Modern Makeup Water Treatment Methods for HRSGs

January 19, 2026

Instructor: Brad Buecker, SAMCO Technologies and Buecker & Associates, LLC

The development of synthetic ion exchange resins in the middle of the last century greatly improved makeup water quality for high-pressure utility boilers.  A drawback is that the resins often exhaust somewhat quickly, which requires regeneration using hazardous chemicals, most notably sulfuric acid and caustic.  The evolution of membrane technologies, and especially reverse osmosis, now offer makeup systems that can operate for extended periods.  These units have become common for makeup production to combined cycle heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs).  This presentation provides an overview of these modern systems.