Chemical Descalers Make Cleaning Heat Exchangers Easier

Heat exchangers are used in a variety of appliances in our daily lives, including air conditioners, chillers, furnaces, boilers and condensers. They are also widely used in manufacturing environments and processing where shell and tube and plate and frame heat exchangers work to cool air compressors, oil pumps, extruders, food processing equipment and so much more.

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In the most basic terms, a heat exchanger is a piece of equipment, comprised usually of ether tubes or plate, that efficiently transfers heat from one medium to the other either heating or cooling.

The problem is that material deposits WILL accumulate on heat exchangers and reduce heat transfer, something that’s known as fouling.  These deposits can be biological in nature or most likely solid mineral deposits if water is used as a primary heat exchange medium. 

Fouling can be caused by various mechanisms. Engineering Page outlines the mechanisms as these:

  • Crystallization
  • Decomposition of organic products resulting in tar or cokes
  • Polymerization/oxidation
  • Settlement of sludge, rust or dust particles
  • Biological deposits
  • Mineral deposits (aka Lime Scale)
  • Corrosion

Any buildup that affects heat transfer clearly reduces the effectiveness of the heat transfer, which means your equipment will operate less efficiently, costing money – many time LOTS of money.

This inefficiency increases energy consumption and energy costs, creates wear and tear on your system, and can even increases plant downtime. Even a light coating of buildup can reduce heat exchange.

The best thing a facility manager can do to maintain the building’s heat exchangers is to perform preventative maintenance. Such maintenance should occur at least once a year, but varies greatly based on the type of heat exchanger you may be maintaining. Check the cleanliness of the heat exchangers and clean them if necessary.

To clean your heat exchangers, you can use Goodway’s Scale Removal System, which is a portable descaler with a 15-gallon tank. It’s constructed of heavy duty polyethylene and acid proof components, so the system will last for years when used in industrial applications.

The Scale Removal System successfully removes scale because of its Flow Reversal Valve. In the descaling process, lime scale dissolves, creating foam and gas, which can prevent further scale reduction.

But with the Flow Reversal Valve, the foam and gas is discharged into the tank, eliminating the issue and speeding up the descaling process. The Scale Removal System is effective at removing deposits from all types of heat exchangers.

For use within the Scale Removal System is Goodway’s ScaleBreak Liquid Descaler.

This industrial, biodegradable, descaling chemical safely dissolves deposits quickly, including calcium, lime, rust, lithium carbonate, as well as other types of deposits found in heat exchangers.

It’s safe to use on a variety of materials including brass, copper, plastic, iron, steel and rubber, and it’s ideal for using on heat exchangers. ScaleBreak is fortified with low-foaming wetting and penetrating agents, as well as corrosion inhibitors.

Using ScaleBreak will help improve the operating efficiency of your heat exchangers and lengthen the life of your equipment.

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19 comments


  • M R C Kanade

    Dear Sir Please give me lub oil cooler cleaning chemical details & supplier in india.

    With Rgards,
    M R CKanade

    February 9, 2014
  • Tim

    Please visit http://www.goodway.com and enter a contact us form. It will be sent to our export department who can help you.

    March 7, 2014
  • Thanks to give us the information about scalebreak i hope it will help improve the operating efficiency of our heat exchangers and lengthen.

    May 17, 2014
  • Tadius

    Good Morning Sir/Madam can you give me please about details chemical for cleaning the cooler plate heat exchangers.Thank you

    December 10, 2015
  • Is hydrochloric acid your preference when cleaning stainless steel equipment, such as tube and shell heat exchangers? What is you preferred base for neutralizing the acids you use?

    December 11, 2015
  • Tim

    No, most definitely not. HCL (hydrocloric) can cause severe pitting on stainless surfaces. Your best bet is a solution using phosphoric acid, like our ScaleBreak-SS which is formulated for use with stainless steel. Neutralizing can also be done with a variety of alkaline materials. Our scalebreak neutralizer works well. However, don’t forget that your acid can be reused as long as the ph is under 2.

    April 18, 2016
  • Tim

    here’s a good link on our descaling solutions

    April 18, 2016
  • Hamid Mahmood

    About Cleaning of Aluminum Oil Cooler, with the information I have collected is rinsing the tubes with De Ionized water and then cleaning/rinsing with Carbon Tetra Chloride.I have not tried it and i will certainly look for feed back or any information that can be helpful.

    October 26, 2016
  • Rohit Dey

    Does your company sell ScaleBreak Liquid Descalers in India? Do you have any distributor in India?

    November 7, 2016
  • Tim

    Please contact us through our website at http://www.goodway.com for complete information and quotes.

    February 2, 2017
  • Kriangkrai

    Do you have distributor in thailand?

    March 28, 2017
  • Tim

    Please visit us at https://www.goodway.com/contact-us/distributor-locator and fill in the form for more information.

    April 20, 2017
  • Do yoou mind if I quote a few of your posts as long as I provide credit and sources back
    to your webpage? My blog is in the exact same area of interest as yours and myy usrs would really benefit from a lot of thhe information you provide here.
    Pleasse lett me know if this okay woth you. Thank you!

    May 18, 2018
  • Ferry

    Hi,
    Just want to ask how to clean/descale of Heat Exchanger with detail as follow :
    – Type : Shell & Tube
    – Length : 4m
    – Media inside tube : fried oil / cook oil
    Media outside tube (inside shell) : steam
    – Purpose : for noodle factory

    Pls kindly help :
    1. What kind of chemical/material and also tools required for cleaning of that HE ?
    2. What is the method / how to do the cleaning process.

    Thanks in advance for the help & advice
    Ferry

    March 29, 2019
  • Ajmal

    Kindly suggest how to remove scale from SS u-tube exchanger

    Do you have dealers in Saudi Arabia for Descalers

    August 2, 2019
  • Hamid

    Hi there is anyone can tell us which chemical we can use to maintain our heat exchanger is UAE and if any supplier here please send there contact details.
    Thanks & Regards
    Hamid

    September 30, 2019
  • Oliver OConnor

    Hi, I need to clean a stainless steel cooling plate that uses hard well water which contains very fine dark rock particles.
    The manufacturer recommends suphuric acid.
    Can you recommend a product that I can buy in Ireland.
    Tks. Oliver.

    January 16, 2020
  • Great post!
    Simple and to the point of how to get the efficiency back.
    Cheers

    March 20, 2020
  • Could you advise if a chemical for descaling a water cooled condenser with copper tubes is available in Singapore.

    May 19, 2022

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