Mechanical Cleaning

Hydromechanical decoking of fired heater tubes

Service.

Hydromechanical decoking is a major method of dealing with decoking and removal of petroleum coke, inorganic deposits from the coil-tubes’ inner surface in the fired heaters/furnaces of oil refining and petrochemical plants.

Hydromechanical cleaning allows renewing the initial design capacity in heater passes flows, extruding during the first decoking physical obstacles, remains of rebar, pipes, which commonly remain after initial installation.

Fragments of foreign metal objects and backing rings

Pipe connection unit D=89 mm and D=141 mm pyrolysis oven, before and after treatment

Process. Aq Turan applies the method of mechanical decoking only with the assistance of scrappers with soft cores that are own-produced. At the end of every successfully performed work, we provide specially constructed scrappers for the heater tubes. Our team consists of a group of worldwide pigging specialists, including original start-up personnel from the introduction of “Soft Core” Technology. This expertise has significantly upgraded all phases of the Mechanical Decoking Operation to give the client the best tech.

Scraper replacement procedure

Advantages:

  • High cleaning efficiency
  • Reduction of work performance time
  • Safety of work performance
  • Significant economy of energy resource during decoking
  • This method guarantees the removal of extraneous objects from inside heater tubes sections, which could have been left during the first installation or annual maintenance and which cannot be removed with steam-air decoking methods.
  • An option to complement the procedure of mechanical decoking with ultrasonic probe inspection.

Hydrojetting

Service. Hydrojetting is highly effective in removing various residues from the surfaces of process equipment by the effect of water jet with high kinetic energy.

Field of application. Hydrojetting cleaning is suitable for the following equipment:

HEAT EXCHANGERS

  • Shell and tube heat exchangers : U-shaped, with a floating head,
  • Spiral heat exchangers;
  • “tube in tube” heat exchangers,
  • Waste heat boilers.

PIPELINE EQUIPMENT

  • Diameters from 50 to 3000 mm;
  • Section length up to 600 m;
  • With up to 10 bends of 90o;

TANK EQUIPMENT

  • Column equipment (oil refineries, petrochemical plants, etc.);
  • Soaking reactors (in visbreakers);
  • Reactors (PVC, ABS, polystyrene);
  • Traps and separators (manufacture of polyethylene and polypropylene);
  • Tanks, vessels, railway tanks.

Process. The efficiency of the operation of this method is important, not only in the speed at which a jet of water hits the surface to be cleaned but also its amount, occurring at this time. Thus, changing the parameters of pressure and flow of water pumped through the nozzle, fast and high-quality results can be achieved.

Cleaning of the space between the tubes of the U-shaped heat exchanger bundle before and after treatment:

Cleaning of the spiral heat exchanger from the coke deposits:

Cleaning of the reactor from the formaldehyde resin before and after treatment:

In-tube space before and after treatment:

Cleaning of the in-tube space:

Cleaning of the spiral heat exchanger:

Hydrokinetic method of polymer sediment removal

Service. Hydrokinetic method helps to remove polymeric deposits.

Innovative method compared to others:

  • no chemicals used except pressurized water and highly effective sound pulses to remove polymeric deposits;
  • effective in everything from soft silicone to solid cobalt;
  • good at cleaning miles of subsea pipelines, totally blocked tubes, tight 180-degree bends, and oddly shaped bundles
  • no need for large spaces, scaffolding, and smaller or complete line breakdowns.

Deposits.

  • Asphalt
  • Calcium Carbonate
  • Coke
  • Crude Oil
  • Latex
  • Nylon
  • Polycarbonates
  • Polypropylenes
  • Poly Wax
  • Pulp

Process.

Examples of cleaning

Video cleaning examples

Advantages:

  • high speed and quality of the cleaning (the equipment downtime reduction);
  • no chemical agents used;
  • safety (remote control by one operator);
  • cleanness (all removed material is safely disposed);
  • mobility and compactness (fast deployment on small work site).

Field of application.

Hydrokinetics cleans:

Inner surfaces:

  • shell-and-tube heat exchanger tubes;
  • Transfer line pipes;
  • Pyrolysis furnace tubes.

Pipes of cooling/heating equipment, etc.