Steam Heat Additive

Chris Young

Hello,I have a steam system that I use to heat my business and when I started here 3 years ago there was some type of additive that came in a 55 gallon drum that was fed into the water feed that really helped in resisting the corrosion that I am seeing now in the black Iron pipes which i have had to replace twice in 3 years.Just wondering if anyone might know what that additive may have been.
Thank you
Chris

nicholas bonham-carter

chemicals?

what sort of boiler do you have [capacity, age, etc.]? normally for pin-type boilers, pure tap water would be preferred. in some locations, the water may have excessive minerals and chlorides which are bad for the cast iron, and might need treatment. in my opinion, a lot of those chemical additives do more for the seller's bottom line, than anything good for the boiler.

more important would be to keep track of how much water is being added to an old system to make up for leaks. meters are available for this, and may cost less than the chemicals. excessive make-up water brings in fresh oxygen with it, and as we know, OXYGEN+IRON= RU$T!!

just keeping up with the regular maintainance would be of greater benefit to your system than any chemicals could ever be. part of this would be to have a copy of "the lost art of steam heating", [available here].--nbc

bob young

steam application

are you supplying steam to equipment [ ovens ] or radiation.

barbarossa_2

Treatment

It depends on the system and applacation i.e. one pipe two pipe protecting the poiler and/or the piping. A review of the applacation by a vendor is a good start.