Abnormal noise from the heat exchanger
Thread Content
Heat exchange takes place between light diesel and the rich absorbent oil coming from the self-stabilizing reabsorption tower; light diesel flows through the tube side, while the rich absorbent oil flows through the shell side. Recently, a continuous and harsh noise was detected coming from the floating head on the tube side. There are no abnormalities in the temperatures after heat exchange in both circuits. Increasing the adjustment valve of the light diesel outlet unit reduced the noise level ； When the regulating valve for light diesel output is closed, the noise increases. Considering the effect of back pressure, the noise remained loud even after reducing the diesel refining pressure. Opening the light diesel and rich absorbent oil bypasses did not yield good results. I hope fellow sailors can offer some advice! Thank you!
Personally, I believe flash vaporization is occurring there; as the volume increases suddenly from the sealed pipeline to the tube bank, the pressure drops, and the light components flash vaporize and strike the baffle of the tube bank. It’s just a guess; feel free to discuss it.
We’ve had leaks in the intercooler of our compressors before as well; we could hear noises, and the pressure difference was quite high
Abnormal noises from the heat exchanger may be caused by irregular friction between its internal components; if this is indeed the case, then chemical processes can also cause significant wear and damage to those components. The original poster still needs to pay attention
It is possible that the anti-impact plate of the heat exchanger core has come unseated or even fallen off, as a result of the fluctuations in fluid flow
Our plant also encountered the same problem in catalytic cracking; after the heat exchanger was taken out of service for maintenance, it was found that several of the small floating head bolts on the tube side had broken.
Personally, I think it might be corrosion of the heat exchanger, combined with possible flashing, that is causing abnormal noises from the airflow
This post was last edited by lijianhuai on 2011-6-16 08:16. Our current assessment is as follows: It is preliminarily determined that the issue is caused by internal leakage in the gasket of the pipe support. The heat exchanger was cut out for maintenance, and during the removal of the floating head cover, it was found that there was a small amount of water in the shell side. When removing the small floating head on the tube side, it was found that many bolts were not tight enough and could be easily unscrewed; the gaskets showed no obvious deformation or signs of breakage. After replacing the gaskets, the small floating head on the tube side was installed. The inlet and outlet valves of the heat exchanger were opened, and pressure testing was carried out with light diesel flowing through the tube side. The harsh, continuous humming sound disappeared, but oil was later found to be leaking from the tube bundle near the floating head. Upon inspection, it was determined that the leakage came from the positioning tubes. Since both heat exchange media were diesel, even a small amount of oil leakage had little impact. Therefore, the large cover for the floating head was installed, and the heat exchanger was finally put back into use. However, after reactivation, changes were observed in the temperatures of the rich absorption oil and diesel. Before the maintenance, the temperature of the light diesel leaving the unit was 60 degrees, while it rose to 70 degrees after the maintenance. The temperature of the rich absorption oil after heat exchange was around 120 degrees before the maintenance, but it dropped to 105 degrees after the maintenance. The heat exchange efficiency decreases significantly. Everyone is welcome to continue the discussion. As a supplementary note: the heat exchanger does not have a core puller, but from the side where the floating head cover was removed, there are no issues with the tube bundle. The noise stopped after replacing the gasket.