×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

mixing glycol

mixing glycol

mixing glycol

(OP)
I am working on a job where we have an existing glycol piping network that has not been used for many years.  For this job we are adding on to this glycol system and tying into 2 new chillers. We are recommending that the whole system be purged of the old glycol and refilled with new, but the owner does not want to pay the cost to do so.  So we have been overruled, and they are going to 'top-off' the system with new glycol.  The glycol has been tested and seems to be chemically sound however we feel that because the system has been dorment for 5+ years there is a lot of sludge in the pipe which may clog up the chillers. Does anyone have any experience with reusing glycol?  Also when adding new glycol to the exisitng, I have heard that the two have to match exactly or there may be some interaction problems.  Is this true, and what can happen?

RE: mixing glycol

If the solution is chemically sound then you have every chance to reuse it but be sure to make it physically sound also. I would suggest to remove the entire solution and get it filtered atleast by a 40 micron filter and flush the entire piping before recharging.

RE: mixing glycol

Agree with Quark about filtering, but you do want to know something about your chemistry....

If this always a copper pipe installation, chances are you're dealing in a relatively mild sort of inhibitor package.

If its all mild steel pipe, Old Glycol likely to contain chromates and thats not of itself particularly bad but the newer "none heavy metal" inhibitor packages contain organics, which may or may not strip any chromate film and in worse case, could cause the chromates to preciptate.

To get comfortable, have somebody due a chem for at least the "type" of inhibitor and do your best then to match it if still available.

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources