Product category:
Plant Inspection and Cleaning
News Release from: Tube Tech International | Subject: cleaning VCFE
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial
Team on 15 September 2005
VCFE Texas Tower cleaning time slashed
by 75%
Tube Tech faced several challenges winning the contract to clean a petrochemical plant Vertical Combined Feed Exchanger, otherwise known as a Texas Tower feed effluent heat exchanger
Tube Tech International faced several challenges winning the contract to clean a Vertical Combined Feed Exchanger (VCFE) otherwise known as a Texas Tower feed effluent heat exchanger at a petrochemical plant near Rouen in central France The client wanted a fast but effective clean without the waste generated by traditional methods
This article was originally published on Processingtalk on 19 Oct 2007 at 8.00am (UK)
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The Texas Tower in the platformer unit is invariably on the critical path and is a vital part of the operation but 10% of its 3,500 tubes were blocked by a hard, compacted scale.
Because lost production is costly in the oil industry, Tube Tech International was set the task of speeding up the cleaning of the 18-metre long tubes which have an 11.8mm internal diameter.
Safety and cost effectiveness were paramount.
Chemical waste, an unwanted by-product of traditional cleaning methods, also had to be reduced.
Use of high-pressure water jetting lances in the past had been a lengthy process and created dangerous hydraulic action within such small tubes.
Neither chemicals nor water jetting had provided a solution to clearing the heat exchanger tubes.
As no chemicals were to be used, the Tube Tech International team developed it's very own 7mm to 8 mm high-pressure micro lance system manufactured under license.
Tube Tech's own lance-feeding mechanism, because of its versatility, was able to accept the various diameters and lengths of lances.
A mix of ceramic and spinning darts were also used in conjunction with the Tube Tech Rotaflex system and rotating "Soft drill".
Benefits: Tube Tech International achieved the required high standard of cleaning in just 3 days a time saving of 75% on methods used by other traditional contractors which normally takes up 10 days.
With downtime running into hundreds of thousands of dollars a day, this was a vital cost-saving for the client.
The work was carried out safely because very little high-pressure equipment was utilised and, without chemicals, no noticable waste was generated.
The Tube Tech trained confined space team used breathing apparatus to avoid inhalation of dust or vapor.
Tube Tech Internationals Managing Director Mike Watson said: "We won the contract on our proven track record for innovation in this field.
With this particular contract we were challenged to develop a process that was faster, cleaner, safer, more cost-effective and produced less waste.
A day before we had been advised that a cleaning contractor had achieved a clean in 7 days in Australia so we were up against it from the start.
With a few adjustments we not only achieved all our goals but exceeded the client's expectations.
As with all projects, valuable lessons were learnt and we now feel confident we can clean similar sized VCFE units in less than 2 days".
A spokesman for the client said: "Historically, attempts using high-pressure jetting have taken seven to 10 days to clean Texas Tower tubes.
TTIL achieved a result beyond expectations and completed the project in 2.5 days; they certainly lived up to my expectations.
Lengthy downtime would have been expensive with the Texas Tower being on a critical path.".
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