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Maximising heat exchanger cleaning

Powerful chemical cleaning programmes reduce downtime and increase the


efficiency of heat exchangers

BERTHOLD OTZISK Kurita Europe


LADISLAV ÚRADNÍČEK Leader Technology

O
il refineries and petro- times still used in oil refiner-
chemical plants oper- ies and petrochemical plants to
ate with quite a large remove the organic portion of
number of heat exchangers. Reactor Furnace
deposits such as oil and grease,
Fouling is an omnipresent prob- followed by acid cleaning to dis-
lem, causing significant losses solve scale and soften deposits.
in energy recovery or generat- But the results with such clas-
ing an increase in pressure drop. Feed/effluent sical cleaning programmes are
Periodical cleaning is manda- heat exchanger often only moderate, and fur-
tory even if distillation equip- system ther mechanical cleaning is
1 Packinox heat exchanger
ment is well designed. If fouling 2 Texas Tower heat exchanger or
required with additional costs.
is observed, it can initiate a set of several heat exchangers The combination of alka-
series of downstream problems. line and acid cleaning is not
In many cases, heat exchangers Figure 1 Feed/effluent heat the method of choice when vis-
are taken out of service because exchanger network cous, tenacious materials such
of severe pressure drop increase, as heavy fuels or additives
not reduced heat transfer. with heat exchanger networks from upstream processes need
Heat recovery is essential in of at least six to 12 exchang- removing. High-performing
process units which are oper- ers installed horizontally. More aqueous cleaning programmes
ated with reactors. Typical common are Packinox plate from the Kurita CD series can
process units with feed/efflu- heat exchangers or Texas Tower significantly reduce downtime
ent exchangers installed are tubular heat exchangers, which with excellent results. Metal sur-
hydrotreaters, hydrocrack- are installed vertically (see faces heavily fouled with oils,
ers, catalytic reformers, par- Figure 1). grease, tars, waxes, fatty oils or
affin dehydrogenation plants, Heat exchanger performance other substances are cleaned
paraxylene plants, and metha- can be restored by traditional without the need for costly
nol synthesis plants. Feedstock mechanical cleaning methods, organic solvents such as light
is heated to a high tempera- tailor-made chemical cleaning cycle oil (LCO), diesel or white
ture to be vaporised and reacted programmes, or a combination spirit. Water is sufficient for
with a gas, which in most cases of both. Mechanical cleaning the preparation of the chemi-
is hydrogen. The desired reac- of complex heat exchanger net- cal cleaning solution, which is
tion products and unreacted works using high pressure circulated with suitable equip-
gases are de-superheated and cleaning technologies can take ment. Heat exchanger networks
condensed for separation. several days. Classical alkaline are cleaned in a few hours, with
Some process units still operate cleaning procedures are some- deposits and sticky layers dis-

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solved into the aqueous cleaning exchangers as the large welded
solution. Hot condensate, heat transfer bundle cannot be
Chemical cleaning pro- water, steam
perfectly cleaned mechanically.
grammes such as Kurita Kurita CD Tailor-made chemical cleaning
Series
CD-9931 offer a number of programmes from the Kurita
advantages when it comes CD series are used when very
to cleaning complex heat efficient cleaning results are
exchanger networks (see Figure required.
2): When the HAT goes up, the
• Significantly reduced down- Packinox plates or Texas Tower
time for cleaning tubes are dirty and need to
• Less labour intensive work Mixing and be cleaned. If the reason for
circulation tank
compared to mechanical cleaning is a high differential
cleaning pressure and the Packinox or
• Cleaning solution reaches Figure 2 Chemical cleaning of heat Texas Tower tubes are coked
inaccessible areas exchanger network up (carbon deposits), a chem-
• Metal surfaces are not ical programme will not be
mechanically damaged construction are stainless steel very effective. By using a con-
• Cleaning can be done in situ. (SS316 or SS321), titanium or trolled combustion procedure,
highly corrosion resistant auste- coke deposits can be removed
Texas Tower and Packinox heat nitic steel in a carbon steel shell from the plates or tubes. But
exchangers (see Figure 3). more often, the fouling material
Texas Tower tubular feed/ Feed/effluent exchangers consists of sticky hydrocarbon
effluent heat exchangers are are frequently cleaned during deposits such as polynuclear
installed in an upright position, planned shutdowns when the aromatics (PNA), ammonium
with two exchangers usually pressure drop or hot approach salts and, in many cases, iron
connected in series to provide temperature (HAT) reach a oxides. Here, a powerful chem-
good heat recovery. Generally, certain level. The thermody- ical cleaning programme is the
such heat exchangers do not namics of heat recovery can be method of choice.
show significant pressure drop determined by superimpos-
increase, which is why they are ing curves showing the heat Case study 1
often not cleaned during every demand of the reactor feed and In a European refinery, the
shutdown. But when perfor- the heat release of the reac- Packinox plate heat exchanger
mance drops, serious conse- tor effluent. Texas Tower and of a catalytic reforming unit was
quences may occur. Packinox feed/effluent heat chemically cleaned for a tech-
Packinox is the brand name of exchangers require more clean- nical check and maintenance
Alfa Laval with the largest type ing effort than classical heat work (see Figure 4). In general,
of welded plate heat exchanger the manufacturer Alfa Laval rec-
design currently available any- ommends two possible cleaning
where in the world. Just one methods: ‘fill and drain’ or ‘cir-
combined feed/effluent plate culation’. A number of technical
heat exchanger after the reac- requirements and instructions
tor is usually sufficient to cool have to be complied with for
down the hot gases. All heat safe cleaning. Steps must there-
transfer takes place inside the fore be taken to ensure that shell
large welded bundle block and combined feed side pres-
inside a pressure vessel, so no sures are always higher than the
process fluids circulate in the effluent side pressure.
shell itself. Such heat exchang- Packinox Texas Towers
Under the supervision of
ers have a very compact struc- Leader Technology, which spe-
ture, and can operate as high as Figure 3 Packinox feed/effluent heat cialises in chemical cleaning,
550°C. Common materials for exchanger and Texas Towers blind flanges were installed.

