PRODUCTION IN COLOMBIAN ETHANOL PLANT RISES CONSIDERABLY AFTER CONCO CLEANING

TYPE OF PLANT: Ethanol production plant

COUNTRY: Colombia

CLEANING DATE: March, 2014

NUMBER OF HEAT EXCHANGERS: 2

NUMBER OF TUBES: A: 643 tubes, B: 343 tubes

DIAMETER: 3/4 “

BWG: 12

LENGTH: 4000 mm

MATERIAL: Stainless Steel

TYPE OF CLEANING: Mechanic

EQUIPMENT USED: Mitee Mouse ll, Hydrodril Tube Cleaning and

ProSeries 200B Pump System

CLEANERS USED: C4S

SOURCE OF WATER: Lake

An ethanol plant located in Colombia produces ethanol using palm oil. This process uses 5 heat exchangers with water flowing through the tubes and oil through the shell side. The water used in this process is taken from a lake nearby.

PROBLEM: Due to the sediment of calcium in the cooling water, two of the five heat exchangers were totally blocked, affecting the normal performance of the equipment, reducing their efficiency and causing several problems in the generation process.

SOLUTION: Due to the critical status of heat exchangers A and B, and the short time available to perform the service, the strategy used to unblock and clean the tubes according to Conco’s recommendation was: first unblock each tube using the Mitee Mouse II, the HydroDrill Tube Cleaning System, and then clean the tubes shooting cleaners using the Conco ProSeries 200B Pump System. The work was executed by our authorized representative in Colombia.

RESULTS AFTER THE CONCO CLEANING: Using this method and technique gave the crew the ability to remove a total of 150 kg from both heat exchangers, considerably improving the vacuum pressure as described below: