Developing a proof of cleaning concept for a heat exchanger manufacturer

Business Need

We were approached by Alfa Laval, a leading provider of products used in heat transfer, separation and fluid handling to conduct a trial cleaning of its brazed plate heat exchangers.

The company often works collaboratively with many industries to optimise efficiency, reduce emissions and increase yields and has a strong ethos to reshaping the energy landscape and create a more sustainable value chain.

The objective of the project was to determine if Alfa Laval’s stainless-steel brazed heat exchangers could be cleaned of contamination.

Our Role

We hosted a representative from Alfa Laval at our site for a week whilst the testing was carried out, and a cleaning methodology was considered.

Applying our decades of experience in a range of cleaning solutions, and knowing that the contaminate could be oil, scale or carbonised material causing either a partial or full blockage, we set about devising a robust solution.

We developed proprietary flushing technology using a closed circuit of chemicals. For the scale contaminate this was an acid solution whilst for oil we used CB100, an aqueous eco-friendly industrial cleaner and degreaser, which required a pneumatic pump to flush the chemical through.

The Outcome

Through our extensive testing and cleaning expertise we developed a flushing methodology to first remove lose contamination and break blockages.

Despite this cleaning process not being conducted previously, we were able to demonstrate that the Alfa Laval heat exchangers could be cleaned, rather than buying new. At a cost of £20,000 to £50,000 to purchase, we were also able to deliver significant cost savings to companies utilising these heat exchangers.

Following the creation of the proof of cleaning concept with the manufacturer we’ve been commissioned to clean a number of these heat exchangers for a range of companies and testers.

If you have a part that is difficult to source or expensive to replace contact our team to discuss our proof of cleaning concept capabilities or explore the services and cleaning solutions we already provide.