Hard water scale problem solved for Cotto Tiles
18 May 2010
London – Cotto Tiles, part of TCC (Thai Cement Co.), manufactures a range of building products including moulded ceramic tiles. The moulds are cooled with local town mains water which is very hard and has caused significant problems on the company’s production process.
Over the years, Cotto Tiles has tried chemical additives and a range of electronic and wrap-around water conditioners, but nothing was able to stop a 10mm build up of scale in the pipes which reduced the water flow. It was also effecting production as moulds could not cool properly.
Fluid Dynamics International of Taplow, Bucks, UK, identified oil in the system and proposed a radical solution combining two of its technologies: Magstream and Colloid-A-Tron.
Its prototype MagstreamPlus uses very powerful magnets that are encased in poleheads manufactured out of the same metal that is used for the catalytic core of its Colloid-A-Tron. The calcium carbonate particles which are formed when hard water is heated remain in suspension after this magnetic treatment instead of precipitating as scale on pipework and heat transfer surfaces. It also gradually removes existing scale.
The MagstreamPlus was installed on a trial basis for 137 days and was then removed for inspection under the supervision of TCC’s Chief Engineer. It was soon obvious that the system was having a considerable effect on the system: the scale thickness had decreased from 10mm to 3mm and, in some places, the bare metal was visible.
Following the trial, Cotto Tiles re-installed the unit and ordered several more for other parts of the factory. TCC is now considering installing MagstreamPlus units across their various sites around south east Asia.
