How to clean heat exchangers?

Cleaning of heat exchangers polluted with (partly) organic contaminations like cokes, plastic, oil, paint, rubber, food etc. still is a major problem for many companies. The need of parts' cleaning is found in each and every industrial branch. Some take it as a daily necessity; others consider it an incidental procedure in times of calamity, turnaround or shutdown. Apparently it is just part of the game, but nevertheless it should be done as quickly as possible and as best one can. In most cases this is very often related to the available knowledge of the known cleaning techniques.

As a result of the ever increasing quality of final products, the search for longer running times, the need for better cleaning results and cutting down costs or due to more stringent environmental laws and procedures, most of the traditional methods of cleaning, like chemical or high-pressure cleaning, are sometimes no longer adequate.

Here I want to introduce a new tech of cleaning heat exchangers.

Pyrolysis is the thermal conversion of organic materials in an oxygen-poor environment. At a temperature below 400°C (750°F) the organic materials are converted into a homogeneous residue, ready for further controlled processing.

At such high temperatures higher hydrocarbons are decomposed into components with a much lower molecular mass, resulting in pyrolysis gases (ethane, ethene, propane, propylene), pyrolysis oil which contains aromatic components and a carbon-rich residue.

The pyrolysis gas as well as the oil is transformed into carbon dioxide and vapour, because of partial oxidation. This phase is exothermic, at which 40% of the released energy is re-used to decompose the organic material.

A very important factor in the process, together with a steady heating and cooling, is maintaining a constant temperature, in order to prevent damage to the parts that are to be cleaned. This is also important in order to avoid unwanted (waste) gaseous fractions.

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