Some Causes And Treatment Methods Of Industrial Heat Exchanger Failure

Some Causes And Treatment Methods Of Industrial Heat Exchanger Failure

This Industrial heat exchanger failure can be caused by many reasons.The following highlights some causes and treatment methods adopted that can be taken.

Cause 1:Seal Leakage At Flange

• Flange - without sufficient rigidity and sealing surface defects.

• Flange - no flat or misaligned, gasket - bad quality.

• Insufficient pressure-bearing, gasket - corrosion and deterioration.

• Insufficient bolt strength, loosening or corrosion.

Treatment Method

• Replace the flange or deal with the defect.

• Reassemble or replace the flange and the gasket.

• Tighten the bolt and replace the gasket.

• Upgrade the bolt material, tighten or replace the bolt.

Cause 2: Internal Leakage - Two Kinds Of Media Inter-string

• Floating head Heat Exchanger - Floating head flange seal leakage.

• Heat Exchanger tube - corrosion perforation, cracking.

• Heat Exchanger tube and tube plate expansion port (weld) cracking.

Treatment Method

• Tighten the bolts or replace the sealing gasket.

• Replace or plug the leaky heat exchanger tube.

• Heat Exchanger tube and tube plate re-expansion (welding) or plugging.

Cause 3:Poor Heat Transfer

• Heat exchange tube - scaling.

• Water - bad quality, oil and microorganisms.

• Separator - short circuit.

Treatment Method

• Chemical cleaning or jet cleaning of scale.

• Reinforcing the filtration and purification medium and strengthen the water quality management.

• Replace pipe box gasket or the bulkhead.

Cause 4:Severe Vibration

• Resonance caused by medium frequency or external pipe vibration.

Treatment Method

• Change the flow rate or the inherent frequency of the pipe bundle.And strengthen the pipe to reduce the vibration.

Cause 5:Resistance Drop Exceeds The Allowable Value

• Fouling inside the shell, inside and outside the tube.

Treatment Method

•  Clean the scale with jet or chemical.

Cause 6-1:Tube Bundle Failure

• Tube bundle corrosion, wear caused by tube bundle leakage or tube bundle scaling caused by blockage failure.

Treatment Method

• Add scale inhibitors to the cooling water and clean it regularly.

• Keep the fluid flow rate in the tube stable.

• Choose corrosion-resistant materials (stainless steel, copper) or increase the wall thickness of the tube bundle.

• When the end of the tube wears out you can access synthetic resin and other protective tube bundles in the inlet 200mm length.

Cause 6-2: Vibration caused by the failure.

• Vibration of the tube bundle caused by the vibration of the pump and compressor.

• Pulsation generated by rotating machinery.

• Flow into the tube bundle of high-speed fluid (high-pressure water, steam, etc.) on the impact of the tube bundle.

Treatment Method

• Reduce the number of openings and stops.

• Install adjustment grooves at the entrance of the fluid to reduce the vibration of the tube bundle.

• Reduce the distance between baffles to reduce the amplitude of the bundle.

• Reduce the aperture of the tube bundle through the baffle.