PENTAIR Wellmate Tank Baffle Factor User Guide
- June 13, 2024
- Pentair
Table of Contents
PENTAIR Wellmate Tank Baffle Factor
Product Information
The product is a well-tank designed by Pentair Water Purification. It is equipped with a baffling system that improves the effectiveness of the disinfection process. The tank is designed to prevent fluid short-circuiting and ensure optimal contact time for water purification.
Baffle Factor
The baffling system in the tank is measured by the Baffle Factor, which
determines the level of fluid short-circuiting. A higher Baffle Factor
indicates better water flow and an improved disinfection process.
New Features
The latest design of the well tank includes an air release plug, an
improved Baffle Kit, and inlet/outlet ports for water flow. The Baffle Kit is
available as a conversion kit for existing tanks. This new design
significantly enhances the Baffle Factor to above 0.3, ensuring superior water
purification.
Product Usage Instructions
To determine the Baffle Factor of the well tank, follow these steps:
- Measure the concentration of the disinfectant solution in the tank.
- Perform an experiment to determine the effectiveness of the baffling system. This can be done by monitoring the disinfection process and measuring any fluid short-circuiting.
- Calculate the Baffle Factor using the measured concentration and experimental results.
To install the Baffle Kit as a conversion kit:
- Ensure that the original well tank does not have any internal water routing.
- Remove the existing tank internals.
- Install the Baffle Kit according to the provided instructions, ensuring proper alignment with the water flow.
Note : The new design with improved Baffle Factor is already incorporated in the latest well tanks. The Baffle Kit is only required for upgrading existing tanks.
WHAT IS BAFFLE FACTOR
Effectiveness of the Disinfection Process
- Disinfection performance can be improved by:
- Increasing the concentration of disinfectant
- Increasing the disinfectant contact time
- Decreasing the flow rate
- Increasing the tank volume
- Increasing the temperature
- Increasing the baffling factor.
- The only performance factor that we can affect, by design, is the baffle factor.
Baffle Factor
Measures of fluid short‐circuiting
HOW TO DETERMINE THE BAFFLE FACTOR
Chlorine/Chloride Tracer Study
- The most effective method to determine a system’s baffle factor is to perform a chlorine/chloride tracer study on the tank.
- Feed water to contain a known concentration of chlorine
- Test tank to contain chlorine‐free water
- The feed solution is pumped into the tank, and the tank’s outlet is monitored for chlorine.
- T (system time) = Tank Capacity / Flow Rate
- T10 (T “ten” time) = Time at which the tank’s output reaches 10% of the feed concentration
- For a given flow rate, the Baffle Factor = T10 / T
- Example Calculation:
- 120-gallon tank
- Flow rate of 3 GPM
- T = 120 gallons / 3 GPM = 40 minutes
- Experimental Result: The outlet concentration of the tank reaches 10% of feed concentration at the 12-minute mark (T10 = 12).
- Baffle Factor = 12 minutes / 40 minutes = 0.30
ORIGINAL UT TANK, NO INTERNAL WATER ROUTING
-
POOR BAFFLING
-
Channeling and no mixing, yielding a baffle factor of 0.5
-
IF customers were running tanks in series…baffle factor would be improved
-
Current design without internals channeled through the water flow
WHAT IS NEW
- The new design improves the baffle factor above .3
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