When shutting down the furnace tubes for cleaning, is manual cleaning or mechanical rust removal better?
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Our atmospheric and vacuum distillation unit features a cylindrical furnace; the furnace tubes are made of 316L material. In recent years, it has been running entirely on natural gas and gas. During shutdowns, manual cleaning is carried out, that is, the furnace tubes are cleaned with wire brushes. Now we want to use power rust removal, that is, to use a angle grinder for rust removal – will this damage the furnace tubes? Has anyone done this before?
There is no need to do this; in heating furnaces that use gas as fuel, there is very little ash accumulation in the furnace tubes, unlike those that use heavy oil as fuel, where manual cleaning is sufficient.
The small device should be cleaned manually; steel wool must not be used, a special copper brush is required, and angle grinders are absolutely forbidden to avoid damaging the furnace tubes
There’s no need to use a natural gas stove, right? With heavy oil stoves, the horizontal tubes tend to get covered in ash, and it’s not easy to clean them. I guess you’re not trying to clean the ash from the radiation tubes, are you?:'((:'(:'(:'(:kiss:Learned*
When stopping the furnace tubes for ash cleaning, is manual cleaning or mechanical rust removal better? For small furnaces, manual cleaning is preferable to protect the furnace lining, while chemical cleaning can be used for the convection section.