Furnace Tubes (USX/TLX) Cleaned in Record Time

Combined high pressure water jetting, rotary mechanical de-scaling and ultrasonics systems

Summary

A European polyethylene manufacturing site required a de-coke of their USX /TLX furnace tubes to as near to 100% as possible. Tube Tech had solved other heat exchanger cleaning challenges on their site and called Tube Tech again, as local water jetting contractors could only ever cleaned to about 60% , failing to achieve suitable cleanliness leaving uneven coke on the walls of the furnace tube.

 

Challenge

• Previous contractors used high pressure water jetting @ 20,000 p.s.i. to clean the TLX / USX furnace tubes but scale always remained leaving a “key” for fouling to build up again
• Previous contractors had taken 6 shifts to de-coke the 12 x 6” >1.5”  USX/TLX furnace tubes.
• Client required a bare metal finish with simultaneous inspection to ensure maximum heat transfer.
• Tubes were fouled with hard furnace coke. The changing internal diameter meant that studded pigging was not an option. Steam air decoking also had not worked.

 Solution

• Tube Tech assured that furnace tube decoking could be completed within 2 shifts.
• A semi automated decoking system would remove the coke in a uniform manner and within record time.
• The Furnace tube decoking system combined a “3 in 1” system including high pressure water jetting, rotary mechanical de-scaling and Ultra Sonics. All systems de-coking at the same time.
• Tube Tech removed the hard, coke deposits from inside the USX / TLX furnace tubes with only 2 passes down each furnace tube.
• Furnace tube decoking was completed within the 2 shifts quoted.
• Tube Tech always mobilise 4 different Furnace Tube De-coking to cover all eventualities.

 

Tube Tech comment

 Mike Watson, Managing Director:  “We appreciated the importance of a uniform clean when decoking furnace tubes and have first hand experience of using traditional 1000 and 2500 bar water pressure which in many cases is not enough to de-coke the layers of coke within the tubes. Our WysperJet™ furnace decoking system combines 3 systems in one cleaning head in other words what one system doesn’t remove, the next system will. This decoking system ensures 100% tube heat transfer surface area is cleaned.

Clients can be contacted via Tube Tech for references.

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