The Importance of Heat Exchanger Cleaning
Posted in Uncategorised, on August 24, 2015 By Admin
If not maintained properly, industrial processes and equipment can be subject to failure. Regular heat exchanger cleaning can help to significantly improve efficiency and reduce downtime, thus helping to keep costs under control. When a heat exchanger fails, it can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars for repairs and shutdowns.
In order to take the greatest advantage of heat exchanger cleaning, it should be performed regularly and on a set schedule. It should be noted that the proper timing of maintenance routines may be based on a variety of factors, based on the specific type of heat exchanger that needs to be cleaned. Such factors could include recommendations by the manufacturer or could be defined by the maintenance team onsite.
Routine heat exchanger cleaning helps to prevent sediment and deposits from building up and eventually reaching levels that would become damaging and result in the entire plant from needing to be shut down. By combining inspection and cleaning routines, it is possible to make certain that equipment is completely operational while also meeting regulatory standards.
If your plant does not have a routine heat exchanger cleaning schedule in place, it is important that you implement one as quickly as possible. By doing so, you will be able to significantly extend the time period between a forced clean, which can be more time consuming and expensive.
Preventing Performance Problems from Occurring with Routine Heat Exchanger Cleaning
In the event that your heat exchanger unit is not performing as it should, it can be difficult to accomplish regular maintenance. If anything should cause the surface of the heat exchanger to become blocked, performance of the unit could also be compromised. When such issues occur, correcting those problems can often be even more expensive than purchasing a new heat exchanger. For this reason, it is extremely important that a routine heat exchanger cleaning schedule be in place to prevent such issues from occurring in the first place. Preventive maintenance can ultimately provide a tremendous return on investment.
Some types of heat exchangers may need to be cleaned on a daily basis, while other types are able to operate a year or even longer in between cleaning schedules.
