clean | protect | preventSpecialists in chemical-free water treatment

Elysator® provides environmentally friendly chemical-free technical water to comply with Europe's most stringent water quality standards, VDI 2035.

Costly RepairsPoor water quality resulting in corrosion is the biggest cause of costly and premature failure of heating system components such as boilers, pipework, radiators, valves, heat interface units and particularly, Pressure Independent Control Valves (PICV). As well as direct costs for equipment replacement, failure can also lead to significant indirect costs such as rent rebates, refunds for accommodation and temporary heating equipment hire.

Beyond these losses there is the further unquantifiable loss of reputational damage caused by client dis-satisfaction; for the Hotel and Leisure sector this might mean the loss of potential repeat business, for landlords the loss of tenants; for maintenance companies and asset managers, potentially the loss of service contracts.

Many people accept problems such as leaking seals and simply put it down to wear and tear. In fact the most common cause of seal failure can be attributed to the overuse of chemicals in an attempt to control corrosion.

There is an industry habit of simply adding more chemicals to try and resolve issues. VDI 2035 highlights the danger of this policy, explaining that overdosing is as bad as underdosing as it destroys seals and diaphragms, increases conductivity and accelerates corrosion.

History of Elysator®

In 1971 the founder of Elysator, Heinrich Rickenbach, a Swiss pioneer in water technology, launched the Elysator®, combining his own water technology knowledge and skills with those of his brother, who was an electronics engineer.

Together they recognised the importance of electrochemistry as the best solution for delivering clean technical water to overcome the corrosion problems of closed loop heating and cooling systems.

They used the rules of science and applied it to water treatment.

• 1970s Elysator® launched and continually developed.• 1988 Industry recognition of Elysator® as state of the art

technology• 2004 Development of Purotap®.• 2009 Elysator® technology recognised in VDI 2035• 2012 VDI 2035 is recognised as an EU standard and its

inclusion is the most significant change to EN 12828.• 2013 The Sorbox® unit which combines the technology

of Elysator® and Purotap® is developed and patented.

Approaching half a century of experience and innovation

Two Core Elysator Products

Elysator® to clean and maintain the water quality using magnesium anodes.

Purotap® to fill with demineralised water removing salts and lime using ion exchange resin.

What is VDI 2035 Part 2?VDI 2035, Part 2 is the primary standard behind the push to non-chemical water treatment.

VDI (Verein Deutscher Ingenieure or Association of German Engineers) is the largest engineering association in Europe (150,000+ engineers and natural scientists) and VDI 2035 sets out their requirements for water quality within hot water heating systems.

VDI 2035 Part 2, released in 2009 is recognised as the most authoritative guideline in Europe for the prevention of corrosion damage in water based closed loop heating and cooling systems. It is applicable as an EU standard EN 12828.

The inclusion in EN 12828 is significant and is an indication of the growing awareness among hydronic heating professionals of the causes of corrosion and the means of corrosion prevention.

What does VDI 2035 require?

• Correct design, planning and commissioning.

• Correct sealing of the system to prevent oxygen entry.

• Correct expansion and pressurisation.

• Correct maintenance.

• Adherence to the guide values for oxygen content, electrical conductivity and pH.

• To create an environment where corrosion cannot take place.

• Chemicals should be avoided unless under extreme circumstances.

pH, Oxygen and Conductivity Requirements for VDI 2035

Three key water quality factors for compliance with VDI 2035 water quality

• pH range of 8.2 – 10

• Conductivity of < 100 uS/cm

• Dissolved oxygen level of 0.1 mg/l

How does Elysator® satisfy VDI 2035?

The natural dissolving of the magnesium anode using the anode/cathode principle achieves a controlled and stable pH between 8.2 and 10. It lowers the electrical conductivity and it removes the oxygen.

If you get these objectives right all of the other conditions of the water, like iron, copper and bacteria, will fall to acceptable levels.

Put simply, an environment is created where corrosion cannot take place and bacteria cannot survive.

The galvanic reaction of the anode sacrificing itself gives away electrons as it dissolves and this is shown on the amp meter. The water quality is changed by the dissolving of the magnesium, creating magnesium hydroxide.

Installation Principles

Installed as either a side stream unit or full system flow through depending on size, the Elysator® also works as an air separator and dirt separator.

