Cleaning heat exchangers in one of the largest biogas plants in Germany with the JetMaster system from mycon

At the beginning of September, Kipp Umwelttechnik GmbH was also able to contribute to the proper functioning of the plant. The task was the cleaning of heat exchangers. More specified it was about 30 square meters strongly calcified heat exchangers. Those heat exchangers already lost noticeably efficiency, which led to a significant increase in operating costs.

"After the heat exchangers have been cleaned, the performance of the table coolers is nearly the same as the values immediately after the installation. The employee of Kipp Umwelttechnik did a really good job. Even after half of the cleaning, much greater success could be seen than after the last cleaning operation.“

^{Georg Vernickel Plant Engineer at Nordmethan GmbH (Today Weltec BioPower GmbH)}

"We are very satisfied with the cleaning of the heat exchangers. We will use Kipp Umwelttechnik’s services in  other locations as well.“

^{Sven Staffa Operations Manager, Nordmethan GmbH (Today Weltec BioPower GmbH)}

Cleaning heat exchangers with the JetMaster-Process

Cleaning strongly calcified heat exchangers – more precisely table coolers – is a particularly challenging task. Table coolers consist of axial ventilators underneath the ventilators are tubes surrounded by sensitive lamellas. The distance between the lamellas and the floor is usually 50 to 100 cm. A refrigerant or a liquid to be cooled, is passed through the tubes. Due to the density of the lamellas, the space are difficult to reach for cleaning. The more the lamellas become polluted, the higher is the required energy to reach the desired cooling capacity.

The heat exchanger cleaning at the plant in Arneburg, commissioned by Nordmethan GmbH (Today Weltec BioPower GmbH), consisted of table coolers with ten axial ventilators and a lamella area of around 30 squaremeters. According to the operator of the plant, cleaning by another service provider last year was not very successful, so the planned cleaning interval could only be met very closely.

In many cases, heat exchanger cleaning is carried out by means of a spraying process with chemicals. This type of cleaning consumes considerable resources and is not environmentally friendly. Success is also not always achieved. Cleaning with high-pressure cleaners also consumes considerable water resources.

Here mainly two problems exist:

1. the jet often does not penetrate the entire construction depth of the heat exchanger, so it is only superficially cleaned, and
2. the dense jet can also quickly damage the sensitive lamellas when it is subjected to an oblique impact.

Kipp Umwelttechnik GmbH successfully carried out the heat exchanger cleaning with the aid of the JetMaster process and additional combination devices from the sister company mycon GmbH. A special advantage of this process: Kipp Umwelttechnik GmbH was able to clean the heat exchangers while they were running. It was not necessary to switch off the table coolers.

Having heat exchangers cleaned has other advantages for the operator in addition to reducing operating costs when done professionally:

• Deep cleaning extends the cleaning interval
• The operating time of the heat exchangers is extended, as less corrosion occurs due to the almost completely removed fouling

Cleaning service for heat exchangers in biogas plants

mycon offers – mostly nationally and internationally patented – cleaning systems for servicing biogas plants:

JetMaster and JetBoy for cleaning finned heat exchangers
TubeMaster for mechanical cleaning of tubes/tube bundle heat exchangers
PowerMaster for mechanical cleaning of demountable plate heat exchangers
SpeedMaster for cleaning with brush effect
FluidMaster for flush cleaning of non-dismountable plate heat exchangers
FilterMaster for the separation-free, waterless cleaning of catalytic converters/exhaust gas particulate filters

Additional video links about JetBoy SP

JetBoy SP removes even heavy oil contamination from a bus radiator

JetBoy SP effortlessly blasts through the stack of oil and water cooler

FluidMaster

The FluidMaster is also designed for the cleaning of large-volume heat transfer apparatus in terms of performance and tank size. The system is controlled and completely monitored by PLC.

The FluidMaster continuously measures the volume flow, the pressure, the temperature and the pH value during the cleaning process. The concentration of the cleaning solution is also automatically readjusted by the PLC.

After cleaning, the cleaning medium is neutralized in the heat transfer apparatus and the surfaces are inhibited. This is followed by another check of the volume flow and the pressure. The cleaning process is fully recorded by the FluidMaster. The documentation is available to the customer in any desired form.

Flush cleaning of non- detachable plate and shell-and-tube heat exchangers

Kipp Umwelttechnik GmbH advises customers from all industrial sectors on the appropriate cleaning chemical, which is precisely matched to the cleaning requirements and the materials of the surfaces.

Christopher Schulte, Chemists M.Sc. Head of Service Heat Transfer Systems at Kipp Umwelttechnik GmbH:

"The FluidMaster is an extremely powerful unit. Due to the simple operation – only the selection of the corresponding cleaning program on the display of the system is required – the processes are greatly simplified.  The automated cleaning sequence also virtually eliminates operating errors. The FluidMaster can also be used for  large-volume cleaning. The standard volume of the cleaning tank of 500 liters can be easily adapted to the required volume by means of extensions.

For smaller, hard-to-reach cleaning tasks, Kipp Umwelttechnik GmbH alternatively uses the MiniFluidMaster with a weight of significantly less than 100 kg. The Mini-FluidMaster is also manufactured by the sister company mycon GmbH. This results in flexible solutions for almost all cleaning requirements in the flushing of heat exchangers. Together with the alternative mechanical cleaning processes JetMaster, Tube-Master and SpeedMaster in various configurations, Kipp Umwelttechnik GmbH offers efficient and effective solutions for all conceivable cleaning requirements in heat transfer systems.
The sewage treatment plant of the city Bad Oeynhausen had problems on the shell side with the heat transfer of its shell-and-tube heat exchanger for heating the sewage sludge before it enters the digester. Here, the sewage sludge is heated to a temperature of 40°C in order to achieve better digestion in the digester. The heating is carried out with hot water from the company’s own combined heat and power plant.“

Herr Beermann, plant manager of the wastewater treatment plant of the Bad Oeynhausen:

“The cleaning of the exchanger by Kipp Umwelttechnik GmbH went smoothly and took only a few hours. The cleaning was successful and improved the heat transfer by over 50 percent.“

Purchase and rent

mycon offers all prospective customers for JetBoy and JetBoy SP a "test month" for rent. If the device is subsequently purchased, the rental fee for the test month will be credited in full against the purchase price.

ControlMaster, JetMaster, JetBoy and JetBoy SP are also available on a rental basis for versions without compressed air for almost any desired period (minimum rental period 1 week). mycon delivers the respective equipment in special transport boxes. Rented equipment can be returned safely and without any problems.

Cleaning as service

Kipp Umwelttechnik offers individual cleaning solutions exactly for your heat transfer system. You receive cost- and energy-efficient cleaning – environmentally friendly and gentle – in high cleaning quality.