Cleaning heat exchangers

Finned heat exchangers and spiral finned tubes of every type and construction depth

Cleaning large surfaces with combination JetMaster & JetPower

mycon GmbH developed the JetPower for cleaning large surfaces. JetPower allows fast cleaning of large-surfaces and heavily soiled finned heat exchangers and also all types of glass and façade surfaces. Thanks to the new system combination of JetPower & JetMaster, whose spray pattern can be set to up to one metre, large surfaces can also be treated inexpensively. Here, too, the system only works with compressed air and water with no chemicals.

Finned heat exchangers

Finned heat exchangers are used in many areas e.g. for industrial cooling systems, cooling engines, in refrigerated warehouses and in air conditioning units. They are the most commonly used energy transfer systems.

The global share of the total energy consumed across the world is significant and totals approx. 20%. In developing countries, the energy requirements for air conditioning is rising by about 7% every year. According to forecasts, this growth looks set to continue until the year 2050. Improving the efficiency of these systems by just 5% would have considerable impact when looked at from a global perspective.

Finned heat exchangers quickly become dirty as a result of sand, dust, pollen and other suspended particles in the environment. The dirt forms an insulating layer that has a significant impact on energy efficiency, quickly causing energy costs to rise by 10-20% or more.
Also, the corrosion caused by the soiling reduces the service life of the equipment.

In the past, finned heat exchangers were usually cleaned by spraying chemicals followed by the use of compressed air. The cleaning results of this procedure are often not satisfactory and also pollute the environment or pose a threat to employees.

Another method is to use high-pressure cleaning equipment, usually at a relative low pressure, and with additional chemical cleaning agents. However, the dense water jet can bend the sensitive finns very quickly, especially if the water hits them at an angle, and is also not able to completely penetrate the finned heat exchangers if these are installed at greater depths. The front part does get cleaned, but not all of the inner surfaces. In addition, this method requires a lot more water than our JetMaster method plus the fact that it contains polluting cleaning agents.

Plate heat exchangers of every type and size

Cleaning plate heat exchangers of every type and size with PowerMaster.

The blasting procedure PowerMaster works with compressed air, small quantities of water and, if necessary, additional water-soluble sanding agents.

To this end, an environmentally-compatible and water-soluble granulate is added directly to the compressed air jet. Just before the granulate exits the nozzle, it is wetted with water to increase the kinetic energy. The soft granulate does not corrode the surface or only results in minimal corrosion of the surface.

Plate heat exchangers that cannot be dismantled are treated with a combination of chemicals and the mechanical process.

Shell-and-tube heat exchangers of every type and size

Non-abrasive cleaning of the insides of tubes with the TubeMaster for tubes with diameters of between 4 and 150mm.
TubeMaster uses dry ice or selected special granulates for certain jobs to ensure effective cleaning of heat exchangers and pipes.

TubeMaster is the first choice for non-abrasive cleaning of the insides of tubes. With dry ice, soft granulate or special hard granulates, it also has an added polishing effect.

The procedure can be specifically set to the respective needs and materials.

Depending on requirements, TubeMaster works with a jet pressure of between 4-10 bar. The cleaning effect is primarily restricted to the nozzle area and can be used in closed circuits with a filtering effect. Experience has shown that thorough cleaning with the TubeMaster and, in particular the additional option of polishing the insides of the tubes, greatly improves the temperature compensation and significantly reduces the energy costs. Polished surfaces have also proven to extend the operating times until the next cleaning interval.

TubeMaster is a dry cleaning method and can therefore also be used where the use of high-pressure waterjets could cause damage, for instance when cleaning sulphur condensers. If water were used here, this would produce sulphuric acid that would remain in subsequent processes and ultimately destroy the tubes. However, dry cleaning using brushes or pigs does not always produce the required results. TubeMaster easily removes stubborn encrustations from the pipes in this field. The TubeMaster is primarily used on shell-and-tube heat exchangers. We have experience in cleaning and polishing the insides of tubes made of the following materials: