2003ECIConferenceonHeatExchangerFoulingandCleaning:FundamentalsandApplicationsSantaFe,NewMexico,USAEditors:PaulWatkinson,HansM¨uller-Steinhagen,andM.RezaMalayeriYear����Paper��ThePracticalApplicationandInnovationofCleaningTechnologyforHeatExchangersGeorgeE.Saxon∗RichardE.Putman†∗ConcoSystemsInc.†ConcoConsultingCorp.http://services.bepress.com/eci/heatexchanger/40Copyrightc⃝2004bytheauthors.ThePracticalApplicationandInnovationofCleaningTechnologyforHeatExchangersAbstractThefoulingofheatexchangersnotonlyhasanegativeimpactonheattransferefficiencybutalsomayrestricttheoutputorproductioncapacityofthefacility.Giventhecoolingmediumandtheprocess,heatexchangersmaybelightlyfouledwithorganicdepositsormaybeseverelyblockedfromhardenedprocesschemicals.Theprobabilityofsuccessincleaningtheheatexchangerisdependentontheselectionoftheappropriatecleaningtech-nologyunderthespecificfoulingconditions.Earlyidentificationoffoulingcharacteristicsandafundamentalknowledgeofcleaningsystemcapabilitiesareessentialindeterminingthemosteffectivecleaningtechnologyandthefrequencyofcleaningrequired.Uniquecircumstancesmayrequireinnova-tivesolutions.State-of-the-artcleaningtechnologiesforshellandtubeheatexchangersandair-cooledheatexchangersareintroduced.Thepracticalap-plicationandinnovationofcleaningtechnologyisdiscussed.Methodsforeffectiveremovalofvariousdeposittypesarepresented.THEPRACTICALAPPLICATIONANDINNOVATIONOFCLEANINGTECHNOLOGYFORHEATEXCHANGERSGeorgeE.Saxon,Jr.1andRichardE.Putman21ConcoSystems,Inc.,530JonesStreet,VeronaPA15147USAgsaxonjr@concosystems.net2ConcoConsultingCorp.,530JonesStreet,VeronaPA15147USAABSTRACTThefoulingofheatexchangersnotonlyhasanegativeimpactonheattransferefficiencybutalsomayrestricttheoutputorproductioncapacityofthefacility.Giventhecoolingmediumandtheprocess,heatexchangersmaybelightlyfouledwithorganicdepositsormaybeseverelyblockedfromhardenedprocesschemicals.Theprobabilityofsuccessincleaningtheheatexchangerisdependentontheselectionoftheappropriatecleaningtechnologyunderthespecificfoulingconditions.Earlyidentificationoffoulingcharacteristicsandafundamentalknowledgeofcleaningsystemcapabilitiesareessentialindeterminingthemosteffectivecleaningtechnologyandthefrequencyofcleaningrequired.Uniquecircumstancesmayrequireinnovativesolutions.State-of-the-artcleaningtechnologiesforshellandtubeheatexchangersandair-cooledheatexchangersareintroduced.Thepracticalapplicationandinnovationofcleaningtechnologyisdiscussed.Methodsforeffectiveremovalofvariousdeposittypesarepresented.INTRODUCTIONTheproperperformanceofheatexchangerswithinaprocesscanaffectthecostofthefinalproduct,oreventheproductionrate.Unfortunately,heatexchangersarepronetofouling,itsnaturedependingonthefluidsflowingwithinandoverthetubesorparticulatesintheatmospherewhendiscussingaircooledheatexchangers.Thereductioninheattransferthatresultsalmostinvariablyhasanimpactonproductcost.Putman(2001)tellsustoreducethisimpact,heatexchangerperformanceshouldbeintelligentlymonitoredandtheheatexchangercleanedatintervalsthataredeterminedfromoptimaleconomiccriteria.HeatExchangerFoulinganditsEffectsTheprincipaltypesoffoulingencounteredinprocessheatexchangersinclude:•Particulatefouling•Corrosionfouling•Biologicalfouling•Crystallizationfouling•Chemicalreactionfouling•FreezingfoulingTypesoffoulingencounteredontheexternalsurfacesofaircooled...
