Kipp Umwelttechnik GmbH gently removes even the hardest residues from sensitive graphite heat exchangers using the TubeMaster process
A customer sent Kipp Umwelttechnik GmbH a graphite heat exchanger for cleaning. The 31 inner tube surfaces of the 3000 mm long tube bundle heat exchanger were covered with extremely hard, multi-layered residues. Mechanical cleaning was the only option for removing the residues. Such deposits cannot be removed by the use of chemicals.
Graphite exchangers are primarily used for corrosive media such as hydrochloric acid, sulphuric acid, lactic acid or hydrofluoric acid, but also for gases such as HCl gas, where they often have no alternative despite higher investment costs. Graphite offers high corrosion and heat resistance with good heat transfer. Graphite expands only slightly when heated.
The main advantage of shell and tube heat exchangers is the large heat transfer surface created by the individual tubes. In addition, shell and tube heat exchangers can be used not only as heaters, coolers or condensers, but also as evaporators and absorbers.
Cleaning with high pressure water was out of the question due to the relatively low compressive strength of the material compared to the deposits to be removed. Given the hardness of the residues, cleaning would have had to be carried out at very high pressure, which would have destroyed the pipes.
Kipp Umwelttechnik GmbH used a special application of the patented TubeMaster process. The special problem was that the hardness of the residues to be removed was much higher than the hardness of the graphite material of the inner pipe surfaces. However, the surfaces must not be damaged in the process. Kipp Umwelttechnik GmbH’s many years of experience in the field of cleaning shell and tube heat exchangers also made it possible to solve this task. The inner pipe surfaces were completely cleaned along the entire length and the heat exchanger was made available to the customer again.
Image source: Kipp Umwelttechnik GmbH
