Effective re-use and/or recycling of water within an industrial site for cooling is essentially the integration of water resources within a plant. This involves the consideration of the quality and quantity of the water and the determination of an appropriate monitoring and control strategy for critical parameters. Corrosion and deposition can cause significant impairment to a cooling system’s integrity when using recycled or reused water for cooling system makeup, due to a wide range of chemical and biological processes. When performing such an integration, the failure to adequately monitor the cooling system after changes in the plant’s water balance may result in significant long term costs to the plant.
Keywords: water re-use, water recycle, monitoring, discharge minimisation, cascading re-use, cooling.