Condensers

            Mr. Lieberman – Every summer we run out of condenser capacity. My problem is hardness

            fouling deposits in the tubes. But I cannot shut-down. What do you recommend?

 ---Harry, England

Harry – Step 1 is to blow air or N₂ into the cooling water inlet. Do this every day for ten minutes. It helps prevent accumulations of hardness deposits. Step 2 is to back-flush the exchanger. The bigger the back-flush valve the better. Step 3 is acid cleaning. This is done on-stream using inhibited HCl (10%). Carefully neutralize acidified water with NaOH as it leaves the condenser.

---Norm