Solutions for Industry
Experienced Heat Exchanger Cleaning, Repair, and Retubes
At Brimhall Industrial, we understand how important heat exchanger maintenance is to your operations. The following points summarize the most common heat exchanger repair or maintenance problems and how we can help you solve them.
Fouling Reduces Heat Exchanger Performance
Fouling is the build-up of minerals, organisms, coke, scale, or other substances on the heat transfer surfaces of an exchanger. Fouling increases the thermal resistance between the hot and cold fluids and increases pressure drop. This results in higher operating costs and lower product yields. In order to prevent these problems, periodic heat exchanger cleaning must be performed to remove the fouling. In order to assist our customers in keeping their heat transfer equipment performing well, Brimhall Industrial offers:
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Offsite chemical heat exchanger cleaning
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Offsite mechanical heat exchanger cleaning
Leaking Tubes & Gaskets
As a heat exchanger nears the end of its service life, leaks will form due to tube wall thinning and corrosion or movement of the tube-to-tubesheet joint. The leaks are usually stopped in practice by installing tube plugs in the tube openings. The obvious result of plugging tubes is that the leaks will temporarily stop, but other consequences are:
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The plugged tube is no longer available for heat transfer
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Tube holes in the tubesheet will likely be damaged
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Tube side pressure drop will increase and consume more pumping energy
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Tube side velocity will increase and accelerate tube wall erosion
During operation, it is sometimes necessary to plug tubes in order to make it to the next outage. However, as in the case of tube wall thinning, once one tube starts to leak, the other 500 tubes will be right behind it. A heat exchanger retube or replacement bundle should be ordered to reduce the costs associated with poor thermal performance and unplanned maintenance. Brimhall Industrial can help you keep your heat exchangers running by offering:
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Heat exchanger retubes, using existing tubesheets, baffles, and tie-rods
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Heat exchanger replacement bundles to match your existing bundles
Corrosion Shortens Equipment Life
The corrosion of pressure boundary materials can prematurely end the life of a heat exchanger. In order to prevent corrosion, the material surface must be sealed from the operating fluids during a heat exchanger repair. Brimhall Industrial is a distributor of A. W. Chesterton composite coatings and has successful experience in applying these to halt corrosion and extend equipment life.