MLI Upgrade at a Waste-to-Energy Plant: Solving Deaerator Tank Gage Leaks

We recently completed an upgrade at a waste-to-energy plant in the Midwest US, replacing a traditional glass gage with a Jerguson® Magnicator® Magnetic Level Indicator on their deaerator tank. Steam from the deaerator tank can cause leaking issues on glass gages — making the switch from a glass gage to a magnetic level indicator an easy and reliable upgrade.

Why Deaerator Tanks Are Hard on Glass Gages

A deaerator is a critical piece of equipment in boiler feedwater systems. Its job is to remove dissolved oxygen and other gases from feedwater before it enters the boiler, preventing corrosion in the boiler and downstream piping. To do this, deaerators typically use steam to heat incoming water and strip out dissolved gases through the heating and venting process.

Why This Creates Gage Problems:

The steam environment inside and around a deaerator tank is more aggressive on gage seals than a typical liquid-level application. Continuous steam exposure at the gage connections stresses gaskets and seals over time, and gage glass installations with multiple sealing points — connections at each glass section — present multiple locations where this steam exposure can eventually lead to leaks.

This isn't a design flaw in the glass gage itself; it's simply a consequence of the demanding service environment deaerator tanks create.

Why the Magnetic Level Indicator Upgrade Works

A magnetic level indicator (MLI) sidesteps this problem structurally. Rather than relying on a series of sealed glass sections along the gage's length, an MLI uses a single sealed chamber with a float and external magnetic indicator — dramatically reducing the number of seal points exposed to the steam environment.

Fewer Seal Points, Fewer Leak Opportunities

Each seal point on a traditional glass gage is a potential failure location. By consolidating to a single chamber design, the MLI reduces this exposure significantly, which is precisely why it holds up better in steam-heavy applications like deaerator tank service.

Easy, Reliable Upgrade

Because MLIs are designed as a direct functional replacement for glass gage level indication, this kind of upgrade doesn't require a complete redesign of the tank's instrumentation approach — it's a targeted swap that addresses the specific failure mode (seal leakage from steam exposure) without introducing new complexity elsewhere in the system.

Why This Matters for Waste-to-Energy Facilities

Waste-to-energy plants operate continuously, converting municipal solid waste into steam and electricity. Deaerator reliability is critical to this continuous operation — feedwater treatment interruptions or level indication failures on the deaerator can affect boiler feedwater quality and, ultimately, plant uptime. A gage that requires frequent leak repair introduces exactly the kind of recurring maintenance burden a continuously operating facility wants to eliminate.

Signs Your Deaerator Gage May Be a Good MLI Candidate

• Recurring leaks at gage seal connections despite proper maintenance

• Gage requiring more frequent seal replacement than other level instrumentation on-site

• Visible steam residue or weeping around gage connections

• Maintenance logs showing deaerator gage repairs as a repeat item

  
  

Applications

This upgrade pattern applies broadly wherever steam-heavy service creates similar seal stress:

• Waste-to-Energy Plants: Deaerator and feedwater system level indication

• Power Generation: Any deaerator application across conventional or biomass-fueled plants

• Industrial Steam Systems: Feedwater treatment equipment facing similar steam exposure

• Chemical Processing: Steam-heated process vessels with comparable gage seal challenges

  
  

Learn More

For more information on Magnetic Level Indicators and whether an MLI upgrade suits your deaerator or other steam-exposed level indication application, contact our Jerguson application team.

📧 jergusonapp@clark-reliance.com📞 +1 (440) 572-1500