So‐called Electrical and Catalytic Treatment of Water for Boilers

Practical Performance of Water-Conditioning Gadgets

“…The scientist and engineer may even feel compelled to state with courage and conviction their conclusion that these promotions are the bunk, as did Eliassen and Uhlig (19). Always, however, the practical man in the plant wonders if the experts could be missing some new truth not yet fully appreciated.…”

“…During our regular boiler water service call on this vessel on April 19,1951, the chief engineer and his first and second assistant engineers stated that, in their opinion, after prolonged observation, the--unit had made no appreciable difference in the rate of deposition or character of scale accumulated in their evaporator. This was also the expressed opinion of the superintendent of engineers.…”

“…2. In a Kansas utility plant, the surfaces of a heat exchanger were coated with a hard, dense calcium carbonate scale in only 19 days of operation after one of these devices was installed. The temperature of the exchanger influent water was 89°F ., while the effluent was 105°F.…”

Experimental Evaluation of ‘Water Conditioner’ Performance

“…They would rather take a shortcut and use a unit which they are willing to accept on the basis of unfounded pseudoscientific theory. Eliassen and Uhlig (1) have discussed many of the pseudoscientific claims made by manufacturers and salesmen. The statements are liberally sprinkled with technical-sounding terminology calculated to impress prospective buyers of "magic" waterconditioning units.…”