Mining Industry
Gold mine chemical treatment for cooling towers
Problem Statement
The mine uses a refrigeration system to control the atmosphere underground. The cooling water from the nearby lake and the cooling tower have been in a very bad state with extremely high levels of microbiological growth, which reduced the cooling efficiencies. The open cooling tower required monthly cleaning, resulting in high operational costs and reduced downtime for cleaning.
Solution
Watericon has designed, built and installed an effluent treatment plant to treat the oil and soap effluent through Coagulation, Flocculation, Filtration and Specialised Membrane Technology.
Performance Target
- Clean cooling tower (removal of biofilms)
- Reduced tower cleaning
- Cycles of concentration between 3-5
Results
- Trial was run for 3-months following positive results.
- No tower cleaning was needed during the trial, reducing costs and downtime.
Process
- Continuous chemical dosing with the Hydrance range of chemicals
- Daily water analysis (Total Bacteria Count, Conductivity, pH, Total Hardness)
Turnaround time
- The mine draws water from the closest lake, which has high levels of suspended solids, contributing to micro-bio growth in cooling systems.