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These were equipped with fit- energy recovery and increased
tings for liquid level tubes, fill heat transfer efficiency to
and drain nozzles, and nitro- reduce energy consumption
gen injection. Via flexible hoses, and emissions. Following all
the fittings on the blind flanges guidelines and instructions, the
were connected to the mix- Packinox shell and combined
ing and circulation tank to pro- feed side and the effluent side
vide a circulation loop system. were filled and drained in the
Following manufacturer guide- correct order.
lines, the shell and combined During the circulation step
feed side was always filled first, Figure 4 Packinox plate heat exchanger with the Kurita CD-9931
before the effluent side was cleaning solution, Leader
treated. At a later time, the efflu- maintained by adding soda ash. Technology stopped the pump
ent side was drained first, before Every hour, a sample was taken for about 30 minutes. The
the shell and combined feed side to check the appearance, pH, valves of the combined feed
was treated. conductivity, chloride and iron side and effluent side were
Stress corrosion cracking concentration. opened to perform nitrogen
(SCC) of the high quality alloys After around 10 hours, the bubbling in order to obtain
might be possible when they dirty cleaning solution was a mechanical cleaning effect.
come into contact with oxygen drained and the Packinox rinsed Then the two valves were
(air), water and sulphur species with clean water plus the addi- closed again and the circulation
such as H2S or metal sulphides. tion of 1.5 wt% soda ash for pump restarted for some hours.
Based on the NACE Standard about 60 minutes. In this part of After drying, the Packinox heat
RP0170-97 to provide protec- the cleaning procedure, the soda exchanger was handed over
tion of austenitic stainless steels ash solution was used as a passi- to the customer for inspec-
and other austenitic alloys from vation step to provide a protec- tion in a very clean condition.
polythionic acid stress corro- tion layer on the metal surface. All requirements were fulfilled
sion cracking, a 1.5 wt% soda After 5 bar steam was added with results to the customer´s
ash solution was prepared with for about one hour to remove satisfaction.
condensate at a temperature remaining volatile gases, nitro- The rinsing operation after
range of 40-45°C. Following all gen was blown from the top to drainage of the cleaning solu-
instructions and guidelines, the the bottom for about 10 hours as tion was performed with 1.5
Packinox plate heat exchanger a drying step to avoid any cata- wt% soda ash, diluted in dem-
was filled in the correct order lyst poisoning with water after ineralised water. Final dry-
and the aqueous solution circu- restart of the process unit. After ing was once again done with
lated via a mobile mixing and cleaning, a hot approach tem- nitrogen, which was blown
circulation tank as a ‘pre-flush- perature of 37°C to the custom- from the top to the bottom for
ing step’ to neutralise the acidic er´s satisfaction was achieved at 10 hours.
components. After one hour, full capacity.
this solution was drained to the Conclusion
sewer system and a fresh 1.5 Case study 2 Heat recovery in heat
wt% soda ash solution was pre- The Packinox plate heat exchanger networks is essen-
pared with condensate. After exchanger of a catalytic reform- tial during shutdowns. Hydro-
ensuring adequate circulation, ing unit was chemically cleaned blasting technologies might
Leader Technology applied the by Leader Technology, fol- take three to five days for clean-
cleaning agent Kurita CD-9931 lowing all operating instruc- ing, and traditional alkaline/
to the soda ash solution for cir- tions and guidelines for safe acid cleaning methods often
culation and removal of the and complete cleaning. The show only moderate results.
viscous, tenacious fouling mate- aim of the cleaning was again Tailor-made modern clean-
rials. The target pH range of the the preparation of a clean ing concepts are the method of
chemical cleaning solution is heat exchanger for a techni- choice when inaccessible areas
8-9.5 and a pH of about 9 was cal inspection with maximised must be cleaned.

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Texas Tower and Packinox Further reading Managing Director of Leader Technology
heat exchangers require more 1 Speight J G, The Chemistry and spol. s r.o., Slovakia, a company specialising
cleaning effort, with chemical Technology of Petroleum, Fourth Edition, in chemical cleaning of complex heat
exchanger networks, decontamination of
cleaning programmes showing 2006, CRC Press, ISBN 0-8493-9067-2.
2 Jafari M, Iranshahi D, Rahimpour M R, refinery devices and ultrasonic cleaning
significant benefits. Downtime
Progress in catalytic naphtha reforming of various types of industrial filters with
is reduced with less labour nominal apertures of 0.5 to 25 microns.
process: a review, Applied Energy, 2013.
intensive work, and cleaning 3 Aitani A, Catalytic naphtha reforming, Email: LT@LTECH.sk
can be done in situ without Encyclopedia of Chemical Processing,
damaging the metal surfaces. 2006. LINKS
Up to 70% cost reduction is
Berthold Otzisk is Senior Product
possible when expensive sol- Manager for refinery and petrochemical More articles from the following
vents are not needed and water applications with Kurita Europe, Germany. categories:
can be used to circulate the Email: berthold.otzisk@kurita.eu Corrosion and Fouling Control
cleaning solution. Ladislav Úradníček is the Chairman and Heat Transfer Mass Transfer

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