In hydroblasting applications, water is pumped to pressures ranging from 10,000 to
40,000 psi in specialized pumps, and then conveyed through high-pressure hoses to
engineered lance assemblies that spray the high-velocity water directly on the exchanger
tube surfaces. This action is very effective at removing foulants from the tubes.
During unit turnarounds, exchanger bundles are typically removed from the shells
and sent to a centralized wash pad, where both tube-side and shell-side cleaning takes
place. Figure 11.1 shows equipment that is commonly used on the cleaning pad.
In some instances, removing heat exchanger bundles from their shells and sending
them to the wash pad is not practical. In these cases, specialized equipment is used to
“clean in place” (CIP). The CIP equipment must be highly portable and able to be
positioned in areas with limited space. Figure 11.2 shows examples of CIP applications.
Figure 11.1. Shell-side (a) and tube-side (b) hydroblasting equipment. (Source: Photos courtesy
of NLB Corporation.)
Figure 11.2.