Process for removing dissolved oxygen from water using hydrazine

Claim 1

In a process for the removal of dissolved oxygen from the aqueous media circulated in a steam generation system having copper alloy feedtrain components, including in series a feedwater heating system, steam generator, condenser, and condenser pump operative to recycle aqueous medium to the system through the feedwater heaters, and wherein hydrazine is added to the aqueous media, prior to said feedwater heaters, to react with said dissolved oxygen, the improvement wherein: the hydrazine-containing aqueous media, after passage through the condenser pump, is contacted with in a column of an effective amount of a noble metal, selected from the group consisting of palladium and platinum, dispersed on a stable carrier material for a period of time effective to react the hydrazine with the dissolved oxygen at a temperature of between about 20°-40° C. and at a pressure of between about 50-150 psig, to reduce the dissolved oxygen content of the aqueous media to a value of less than 10 parts per billion, prior to passage of the aqueous medium to the feedwater heaters so as to reduce formation of oxides of copper which could be transported to and cause corrosion of the steam generator.