Innovation is helping to speed up the cleaning and servicing of industrial sites. Here’s how the automated 5 lance system can help.
In oil, gas and chemical industries, sites require periodic shutdowns or outages to clean and service their operating plants to improve their efficiency, as well as the integrity of the equipment. Shutdowns - as the name suggests - requires the site to close, meaning there is a hold on production. It is therefore important for these businesses that shutdowns are completed quickly and correctly. As innovation has progressed over the years, this has become much more achievable in the industry. One example is within the refinery industry.
Cleaning preheat trains
Preheat trains are key components of the refining process. Each train contains several tube bundles that form a heat exchanger, allowing two liquids with different temperatures to exchange heat as part of a chemical or oil production process. With liquids passing through, it is common for material to build up inside the tubes, reducing the amounts passing through and potentially contaminating the output.
To avoid this, the tube bundles are thoroughly cleaned, inside and outside. Traditionally, the method of cleaning them was done manually, one at a time. At Veolia, we have an automated 5 lance system, that allows 5 tubes to be cleaned simultaneously and remotely, as the operator controls in a cabin above the system.
High-pressure hot water is powered through the tubes, with spinning jets that remove stubborn material from the inside. Once the interior is complete, the exterior of the tube bundle is also cleaned with high-pressure water jets.
What are the benefits?
For Veolia, safety is our main priority above all else. The use of remote-controlled high-pressure water jetting systems ensures that our workforce is taken away from the direct workface where high pressures can cause serious accidents, if not managed correctly.
For the client, the use of a 5 lance system on large heat exchangers means that we can operate at 5 times the speed of a standard single lance operation and therefore return the clean exchanger back to service much quicker. Using the system also provides IRIS clean standards so that the heat exchangers can perform at optimal levels, allowing for a much more energy efficient process to reduce the client's carbon footprint.
See for yourself: watch our Industrial Site Services team using the automated 5 lance system
-Further Reading-
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