Indian Journal of Fertilisers, Vol. 12 (5), pp.

68-69 (2 pages)

Development of Suitable Drills to De-choke the Tubes of Heat Exchan er

S.N.Sinha !
and I
Vijai Kumar Bangar
National Fertilizers Limited, Vijaipur, Guna, Madhya Pradesh 473111
Abstract
Shell and tube heat exchangers are a vital part of the process in which these are installed and their cond tion
can significantly affect the process economics in several ways. During the operation, deposition of salts t kes
place on inside surface of the heat exchanger tubes which decreases its heat transfer. NFL carried out h dro-
jet cleaning of tubes of final stage cooler of air compressor in Ammonia-! p lant during March/April- 015
shutdown. During hydro-jet cleaning, around 150 numbers of tubes were observed badly choked w ith 1ard
scaling/ deposition. On detail inspection of choked tubes, it was observed that tubes were choked almost p to
2.5 meter 1::ngth. The representatives of external agency expressed WKHaU inability as they do not have the drill
of required leng th for de-choking. Options of chemical cleaning, replacement of tubes, p lugging of ch ked
tubes, etc., were explored. Mechanical department proposed to try WKade-choking of the tubes mechani ally
by drilling method and in case it did not wo rk, then tubes could be ; lugged. Since, time was available and
with in-house effort, it was decided to p roceed for de-choking of tube by drilling method. With efforts the
tubes were de-choked successfully without an y damage to tubes. Th article details the procedure ado ted
for de-choking of tubes by drilling method.
Key words: Shell and Tube heat exch anger, de-choking, heat transfer, tubes, scaling, deposition, dri ling
method .
Introduction sh e ll and tube type exchang r tubes, it was observed tha t t bes
h av ing air on its · s h ell side and were choked almost up to 2.5 eter
NFL Vijaipur ha s two units- cooling water on tube side. Tu~e length . Then it was thought t de-
Vijaipur-I and Vijaipur-II, both side has two p asses. The tub~s choke the tubes m ech ani ·ally
ha ving reassessed capacity of are of integral fin type o f SS-304 w ith the help of an outside a ncy
1520MTPD ammo nia and material of cons truction. M/s. NICCO Engineering, Kota who
2620MTPD Urea. Vijaipu r-1 and are pioneer in sealing on line
Vijaipur-II we re co mmissioned in The exchanger is in op e ration
leakages and generally use long
December, 1987 a nd March, 1997 since its commissioning in 19a7
m ec hanical drills. However the
respectively. Arrimonia Plants a re w ithout any trouble. During t~e
re presen tatives of the ag ncy
based on M/s. HTAS's s team op e ration, depos ition of sa lts
expressed their inability as th do
reforming of natural g as while takes place on inside s urface ? f
not have the drill of required 1· ngth
urea plants are ba se d on M/s . the tubes thus decreasing its hell t
for de-choking.
Saipem's ammonia s tripping transfer. Therefore, to restore ifs
technology. The p lants were heat transfer rate and to keep tqe Apar t from ab ove, pokin g ith
revampe d in 2012-13 with exchange r in health y and re liab~e solid rods was trie d but wa not
revamped capacity of 1750MTPD condition, the tubes are clean11d hel pful.
ammonia and 3030MTPD urea with H y dro-j e tting process to
remove the deposits . The outside The other al ternatives to re olve
for Vijaipur-1 and 1864MTPD the problem are given below:
ammonia and 3231MTPD urea agency is engaged for Hydr -
for Vijaipur-11. je tting of tubes . 1. Cleaning by special mecha 1ical
cleaners wi th help of ou side
Hydro-jet cleaning of tubes of fin al expert agency
1
The process air compressor of stage cooler of air compressor w~s
Ammonia-! plant is 4-stage, high undertaken during March/Ap r\1- 2. To do the chemical clean i1 g to
sp eed and centrifu gal type. 2015 Ammonia-! s hutdown. remove the choking
Comp ressed air discharge of its However, durin g hydro-jb t 3. Replacement of the tubes with
each s tage is cooled with cooling cleaning, around 150 numbers of new tubes
water in the in ter-stage cooler tubes were observed badly chok~d
before delivering to next s tage. The with hard scaling/ d eposition p£ 4. Plugging of choked tubes
compresse d air from L.P. (low acid insoluble=46.89%, Ca f!S Feasibility of each of the a ove
pressure) s tage discharge is Ca0=19 .80%, Mg a s Mg0=5.6%, alternatives was explored as riven
cooled through inter-stage cooler Phosphate as Pp5=3.88% , Loss of below:
(E1424) before delivering it to H .P Igni tion=22.53% and sand etc. De-
(hig h pressure) stage fo r further choking of these tubes was initia\ly 1. Cleaning by Sp cial
compression. This is conventional tried by increasing h yd ro-jet Mechanical Cleaners
pressure but it was not s uccess£ 1. 1

It would have been time

snsinha@nfl.co.in On d e tail ins p ec tion of chok d con suming process as a co tract
Indian Journal of Fertilisers, May 2016
68

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