Cooling Water Modeling

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WaterCycle Walkabout
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Since it's release in 1990, WaterCycle® and the Rx family have quickly become the international standard in cooling water modeling and treatment software.

From predicting scale and corrosion, formulating new products, to even global marketing campaigns (corporate licensing), WaterCycle has revolutionized how water is treated and how treatment chemicals are sold.

Using WaterCycle, users are able to quickly input a complete water analysis (in whichever analytical units they choose), thoroughly troubleshoot scale and corrosion, then find a dosage of appropriate scale and corrosion inhibitors.

WaterCycle uses an ion association model to extend the applicable ionic strength for calculations, and to provide consistent, reproducible indices for common, and not so common, scale forming species.

WaterCycle's different modules give treatment specialists the ability to model scale, corrosion, and inhibitor dosages over their entire operating range, any range of pH or concentration.  The saturation index and color coded visual aids show exactly where chemistry becomes questionable and where treatment is needed.

Descriptive Tables

WaterCycle's greatest strength is translating sophisticated, PhD level chemistry into easily understandable graphs and tables a novice water treater with one semesters of 101 Level University Chemistry can understand.

During an analysis, a tremendous amount of information is produced.  A water treatment provider can dive into the numbers and thoroughly review the chemistry and when changes occur. 

Visual Aids

If in a crunch or in need of a simpler way to follow the results, users can choose from a number of 2D and 3D color coded graphs, each highlighting a separate or similar feature in your system's operating range.

Fool proof your reports and treatment recommendations with two-dimensional graphs. 2D color coded graphs display chemistry in a more concise medium.

The color coding allows users to pinpoint at what concentration/cycle, pH or temperature a specific scale or index predicts scale - after just a quick glance at the screen.

Take your reporting a step further and select the "Common Foulants" group to display four graphs at once featuring Calcite, Silica, Calcium phosphate and Anhydrite saturation levels (French Creek's ion association saturation index).

Three-dimensional graph's present three different variables over a selected range of pH, concentration, temperature, or saturation.

Graph's are color coded to show where treatment is needed or a treatment's limits.

Zeroing in on a specific range is simple.  With a few clicks and keystrokes, adjust the parameters you want for a narrower or broader view.

Scale prediction

WaterCycle calculates a wide range of scale forming species, from typical Calcium carbonate to scales only present under certain conditions like Barium.

See where a particular scale will form in your system and at what specific parameters using French Creek's Calculation Engine, powered by an ion association model

WaterCycle models the following saturation levels using French Creek's powerful ion association model.

• Calcite
• Aragonite
• Calcium oxalate
• Anhydrite
• Gypsum
• Fluorite
• Tricalcium phosphate
• Hydroxyapatite
• Ca pyrophosphate
• Amorphus Silicate
• Brucite
• Magnesium Silicate
• Iron hydroxide
• Strengite
• Siderite
• Zinc hydroxide
• Zinc carbonate
• Trizinc pyrophosphate

Other indices calculated by WaterCycle

Langelier Saturation Index
Ryznar Stability Index
Practical (Puckorius) Scale Index
Larson-Skold Corrosivity Index

Corrosion modeling

WaterCycle Rx (premium editions) include a module for modeling corrosion rates. 

WaterCycle uses a combination of laboratory, field and experiential data in its corrosion module.

Very similar to WaterCycle's scale prediction functions, the corrosion module evaluates a system under varying conditions to determine the impact of operating parameter changes (e.g. acid feed, concentration ratio, pH) upon water corrosivity and corrosion inhibitor requirements.

WaterCycle comes with a model for 1010 Carbon Steel, but you can develop your own profiles using field and lab data using a Laboratory edition.

Treatment and Inhibitor Optimization

Also See product formulation

Common sense indicates that the same scale inhibitor dosage is not required for all waters and systems.

One size does not fit all.

Using field data, laboratory data, and common sense collected over decades - WaterCycle calculates inhibitor dosages and their effective operating range.

WaterCycle creates helpful color coded graphs to easily view how your systems will react to treatments:

The Problem

The Solutions

Product Input and Formulation

The makers of WaterCycle realize each company uses their own blend of inhibitors and are frequently trying to optimize for performance and cost.

WaterCycle Product Manager and Laboratory Editions allow custom input of inhibitors and ratios.

Sound confusing? Rest assured it's quite simple to build and maintain Product Files (.prd extension) for use in your own and other's WaterCycle editions.

WaterCycle comes preloaded with all widely used and available inhibitors for your custom formulations. Don't see an inhibitor you are looking for below?  Ask, chances are we have have a model for it or an equivalent.

Also, you can always build your own inhibitor files using your own field and lab data and a Laboratory Edition.

