Problems with atmospheric condensers

Is it scaling or are there debris? If scaling occurs, chemical cleaning should be used; if there are foreign substances, mechanical cleaning can be employed.

It’s scaled up – what chemical should be used?

For the selection of cleaning agents, acid cleaning is currently used, which includes organic acids and inorganic acids. The main organic acids include oxalic acid, formic acid, etc. Inorganic acids mainly include hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, etc. The heat exchanger is made of nickel-titanium alloy, and hydrochloric acid is used as the cleaning solution. This can cause severe corrosion of the plates, thereby reducing the service life of the heat exchanger. Nitric acid is commonly used. The corrosion inhibitor used for nitric acid cleaning can be 0.2%–0.3% urotropin, along with 0.15%–0.2% aniline and 0.05%–0.1% ammonium sulfofluoride. Equipment that has been cleaned with nitric acid and rinsed thoroughly can self-passivate in the air. Through repeated experiments, it was found that formic acid is the most effective choice as a cleaning solution. Adding buffers and surfactants to the formic acid cleaning solution improves the cleaning efficiency and reduces the corrosion of the plates caused by the cleaning solution. Chemical tests on scale samples have shown that formic acid can effectively remove the scale adhering to the heat exchanger plates, and it also has little corrosive effect on these plates. This post was last edited by lxzzl on 2009-1-17 09:11]

I have done cleaning before; if it’s possible to avoid chemical cleaning, it’s better not to use them

Agree with what was said above. However, during pickling, professional testers must monitor the process throughout and conduct tests at regular intervals. While pickling, a certain proportion of corrosion inhibitor should be added to prevent corrosion of the copper pipes.

When cleaning with formic acid, what is the purpose of adding a buffer? Why is formic acid used – would acetic acid work as well? Also, what if the scale that forms is not water scale but an acidic substance? Thank you

Cleaning of atmospheric condensers: chemical cleaning should be used with caution, as it may cause leaks

For atmospheric condensers of large size, chemical cleaning should be avoided as much as possible, as it is very difficult to locate the source of a minor leak once one occurs.

Atmospheric condenser – what does it cool?

An atmospheric condenser is basically an air cooler, right?