Heat exchanger issues: For heat exchanger maintenance, at what level of blockage in the tube side should it be discarded?
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For heat exchanger maintenance, how many tubes in the tube side that are blocked determine whether the exchanger needs to be discarded? For heat exchanger maintenance, how many tubes in the tube side that are blocked determine whether the exchanger needs to be discarded?
The total number of blocked tubes shall not exceed 10% of the number of tubes in that tube side of the heat exchanger.
If it cannot meet the process requirements, replacement is necessary
It should depend on whether it can meet your heat exchange requirements; if you choose a model with a larger capacity when selecting one, even if a few tubes get blocked, the requirements can still be met
The amount that needs to be blocked to cause scrapping must be determined through heat exchange calculations based on the production load; if the heat exchange requirements are not met, the production demands cannot be satisfied, and replacement is necessary
A certain amount of tube blockage allowance is provided during design, and it generally should not exceed 10% of the number of tubes in that tube side of the heat exchanger.
It depends on the design margin, as well as the effect of the increased flow velocity inside the pipe after blockage on heat transfer. Sometimes it’s fine to block 30%.