초록 ▼

Built-up deposits on the top surface of a tubesheet and on adjacent tube sections in a tube bundle heat exchanger are removed by inducing vigorous turbulent flow of cleaning liquid radially along the surface of the tubesheet by repetitively and periodically injecting gas pulses into the liquid to fo

Built-up deposits on the top surface of a tubesheet and on adjacent tube sections in a tube bundle heat exchanger are removed by inducing vigorous turbulent flow of cleaning liquid radially along the surface of the tubesheet by repetitively and periodically injecting gas pulses into the liquid to form an expanding and retracting gas bubble proximate the plate center. The gas pulse rise time is smoothed by controlling the actuation time of a discharge valve and by a surge volume downstream of the valve to thereby avoid harmful pressure shock waves in the heat exchanger. The cleaning liquid is recirculated through an external filter loop to remove suspended foreign materials dislodged by the turbulent flow.

대표청구항 ▼

In a heat exchanger vessel of the type in which a bundle of flow tubes is supported on a tubesheet, a method for removing built-up components, such as sludge, adherent foreign matter and other unwanted contaminants, from the top surface of the tubesheet and from adjacent tube sections, said method c

In a heat exchanger vessel of the type in which a bundle of flow tubes is supported on a tubesheet, a method for removing built-up components, such as sludge, adherent foreign matter and other unwanted contaminants, from the top surface of the tubesheet and from adjacent tube sections, said method comprising the steps of: (a) establishing a pool of cleaning liquid in said vessel atop said tubesheet; and (b) periodically disturbing said cleaning liquid to create turbulent flow therein reciprocating radially inward and radially outward along said top surface and between said adjacent tube sections to dislodge the built-up components and suspend them in said cleaning liquid.