A cyclone effect disperses air and collects dirt at the base with the help of a strong magnet. The anodes are mounted within the centre of the cyclone.

No moving parts or electronics are employed, instead the Elysator® simply uses the flow of the existing system pumps. Consequently, servicing is a painless process.

Preferred Installation

Existing systems

• Installation to existing systems that are suffering from corrosion problems is very beneficial.

• No requirement for chemical flushing and dosing, a process of limited effectiveness in occupied buildings with HIUs as full circulation cannot be achieved during the cleansing.

• The Elysator® provides non-aggressive gradual cleaning of the system, breaking down iron and sludge and gradually bringing the water quality within VDI 2035 guidelines. This can take a few months to achieve completion but improvements will be noticeable within a few weeks.

Simple servicing and monitoring

• The swing meter gives a clear visual indication of the condition and operation of the anode.

• Anodes replaced after 3 years in normal use.

• Easy to flush debris (blow down) through base drain.

• No COSHH or Waste Water Licence requirements.

Sizing

Elysator technology is wonderfully scaleable.

Units are sized to the system water volume from 0.5m³ to 220m³ in one unit. For systems with water volumes in excess of these values multiple units can be employed.

Purotap®• The Purotap® filling apparatus filters lime and

aggressive dissolved substances such as sulphate, nitrate and chloride out of the top-up water.

• The device operates on the basis of a mixed bed ion exchanger and provides demineralised water that has been completely desalinated.

• It is equipped with a precise meter for monitoring pure water production in terms of quality and quantity.

• This method does not release any chemical additives into the water.

• The device operates without an external power supply.

Fig. 1 Fig. 2

Filling with Purotap® Cleaning with Purotap®

What are manufacturers saying about VDI 2035?

• Many manufacturers have adopted and continue to adopt VDI 2035 as their required standard for water quality and are making compliance a condition of warranty.

• Cosmogas, Hoval, Viessmann, Vaillant, Frese, Danfoss, ESBE, Wilo and Grundfos are just a few of the well known brands who simply state the following “For warranty purposes the water quality must comply with VDI 2035”.

• This is a clear statement that they do not want chemicals in their products.

We can never guarantee that all levels will be achieved within 7 days, however it will continuously reach

towards these levels. With the anode working as soon as the Elysator is filled with water, levels will be

heading in the right direction within 48 hours. If we have filled with demineralised water from the outset

this of course helps dramatically.

Swiss and Norwegian standards have a timeline of 1-30 days of achieving VDI levels on new systems. VDI itself

asks you to check after 8 weeks to ensure the system is stable. The most important thing to consider with our

technology with new systems is that during the warranty and handover stage of the site our work

cannot be undone. If un-recorded remedial works are carried out, the Elysator will simply self-regulate to get

the water quality back under control.

Aluminium Boilers

How does Elysator protect aluminium? VDI 2035 states to ideally control the pH at no more than 8.5 for aluminium but acknowledges that this is hard to do in practice. VDI 2035 also says to overcome this you should keep the conductivity low to prevent corrosion damage to aluminium; the maintaining of low conductivity levels is a recognised function of the Elysator technology.

In addition to this, the sacrificial anode approach offers another layer of protection. Under the anodic/cathodic principle the metal alloy in sacrificial anodes – in Elysator’s case, magnesium - works by oxidizing more quickly than the metal it is protecting, being consumed completely before the other metal reacts with the electrolytes in the water.

Magnesium is the less noble – resistant to corrosion – of the two metals so will always sacrifice itself to protect the aluminium.

Chemicals can act as a source of food/sustenance for bacteria.

In addition to the removal of minerals, oxygen, iron-oxide sludge and the establishment of high controlled pH levels, part of the Elsyator’s function is to remove existing trace elements of chemicals. In doing so an environment is engineered where both corrosion and the bacteria that rely on the presence of these elements, cannot be sustained.

Our reports from Elysator installations may show bacteria on the first samples taken at the time of install but in our experience they are always gone on the subsequent tests taken four weeks after our equipment has been commissioned.

BACTERIA

We’re greatly encouraged to encounter a genuine industry appetite for culture change with many seeking alternative options for effective, pre-emptive water treatment.

Rather than continually addressing the symptoms of corrosion we seek to tackle the cause and offer ongoing protection thereafter.