Wacon’s thermal balancing basin concept has a proven track record in Europe and Asia and optimizes the operation for both footprint and Capex. Most recently it is applied in combination with the Aquafan cooling tower for further energy savings in operational cost.Continue Reading
Watco Group developed an innovative solution that will improve chiller performance, maximise chiller efficiency as well as reduce fouling related costs by eliminating fouling and scaling and translating it into significant energy savings. One of the biggest energy consumer in most facilities are chillers which can usually consume more than 50% of the electricity. An efficient water management program is of utmost importance to control energy consumption, since the energy required for the chiller to operate accounts for a substantial amount of the facilities’ total energy requirements. Energy consumption depends on the efficiency of the chillers as well as the hours of operation, electricity cost, average load and the amount of fouling. Nevertheless, elimination of fouling and scaling is impossible, even when using the very best of water management programs. If the chiller are not efficiently running it will result in the following; Reliability of the equipment will decrease. Increase in maintenance intervals. Shortened lifespan of the equipment. A decrease in a chiller’s performance, even just a bit, can have a massive impact on its efficiency. For example, each increase of 1 degree Fahrenheit in the temperature of condenser water above full load design can decrease the chiller’s efficiency by 1 to 2 percent. A reduce efficiency of about 10 to 35 percent or even more will be the result of a neglected or failed water treatment program.Also, properly maintained condenser tubes will last significantly longer. When condenser tubes suffers from fouling, acid is used to remove the scales as well as abrasive cutters and steel brushes, which can shorten the life of the condenser tubes. It is quite expensive to replace these tubes prematurely. Investing in preventive maintenance such as the Eqobrush Automatic Tube Cleaning-Brushing System for Heat Exchangers and Chiller Condensers can prevent any extra these fouling related costs. What is Eqobrush? Eqobrush was created and developed to address the formation of deposits and other contamination at the microscopic level that occur during the regular process of operation. Fouling and scaling formation is avoided by high-frequency automatic tube brushing of heat exchanger cleaning or condenser tubes. Brushers nestled at each tube end regularly travel up and down the tubes, powered by the reverser water flow through the flow reversing valve. The contaminants at microscopic level will leave the system through a blow-down or a basin sump in the cooling tower. The system is intended to be integrated in the original plant installation or as a retrospective fit.Thus the necessity for plant shutdown, chemical cleaning, and physical cleaning is radically minimised. Aside from significant savings on energy consumption, the Eqobrush automatic tube cleaning system also provides substantial savings on other associated costs like process interruption or shut downs, chemical or physical cleaning and reduced water consumption as well. Benefits of Eqobrush The prevention of build-up of fouling in the heat exchanger has quite some advantages, such as: Reduce overall fouling related cost. Reduce electric energy consumption in chiller condensers. Reduce fossil energy consumption in industrial Heat Exchangers due to...Continue Reading
The system’s operational principal is simple. A flow reversal valve is installed between the cooling tower and the chiller. Brushes with catch baskets are installed on each tube inside the chiller. By reversing the water flow over the chiller briefly at regular (4-hour) intervals, the brushes travel up and down through the tube, removing all sediments and sending them to the cooling tower.Continue Reading
Condenser and heat exchanger tubes need to regular brushing in order to clean and get rid of build-up before scaling sets in. Eqobrush Automatic Tube Cleaning System keeps heat exchanger and condenser tubes in pristine condition without any interruption of operations. The formation of fouling and scaling can be avoided with Eqobrush brushing system’s high-frequency automatic brushing of the heat exchanger’s or condenser’s tubes for up to 6 times per day. Powered by the water flow through a flow reversing valve, the brushes which are inserted in the heat exchanger travel up and down the tube resulting in any sedimentation removed by the brushing system before it hardens. Therefor, the tubes are kept in top condition to achieve utmost performance at all times. No more interruptions of operations for mechanical or chemical cleaning. Components of Eqobrush The automatic tube cleaning system is designed to fit any heat exchanger, its components are the following: Cleaning brushes Standard brushes are made from PE caps with stainless steel