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Pipework Biofouling How Biofouling Control Saves Energy Consumption and Maintenance Costs

Editor: Dominik Stephan

This article describes how the existing deposition and growth of microorganisms-biofouling problem in the cooling loop of a refinery in Dubai and prevented it from further occurrence could be solved by Merus.

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A flange or a valve which is closed, where there is no flow of liquids, is the most susceptible area to biofouling. This picture shows the actual condition of the pipeline (dead legs) before Merus Ring was applied. (Picture: Merus Engineering)
A flange or a valve which is closed, where there is no flow of liquids, is the most susceptible area to biofouling. This picture shows the actual condition of the pipeline (dead legs) before Merus Ring was applied. (Picture: Merus Engineering)

With a view to sticking to the core philosophy – prevention is better than cure – Merus Company developed the ‘Merus Ring’. Contrary to the traditional way of thinking, Merus believes in treating water and other liquids in a way that reduces or in many cases even eliminate the negative side effects arising out of technical parameters governing the operations of manufacturing or processing industries.

This approach is supported by our strong hold and uniqueness in developing liquid borne ‘oscillations’ with which the liquid not only turns equipment friendly, but also helps in maintaining technical parameters to a much further extent in comparison with conventional water or liquid treatment methods – which only fight the symptoms of the problems of rust, corrosion, scaling, fouling or other microbiological elements. The real example below, from a refinery in UAE, evidences the effectiveness and sustainability of our non-chemical industrial water treatment technology.

Biofouling – Some Background Information

The refinery Iso Octane in Dubai is a midsized refinery processing naphtha. It is not operated constantly, but is used only batch wise governed by the demand. Due to this mode of operation, the cooling loop is not running on full capacity all the time. The cooling loop is operated with limited water circulation, if there is no production in the refinery.

Inspection and Finding in Pipework Installations

During inspection of the cooling water system, Merus found that there was heavy fouling, caused mainly by organic materials, the so called biofilm caused by biofouling. It was realized that the fouling was uniformly present or distributed in the entire system.

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