Heat exchangers are pivotal to efficient operations in petrochemical plants, refineries, HVAC systems, and other industrial processes moving heat between fluids. However, heat exchangers can experience potentially catastrophic failures without diligent maintenance, leading to extensive downtime and revenue losses of over $15,000 per day, as per industry surveys.
By following vital maintenance best practices, companies can optimize longevity and prevent such disastrous heat exchanger breakdowns. This blog will cover the 12 most critical tips that industrial maintenance crews should follow to maintain peak performance and avert failures in various types of shell & tube, plate frame plates, fin fans, and other common heat exchanging equipment.
1. Monitor & Control Pressure Losses
A gradual rise in pressure loss indicates internal fouling, Corrosion, and wall thinning within the exchanger over time or even sudden tube leaks. Tracking trends via online monitoring helps detect issues early. It also allows taking preventative steps like cleaning or descaling well before efficiency deteriorates or pressure boundaries weaken to cause failures.
2. Ensure Proper Heat Transfer via Cleaning
External dirt or internal fouling severely affects heat transfer across the exchanger wall, leading to overheating failures in extreme cases. Based on usage and streams handled, companies must clean heat exchangers regularly via the best pressure washing services to prevent such failure modes.
3. Inspect for Corrosion and fouling
Periodic manual inspection by opening up the heat exchanger provides valuable visual evidence about corrosion spots, leak sites, scale deposition patterns, or biological fouling accumulating internally. It further guides targeted descaling or repairs to prevent future deterioration.
4. Validate Gasket Integrity
Compromised gaskets allow fluid leaks or contribute to structural instability during thermal or pressure stresses. Checking for any gasket degradation during routine heat exchanger maintenance and replacing worn-out pieces preemptively improves safety and prevents leaks.
5. Track Exhaust Gas Temperatures
Unusually high exhaust temperatures indicate losses due to internal fouling or scaling in furnace heat exchangers. It helps companies identify less efficient equipment requiring expert cleaning services for performance restoration.
6. Verify Optimal Flow Rates
Flow rates carry implications about velocity & resultant pressure losses, residence times affecting thermal performance, and vortex flows causing vibration issues. Ensuring nameplate flow rates are upheld prevents many mechanical and process problems.
7. Test for Leaks
Both liquid and stray air leaks impact the heat transfer rate, besides creating hazards. Companies must frequently pressure test exchanger tubes and pipe fittings for any perforations while also detecting vapor pockets if present.
8. Combat Biological Fouling
For cooling water and other streams prone to biofouling, specialized biocides or mechanical biofilm removal like sponge ball cleaning helps control such organic scaling and Corrosion issues before failures occur.
9. Manage Water Chemistry Against Corrosion
Maintaining proper pH, hardness, and dissolved oxygen levels via water treatment minimizes different corrosion mechanisms that try to penetrate the heat exchanger walls from process or utility streams flowing internally.
10. Isolate & Protect from Vibration
Excess shell or pipe vibration gets exponentially amplified across the many tubes in large heat exchangers. Careful mounting, isolation pads, and supports are necessary to prevent such destructive vibration effects over the years.
11. Document Operating Conditions
Operational parameters like temperatures, pressures, and runtime hours logged at the time of manual inspection provide useful diagnostics. Historical operating logs also help nail down specific causes in case failure investigations become necessary.
12. Work with Reliable Maintenance Partners
Specialized industrial heat exchanger cleaning companies offer vital support services from annual cleaning schedules to ensuring repairs, testing, and even upgrading heat exchangers to higher efficiency designs. Partnering with such expert teams is invaluable for sound heat exchanger maintenance.
Wrapping Up:
By upholding such well-rounded maintenance principles tailored for each heat exchanger, companies can derive decades of trouble-free performance while sidestepping any unplanned outages. For all professional heat exchanger assessments, cleaning, repairs, or upgrades, connect with Rock Hill Industrial – the leading heat exchanger cleaning company delivering both lasting benefits and process safety.