Heat Exchanger Maintenance
Inspection, fouling management and performance trending at a high level.
What this topic covers
Inspection, fouling management and performance trending at a high level.
Core thermal ideas
Maintenance strategies depend on exchanger type, fluid cleanliness and consequence of lost cooling.
Performance data can help identify when cleaning or inspection is justified.
Opening pressurized equipment or using chemical cleaning methods requires qualified procedures and is outside this site's scope.
System tradeoffs
Thermal duty and pressure drop interact: increasing velocity can improve heat transfer while increasing pumping demand.
What to monitor
Fouling, corrosion and mechanical integrity can reduce performance long before total failure.
Lifecycle perspective
Maintenance and inspection should use equipment-specific procedures and current pressure-equipment requirements.