- To achieve the cost-effectiveness that the client required, Tube Tech actually cleaned the WHRU in-situ on the platform.
- Mindful of safety and environmental considerations a system of rotary turbine cleaning heads was developed and these were delivered by an insertion tool custom-designed to negotiate multiple bends.
- To keep waste volume to a minimum a calculated burst of water was used and collected.
- Tube Tech’s expertise was key to the operation’s success because, during 2004, a companion WHRU (hot oil heater) had been removed from the platform and successfully unblocked and cleaned at Tube Tech’s UK headquarters.
- With the benefit of this previous onshore experience Tube Tech was able to suggest that the second WHRU (hot oil heater) could actually be cleaned just as effectively in-situ on the platform, thereby avoiding huge costs and logistical headaches.
- The work would be followed by a complete internal tube inspection of the coiled pipes within the WHRU (hot oil heater).
- The WHRU (hot oil heater) was returned to peak performance by Tube Tech who saved the client substantial time and money as a result of the cleaning and inspection being carried out in-situ.
- A clean and efficient waste heat recovery unit (WHRU) generates immediate benefits as a result of lower operating costs and emissions.
- Tube Tech’s unconventional approach, which allowed the job to be completed in just a few days, also meant that the hazardous operation of removing the unit from the platform and returning it after cleaning – normally a three-week process – was not necessary.