Calcium carbonate Inhibitors

AMP (amino tris methylene phosphoric acid) | Dequest 2000

HEDP (hydroxy ethylidene diphosonic acid) | Dequest 2010

PBTC (phosphono butyl tricarboxylic acid) | Bayhibit AM

PAA (polyacrylic acid, low molecular weight) | Acumer 1000, AR-900A

POCA (phosphono carboxylic acid) | Belclene 494

PMA (poly maleic anhydride) | Belclene 494

Modified PMA | Belclene 283

Calcium phosphate inhibitors

AA-AMPS | Acumer 2000

Proprietary terpolymer | Acumer 3100

Proprietary | Aquatreat 540

Proprietary terpolymer | Goodrite K-798

Generic SSMA (sulfonated styrene maleic anhydride) | Versa TL-7

Calcium sulfate inhibitors

PCA (phosphono carboxylic acid) | Belsperse 161

Generic PAA

Silica inhibitors

Proprietary | Acumer 5000

Corrosion inhibitors

Orthophosphate

PCA (phosphono carboxylic acid) | Belcor 575

molybdate

Corrosion rate models

mild steel | untreated

Acknowledgments
Acumer is a trademark of the Rohm and Haas Company
Aquatreat is a trademark of the ALCO Chemical Division of National Starch
Belclene, Belcor, Belsperse, and Flocon are all trademarks of BWA Water Additives.
Dequest is a trademark of Monsanto Chemical Company
Goodrite is a trademark of the BFGoodrich Company
Versa is a trademark of the National Starch and Chemical Company
WaterCycle and WaterCycle Rx are trademarks of French Creek Software

Calculation Engine

A tool like WaterCycle was once the dream of early water treatment pioneers like Langelier and Ryznar (whose namesakes are well associated with their widely used simple indices).

At the time sophisticated calculations and indices were limited to computing power.

WaterCycle gives its users the tool Langelier and Ryznar were describing in their early and groundbreaking papers where they introduced their indices - as an alternative until such a technology were available. 

What they described was a powerful, reproducible means to predict scale, corrosion and inhibitor dosages using ion pairing, while accounting for common ion affects.

WaterCycle uses an ion association model to estimate the saturation level (ion activity product over solubility product) for common foulants including calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate, amorphous silica, calcium fluoride, magnesium silicates, and tricalcium phosphate.

The calculation engine packs some serious punch.  Each point on a graph is calculated through 120 non linear equations - twice.  Saturation is modeled through over 100 ion pairs, far beyond the capabilities and accountabilities of simple indices.

Editions

Choose from the basic edition which calculates only saturation indices to the premium Rx Series.

Also see "Premium Editions"

Salesman Edition

The Salesman Edition performs all of the functions and has all of the features of the basic WaterCycle program. It adds the ability to select a water treatment product and obtain dosage recommendations. Each table has an additional line for Dosage or Predicted Corrosion Rate in the R_x series, of which the Salesman Edition is the first. An additional graph selection appears for all two (2D), three (3D), and four (4d) dimensional graphs - the Dosage Profile.

The Salesman edition can load a Product File (.PRD) for use in determining treatment rates and developing dosage profiles. But, alas, the Salesman Edition lacks the ability to edit or create Product Files, or even look at the ingredients. They must be created (and edited) using a higher member of the WaterCycle R_x Series. Both the Product Manager and Laboratory Editions can create and edit Product Files.

Salesman Editions are used extensively by field sales and service engineers, and by plant chemists for optimizing treatment levels.

Product Manager Edition

The Product Manager Edition adds the ability to create and edit product files. Creating a Product File is as simple as filling in a computerized formula (batch) sheet. Product Files can be password protected to maintain confidentiality. Files so created can be used by the Product Manager Edition or copied to the \WATER\INHIB sub-directory on other computers with WaterCycle R_x programs.

Product Manager Editions are used extensively by water treatment companies who wish to use the inhibitor models supplied by French Creek, by Corporate Chemists who wish to evaluate and compare the treatment programs proposed for their cooling systems, and by consultants for performing in-depth technical and economic analyses of aqueous systems.

Laboratory Edition

The Laboratory Edition adds the ability to develop scale inhibitor, corrosion inhibitor, and corrosion rate predictive models from laboratory data, field data, or a combination of both. Dosages (or Rates) can be modeled as a function of any parameters input into the program in their raw form, calculated indices, and other parameters calculated by the program.

Transforms are available and can be applied independently to each variable. For example, a CaCO₃ inhibitor might be modeled:

- log(DOSAGE) = f( log(Calcite Saturation - 1), 1./RT, log(time))

This is, in fact, a common model for phosphonate inhibitors.

A simple corrosion rate model might be correlated as follows:

- log(Rate) = f( log(Ca), 1./RT, log(Cl), log(SO₄ ), pH)

Inhibitor models developed by the Laboratory Edition are output to the .INH files used to develop Product Files. Raw data is stored in .COR files. Statistics are, of course, provided on each variable as you develop a model.

Laboratory Editions are used extensively by scale inhibitor synthesizers, and by major water treatment companies and industrial laboratories doing inhibitor and/or corrosion research.

Five of the top six U.S. water treatment service companies, as ranked by sales volume, use the Laboratory Edition. It is used by all of the major inhibitor suppliers, and by the top industry consultants. Isn't it time for you to add WaterCycle R_x to your technical arsenal?