Coke cleaning of furnace tubes
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In the convection section of atmospheric-pressure furnaces, multiple tubes are clogged due to fouling; do any experts have solutions for this issue?
I’m very sorry to tell you that it’s definitely not possible to handle this online; the only option is to shut down the furnace, cool it down, and then cut out the clogged furnace tubes. If there is a water gun with a pressure rating of over 500 Mpa, it can be used to remove the glue buildup. However, if manual cleaning is used, it will take a long time, which is certainly not cost-effective – it’s better to simply replace the furnace tubes with new ones.
The burnt matching parts might not be available, right? Then chemical cleaning or high-pressure water cleaning is the only option. Don’t you know about tube deformation? If it deforms, it really needs to be replaced! The furnace tubes for anti-normal pressure furnaces are not expensive!
What kind of chemicals are needed for chemical cleaning? How much should I use? Could there be environmental issues?
The high-pressure water jetting equipment for coking removal is still here with us. They require that the high-pressure water be circulated in order to carry out coking removal, but our pipes are completely blocked with no gaps, so they can’t do anything either
The 180° elbow of the convective section furnace tube on one side has been cut off, and it was cleaned with a high-pressure water gun – not a single bit of slag remained. If done manually, it can only be chiseled bit by bit, right? Is there any faster way to do it manually?
After looking at your pictures, a water gun with a pressure rating of over 500 Mpa should be sufficient to break it apart. Nine years ago, we experienced tube coking in our unit; in that case, we used a water gun to deal with it and then carried out further manual cleaning. For these gel blocks that fill the tubes, if it’s not possible to remove most of them using a water gun, then manual cleaning will be necessary; in such cases, the entire furnace tube has to be cut into several sections, each 1 to 2 meters long, so that the gel can be removed from both ends – otherwise, it’s practically impossible to deal with them.
Replace the clogged pipe; it’s relatively simple and cost-effective.