wires and nylon bristles for application in water with temperatures of up to 60 ᴼC. Standard sizes are from 10 to 24 mm tube diameter. Depending on the fouling level of the cooling tower water, these brushes will last 3 to 5 years until it needs to be replaced. Different materials are available for special applications as well. Catch baskets PE baskets can be removed easily from the socket when required during inspection or brush replacement and reusable as well. Locked in operation to secure all brushes at the tube ends. The catch baskets come in different sizes to meet all tube diameters standards. Control Box The IP55-control panel carries the components required for the automatic operation. Any cleaning cycle interval from 15 minutes and 24 hours can be set. Additional cleaning-cycles can be initiated through the manual switch. Switching positions are fixed before delivery. Actuator Compact multi-functional actuator comes with end position switches and torque control in IP55 housing. The manual emergency operation is possible as well. Reversal Valve The special reversing valves of Eqobrush Automatic Tube Cleaning System are designed in the nominal size of 80 mm to 600 mm for nominal flow rates from 50 m³/h to 3000 m³/h. Automatic Backwashing System Automatic backwashing systems reverse the flow and backwash of the heat exchanger tube-and-shell or plate-and-frame exchangers. Pre-filtration can only remove large particles, while fine articles like silt, sand, mud and other suspended solids enter the plate heat exchangers and gather between the plates, which results in plugging and encourages scaling and pitting. The reversal valve of the Eqobrush Automatic Tube Cleaning System can be easily installed on the supply and return pipes. Without any operation interruptions, it periodically reverse the flow through the exchanger for a short time. The flow then returns to its normal direction after a short while, which is less than a minute. Periodic backwashing by means of an automatic backwashing system removes accumulated solids and allows considerably longer intervals between interruptions of operation for cleaning.Continue Reading
Eqobrush Automatic Tube Cleaning System is automatic online chiller condenser and heat exchanger cleaning system. It is designed and engineered to provide a solution in the formation of fouling and scaling that usually occurs during the normal process of operation. The brushing system is pre-programmable so it cleans fouling from piping without interruption or shutting down the equipment. In addition, fouling and scaling from pipes are avoided due to the various heat exchanger cleanings per day as well as allowing a pay-back period of less than 6 months from energy savings and capacity gains. Installing this automatic tube brushing system is simple and easy as it is designed to be incorporated in the original plant installation or as a retrospective fit. This will result in significantly minimising the need for plant shut down, physical cleaning and chemical cleaning. Aside from this, the heat exchanger cleaning system allows considerable savings on energy consumption and reduce water consumption. The Principles of Operation The automatic valves of the Eqobrush Automatic Cleaning System reverses the water flow in the heat exchanger every few hours for 30 seconds. The nylon brushes which are housed in baskets connected to the tube ends, are then pushed through the pips eradicating any fouling or scaling. Pressure loss is avoided as once the reversion is done, the brushes are the positioned in the baskets. Benefits of Eqobrush Eqobrush provides high cleaning to remove solid deposits often found in heat exchanger. The following benefits of using the automatic tube cleaning system compared to other well-known processes are as follows: Energy savings. Scale buildup can lead to an increase in power consumption for various fouling factors. Eqobrush heat exchange cleaning system allows substantial savings making a pay-back period on the investment of less than a year. Periodical maintenance of chillers is eliminated by the Eqobrush automatic tube brushing system which reduces costs of labor, chemicals and cleaning equipment as well as the exposure of people to harsh chemicals. Reduced water consumption. Because Eqobrush lets a higher level of salt concentration in the cooling water, blow-down volumes and suppletion water volumes are reduced resulting in savings in water and waste water costs. Optimal cooling performance guarantees equipment can run in top capacity. This brushing system is a simpler system at a lower investment. System maintenance and replacement cost are lower as well. All pipes remains clean. All pipes get brushed on every cycle with Eqobrush. Other processes such as physical cleaning, plant is required to be shut down and there’s a need to hire a specialist contractor not to mention the risk of tube damage. On the other hand using chemical treatment, will be more costly and can only provide a temporary solution which needs repetition of the process at regular intervals. Another alternative is the Sponge Ball System, but the biggest downfall of this heat exchanger cleaning system is that it tends to accumulate dirt and equalize this throughout the surface. Eqobrush automatic tube cleaning system is the best choice, not...Continue Reading
