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Atmospheric Residue in U-Tube heat exchanger

Atmospheric Residue in U-Tube heat exchanger

Atmospheric Residue in U-Tube heat exchanger

(OP)
Hello all,

It is "common practice / conservative design" not to use u-tubes for potential fouling fluids like atmospheric residue from crude distillation, in the thermal design it is considered by the fouling factor.
What are the reasons not to use u-tubes? since the flow in the U part is in same velociy, on the other hand there are now techniques to clean fouled u-tubes (see CONCO and others).

Thanks for advise.

Regards,
        roker  

RE: Atmospheric Residue in U-Tube heat exchanger

roker,
The common practice and conservative engineering approach will remain always valid, particularly when the consequences of failure are considerable. However, the conservative engineering practice does not exclude U-tubes in fouling service, provided careful design is applied. If the consequence of blocked/fouled tubes in the exchanger would only be an additional outing for cleaning (and you have the confidence that your cleaning process gives an acceptable run between outages), the U-tubes are fine. Remember, mechanical cleaning can be applied for straight tubes, not U-tubes.
cheers,
gr2vessels

RE: Atmospheric Residue in U-Tube heat exchanger

Obviously, if the Conco system provides acceptable cleaning, the U-tubes are OK in your application. I have never used this "cleaner" before, but seems to be effective at work. I also hate to think of plugging a U-tube because of a tube cleaner stuck in the bend..
cheers,
gr2vessels

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