (2) conserve water and energy; (3) facilitate water re-use; and (4) meet new goals for conservation of resources.

The complete report can be read and downloaded by going to the following link.

 

Zeta Corporation & Lakewood Instruments Work Together for Wireless Solution

Last year we started a 12 month demonstration of the Zeta Rod at two undisclosed military facilities in a two cooling towers. The purpose of the trial was to demonstrate that the Zeta Rod was capable of delivering the same level of protection as a conventional chemical treatment program for corrosion contro, scale control and biofouling. On top of that, the Zeta Rod was going to be evaluated for its ability to help the military conserve water.

One of the requirements that were set upon Zeta Corporation was that of remote monitoring and data downloading of the equipment used during the trial and we were asked to do this via wireless communication, for we did not have access to a land line nor an Internet connection at either site.

The water treatment part of the demonstration was no problem for us, for we had done that many times before. However, the remote monitoring and control via a wireless system proved to be much more complicated than we anticipated.

We had worked with Lakewood Instruments controllers before and knew of their reliability and good service and support so we asked them if they had anything of this sort. Last year we were told that they had something that could be used with a land line modem but not with a wireless modem, but that they were working on one.

Finally late this spring, Lakewood delivered a complete and fully integrated remote monitoring and control communications package that allows us not only to collect and see the data at each location in a real time fashion, but it also gives us complete control of the controllers from anywhere in the world. This capability of complete control of the system has already been useful in a couple of occasions.

Seen below is the entire control, data-logging and communications system installed at one of the testing locations.

We are currently monitoring the conductivity of the water, the Zeta Rod Power Supply high voltage output, real time corrosion, make up and blow down volumes.

This is the screen of the remote monitoring software.  

With the software developed by Lakewood, we can keep track of trends in the different parameters being monitores to look out for any anomaly in the system and be able to respond in a timely manner in case of any problems.

And by the way, yes, the Zeta Rod has been able to maintain corrosion levels on par with those obtained through a corrosion inhibitor, lower bacteria counts than those obtained with biocides, as good scale control as that obtained with anti-scalants and significant water conservation in the towers (Zeta treated towers are operating at 6 cycles of concentration based on make up to blow down ratio, Vs 3 cycles maintained in the chemically treated towers).

We wish to extend our appreciation to Lakewood Instruments for their continuing support in delivering a high quality product that meets our standards and the high expectations of our customers.   

Zeta Rod Brings Water Savings to Shopping Center Down Under

Brisbane, Australia. January 2008.

Brisbane is currently going through a severe drought and Australian authorities are applying strict water restrictions throughout several of the Australian Territories.

Zeta Corporation's working partner in Australia, H2O PurePlus got a contract from the Toombull Shopping Center in Brisbane to provide non-chemical protection to the cooling towers that provide cooling year round to the mall.

In January o 2008 Kevin Venville (in photo) - President of H2O PurePlus-, and Rodrigo Romo - Vice President of Engineering of Zeta Corporation - supervised the final installation and commissioning of a Zeta Rod System and a remote monitoring system designed by H2O PurePlus.

With the installation of the Zeta Rod and H2O PurePlus's technology, the shopping center will eliminate the use of chemicals in their cooling tower and will reduce the amount of water being discharged to the sewer, contributing in this way to Brisbane's water conservation policies. 

In this picture one can see the Zeta Rod Power Supply Model ZRPGM next to H2O PurePlus' remote monitonring system. With this system, H2O Pureplus can monitor at any time the conditions of the system and ensure that proper protection is being provided to the chillers, towers and pipes.

One of the chillers at the Toombull shopping center. Three Zeta Rod electrodes are installed in this system: one in the condenser water supply to each one of the two chillers and one in the main condenser water return pipe. The electrodes are all powered by a ZRPGM Power Supply.

Congratulations to Kevin and his H2O PurePlus Team on a job well done!