This article introduces two main ways of how your heat exchanger tubes can be cleaned. Heat exchanger cleaning is essential to keep your processing equipment at the required temperature and working efficiently. Heat exchanger fouling is caused by fouling and scaling that settles in the tubes and algae that inevitably grows as a slimy substance on the pipe walls. This reduces the efficiency of the heat exchange process and also reduces water flow in the cooling system as fouled tubes have a higher pressure drop. Eventually the heat exchangers get clogged. Soft residue starts solidifying into a hard residue within a matter of hours. This process is referred to as scaling. Scaled residues need-intense cleaning to be removed. If the tubes would be brushed before scaling kicks in, they are kept clean without too much effort at all times. Imagine, us not brushing our teeth 3 times a day. For those of us who don’t, they have had the rather unpleasant experience at the dentist cleaning the scaling. It becomes clear that maintaining a clean system is critical for its healthy long-term functioning and high-frequency cleaning has the best results. The regular manual heat exchanger cleaning route This means turning off and disassembling your heat exchangers and cleaning them manually. Chemicals are used to dissolve and clean the residue or brushes possible in combination with high-pressure cleaning are applied to remove the hard residue that is stuck tightly to the walls of the heat exchanger. This works, the only downside is that it’s a constant requirement for operating systems and that the performance constantly deteriorates between service interruptions.Because there is nothing to reduce the formation of various debris and residue, the fouling layer accumulates linearly, causing heat transfer and efficiency problems. Every stop of operations to clean the heat exchangers is expensive unnecessary downtime. The automatic heat exchanger cleaning route To prevent scaling from happening it is possible to insert brushes in the heat exchanger tubes. With a reversing valve using water pressure to send the brushes up and down the tubes every few hours, we have a constant cleaning process. Just as brushing your teeth regularly.EqoBrushis designed to do just that. As result of this constant cleaning, debris does not have the time to accumulate and solidify. This means that your heat exchangers stay at optimal performance all of the time. The EqoBrush system typically has a pay-back time of less than one year, as it lets the heat exchangers work at full capacity constantly. The reductions of energy and water consumption on top of limited use and disposal of chemicals provide a great ecological incentive for companies looking to reduce their wastefulness.Continue Reading
EQOBRUSH in the Chemical- and Petrochemical Industries. EQOBRUSH impact on Total Fouling Related Cost For over 50 years Automatic Brush Cleaning systems are popular in process heat exchangers as a tool to keep the tube walls in top-condition. Any normal heat exchanger will foul during operation. Fouling reduces efficiency and calls for cleaning sessions with interruption of operations. Between sessions the heat-exchange efficiency is progressively reduced up to the level where the heat exchanger becomes bottle-neck for production capacity of the operation. Unexpected shut down due to uncontrolled fouling is a substantial threat to the process industry with high expenses involved. Total Fouling Related Cost (TFRC) in processing industry is difficult to assess. Literature reports the TFRC at 8% of the total maintenance budgets and in addition up to 5% of energy consumed is used to overcome fouling.Continue Reading
WATCO Group is a supplier of water cooling systems in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, specializing in energy efficient cooling towers and water-cooled chillers. In order to be able to provide proof on the pudding, the group decided to provide a comprehensive monitoring system to monitor water temperature, fan speed, clean cycle count and cooler power consumption through remote monitoring and instant notification applications. While the available BMS (Building Management System) provides some functionality, the company and its local partners who have made a tough commitment to the customer can not get a variety of available monitoring systems. M-Box will allow monitoring of all WATCO-built systems in the world.Continue Reading
Often we are asked to demonstrate the electricity savings potential of our Eqobrush system in chiller systems. In this article we give an insight in how the potential gains from an automatic tube cleaning system can be easily assessed.Continue Reading