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Conco's Liquid Nitrogen Cleaning Excels at French Plant |
Conco is pleased to share the outstanding work of Conco Systems SPRL, who successfully cleaned a well-known refinery located near Le Havre in Western France.
Conco technicians serviced a tube bundle exchanger with the NitroLance Liquid Nitrogen system. In less than three days on a tight schedule, Conco successfully removed over 1300 kg of deposits.
The job required flexibility and quick adaptation to the cleaning needs and requests of the plant, from cleaning tubes to cleaning the exchanger shell to drilling open 50 completely blocked tubes.
The project achieved dynamic results typical of Conco applications. The project was:
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FAST: Completed in a three-day window - a fraction of the fourteen days required for conventional cleaning
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SMALL: Just three experienced technicians were required on-site
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CLEAN: Liquid nitrogen evaporates, leaving no secondary waste and less clean-up
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The Smooth Tube Benefit |
Clean condenser tubes are vital to achieving optimal unit performance. While there are several options of tube cleaning, it is important to choose the most practical and cost effective method. Tube fouling can drastically reduce a unit’s efficiency, but Conco TruFit cleaners thoroughly clean the tube fouling, returning the condenser and exchanger to optimal performance.
As an added benefit, cleaning also smooths the tube’s internal diameter. Rough tube surfaces cause problems associated with increasing friction coefficients and accumulate deposits faster and tend to pit more than smooth surfaces. Smooth tube surfaces improve performance by:
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 Improving heat transfer of the tube wall reduces operating temperatures, increasing circulating velocity and improving heat rates.
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Eliminating heat loss - siphon recovery of the circulating water reduces the pumping power needed by increasing circulatory efficiency.
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Increasing the length of time between tube cleaning by reducing the rate of redeposition.
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Reducing excessive pitting caused by turbulence and bubble implosion.
Conco cleaners are custom designed for each tube. More than 50 custom-fitted Conco cleaners match the tube’s exact inside diameter. Unlike high pressure water or chemical cleaning, Conco cleaners remove deposits, clear obstructions and retard pitting while polishing the tube inside diameter surface. The smooth tube benefit is a significant value to Conco customers. Conco removes more deposits and leaves the smoothest surface in the industry!
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2012 World Refining Technology Summit |
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Congratulations to Conco's Frederic Bedoret, who presented on NitroLance liquid nitrogen cleaning applications at the World Refining Technology Summit last month in Brussels, Belgium!
The World Refining Technology Summit assembles leaders and representatives from the biggest oil and gas refining companies in the world to discuss and share industry issues and innovative technology. Conco was grateful for the opportunity to speak on the unique and ground-breaking technology of the NitroLance and liquid nitrogen cleaning.
Check out the presentation: "Heat Exchanger Deposit Removal Utilizing Pressurized Liquid Nitrogen" >>
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Tube Cleaning
Conco created the world's first offline mechanical tube cleaning system, and our technology has safely and effectively cleaned over 150 million tubes worldwide. We don't rely on two or three cleaner designs and hope that they remove your deposits, we've engineered over a dozen cleaners with fouling specific architecture that provide effective cleaning tube after tube. |
Leak Detection Services
Conco provides both condenser tube leak detection as well as air inleakage detection for our power generation clients. Our teams can quickly mobilize to find leaks and save your plant money. Heat exchanger tube leaks can cause serious problems to your boiler and turbine, so don't delay in calling us to locate the source of your tube leak. With over 30 years experience in leak detection you can rest assured we'll find your leak. |
Nondestructive Testing
In addition to effective cleaning, regular performance of eddy current testing can help your plant eliminate the risk of a forced outage due to an exchanger tube leak. Our eddy current testing teams can find tube defects BEFORE they can cause a costly outage. Don't wait until the damage is already done. Just one unplanned outage can cost you more money than a complete eddy current inspection of your entire heat exchanger! |
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