Biofilms occur in water when bacteria grow inside protective microbial secretions, also known as slime. This is a natural occurrence, but can also be the cause of serious and costly cooling water system issues affecting reliability, efficiency, and safety.
Biofilms can impact every aspect of water cooling systems, accelerating corrosion, reducing heat transfer, increasing energy costs, and contributing to the spread of pathogens such as legionella.
Stop biofilms from taking over with NCH Asia Pacific’s Biofilm Control Solution.
Rapid growth
When biofilms occur they can get out hand fast. Though they start out microscopic, biofilms can grow in noticeable biofouling deposits in just days.
The structure of biofilms protects bacteria from general biocides, allowing them to form a resistance to most chemical treatments. Multiple survival mechanisms allow this bacteria to spread and make removing biofilms incredibly difficult.
Severe impact
Biofilms are four times more insulating than scale deposits. Even a thin layer of biofilm can dramatically reduce cooling efficiency. A 1mm biofilm can reduce the efficiency of an HVAC chiller by almost 10%. For a 500-ton chiller load this translates into £30,000 in excess electricity costs, with greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 46 cars.
Piping and water storage can also suffer from the corrosive nature of biofilms. Microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) can be up to a thousand times more aggressive than standard corrosion, seriously impacting failure and downtime rates in water cooling systems.
Perhaps most serious however is the risk of transfer of pathogens such as Legionnaires Disease. Legionella thrives alongside biofilm outbreaks thanks to the protective environment this bacterial growth provides.
For mission-critical equipment including chillers and heat exchanger, bacterial growth from biofilms can have a serious impact. NCH Asia Pacific’s ChemAqua Biofilm Control Solution offers an effective way to tackle the unique challenges posed by biofilm.
The Chem-Aqua solution
Despite their difficult to remove nature biofilms outbreaks can be solved with the correct solution. NCH Asia Pacific’s ChemAqua arm has developed a cutting edge biofilm removal process to address the challenges posed by biofilm growth and control further outbreaks.
For more information, watch the video below, or contact NCH Asia Pacific.