Cycles of Concentration
Definition
The ratio of boiler water conductivity to feedwater conductivity, a measure of how many times dissolved solids have concentrated as steam is drawn off. Boilers run far higher cycles than cooling towers.
COC is the single most important variable governing water usage, chemical consumption, and scaling risk in an open recirculating system, and it is the operational control point of the mass balance. Raising cycles cuts blowdown with diminishing returns: 2 to 3 cycles halves blowdown, while gains flatten after about 6 cycles. Each added cycle multiplies every dissolved species, worsening scaling indices and inhibitor demand, which sets up the tradeoff of water efficiency versus chemical risk.
Related concepts
Water efficiency versus chemical risk · Evaporative Cooling · Carryover
How it connects
- this concentrates Dissolved Solids
- this concentrates Alkalinity
- this drives Concentration as Scale Driver
- Mass Balance measures this
- Cooling Tower drives this
- Water efficiency versus chemical risk drives this
Part of The Blueprint of Water · 🛠️ operations