Design of a test loop for the evaluation of magnetic water treatment devices

A test rig for the evaluation of magnetic water treatment devices in scale control is described. The rig employs a bank of six laboratory stills which are operated simultaneously-from the same treatment loop so that statistical analysis of the data can be obtained. A key feature of the rig is the ability to maintain a continuous, rapid flow of fluid through the magnetic treatment device even though the stills require very low flows to maintain constant volume during distillation. The performance of the rig was evaluated using naturally occurring river water and artificially prepared hard water which contained no magnesium. The magnetic device employed in this study was found to reduce scale by 22% using artificially prepared hard water, but had no significant effect on Brazos River water.