How should one handle such a situation?
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How to improve the heat exchange efficiency of water coolers: During normal production, due to the long operating time of the equipment and the relatively dirty quality of the circulating water, a large amount of sediment, scale, and other debris often accumulate inside the heat exchanger tubes, thereby affecting its heat exchange efficiency. If you encounter such a situation, how would you handle it without shutting down the operation?
It turns out that this problem often occurs in the top condenser of my distillation column, affecting the heat exchange efficiency and resulting in a high temperature of the rich gas after cooling. Take the following measures: Install a vent valve with a diameter slightly smaller than that of the main pipeline behind the circulating water inlet valve. Once it is detected that the heat exchange efficiency has declined, close the circulating water inlet valve, increase the vent flow rate, and backwash the heat exchanger – this is very effective. Additionally, during on-site inspections at other factories, I have seen four-valve assemblies designed specifically for backwashing.
Backwashing: loveliness: Those without a backwashing system can close the inlet valve first, and then open it; the flange on the rear side should be used as well: lol. Generally, in condensing compressors with condensers that operate over long periods of time, backwashing is employed
Water-cooled heat exchangers are usually affected by debris or scaling; such problems have occurred with the diesel coolers in our factory
Backwashing of the heat exchanger is very effective. It is not only when a large amount of sediment, scale, and debris accumulate inside the heat exchanger tubes that backwashing is necessary; for example, it should be done regularly before summer arrives and throughout the summer. Additionally, during shutdown for maintenance, it is recommended to install a circulating water descaler near the device.
Before finishing, generally there are air defense measures at the water line inlets and outlets; a corrosion-resistant self-priming pump should be installed, with vents connected to both the inlet and outlet for pickling purposes, which yields very good results
Our condensing steam turbines allow for the direct removal of half of the condenser online for cleaning, and the results are good. There is a lot of sediment and scale inside.
Well, backwashing and online pickling are very effective; we use them frequently as well.
Cut it out directly, clean it, and then reinstall it
The methods we used in the past were: 1. Conducting chemical cleaning online; 2. Closing the outlet valve of the water cooler’s circulating water, and attaching tape at the location just before the outlet valve to blow nitrogen through it. The second method is the one that is commonly used during summer production.
The diesel heat exchangers in our factory keep having problems – their heat exchange efficiency is poor. The solution we’ve adopted is to spray water on the heat exchangers to cool them down; this approach seems to work to some extent.
1. Cut off and flush the heat exchanger 2. Improve the quality of circulating water
It is recommended to perform a cleaning of the circulating water system without shutting it down. The presence of scale in the heat exchanger indicates a problem with the stability of the water quality in the circulating water system. This scaling is caused by an insufficient amount of scale inhibitor or by a mismatch between the scale inhibitor and the water quality. Once scaling occurs, the corrosion inhibitor can no longer function, leading to corrosion beneath the scale. Therefore, since scaling in the system is relatively severe and can affect heat exchange, it is advisable to consider cleaning the circulating water system; cleaning without shutting down the system is now possible. If sediment is present, a bypass filter can be added to the recirculating water system.