Scale: a silent enemy
Scale is a silent enemy that accumulates in pipes and machines causing economic and environmental damage to homes, industries and cities.
The intensity of the scaling process depends on several factors such as, for example, water hardness and temperature.
The high hardness, given the high concentration of calcium and magnesium salts dissolved in water, causes a series of drawbacks in urban supply systems such as unpleasant taste of water, excessive use of soap to make foam and pipe obstructions leading to costly replacement. In industrial hot water systems such as boilers or heat exchangers, hard water reduces the operating efficiency of heat exchangers, increases pressure drops, accelerates corrosion and leads to excessive consumption of chemicals.
Higher temperatures increase the concentration and decrease the solubility of some salts such as calcium carbonate and silicon dioxide thus forming scaling. The boilers along with the cooling system are an essential part of most industrial processes and, due to high temperatures, are highly susceptible to scale-forming.
Another important issue for public health is that the existing scale in pipes, either in water systems or homes, are suitable habitat to form and develop microbes and bacteria. The rough surface of scale creates a fertile ground for the growth of bacteria and other undesirable microorganisms, either in cold or warm water environment.
Problemas decorrentes das incrustações em tubulações e equipamentos