Mechanical, Chemical, and Hydrodynamic Cleaning Methods: what is the better solution?

Various deposits appear on internal surfaces of boilers, heat exchangers, heaters, pipelines in the course of their operation. This results in degradation of their performance characteristics, impairs throughput, and accelerates their failure. Different cleaning methods are used to avoid the accumulation of significant deposits and extend the equipment service life. The following effective methods may be highlighted:

• mechanical;
• chemical;
• hydrodynamic.

The mechanical method consists in the manual removal of deposits using expedient means. This cleaning method is very effective and is the cheapest one. It should be used, when contamination is easily separated from pipe or equipment walls, and you need the fastest and most inexpensive cleaning method.

The chemical cleaning method provides for the use of chemicals that dissolve deposits or react with them transferring the deposits to a semi-liquid state. Then the deposits are removed by means of a conventional mechanical filtration or simply flushed. The chemical cleaning method is perfect for cleaning pipelines from grease and other similar contaminants. However, it may damage expensive equipment.

The hydrodynamic cleaning is carried out using a special-purpose high-pressure unit. This method is used to remove any kind of scale and deposits. The deposits formation rate slightly decreases following the equipment hydrodynamic cleaning. A great advantage of this method over the mechanical and chemical ones is that there is no damage to equipment, while its service life increases significantly. In other words, this method perfectly suits for cleaning expensive equipment. At the same time, it is also the most expensive one.

The cleaning of equipment or pipelines is an essential operational measure that shall be carried out regularly. The cleaning method selection depends on the deposits thickness, equipment type and economic feasibility of using some of the methods. Therefore, the contaminated equipment or pipeline shall be investigated prior to cleaning to determine the qualitative composition and degree of contamination.