Flexible Shaft for Power Plant Condenser Cleaning

Sir,

For cleaning the inside of tubes, it has been my experience that tube inserts, driven by air, can do the best job. they can be used on condensers with many tube lengths.

The inserts ( or bullets as they are sometimes called) come in many styles and types for various degrees of scaling and they can be used repeatedly.

They are suitable for cleaning multiple tubes at the same time, if multiple air guns are used. Results are consistent between tubes.

They have the significant advantage of taking the human element out of the cleaning process thereby eliminating accidents and damaged tubes.

http://www.concosystems.com/products/tube-cleaners

Please let us know about your final decision...... and good luck !

Can we use this for cleaning flue/water in tube type boiler tubes too?.

Thank you Mr. MJCronin for your reply.

Your reply is for cleaning the tubes with compressed or or high pressure water jet.

My point is for the FLEXIBLE SHAFT to clean mechanically. These shafts are made with thin wire and helically wound and usage for uni-directional or bi-directional use driven by a motor. The shaft length may vary from 2 Metres to 4 Metres.

Thanks,

DHAYANANDHAN.S

Look at the last PURCHASE ORDER for them. That document will TELL YOU.

What you describe sounds like a sewer rodder. Used to clear sewer lines of tree roots.

The flexible shafts have a tendency to "wrap-up" but recover as the debris is cleared.

The flexible shafts have a tendency to "wrap-up"

For home residential use I had this problem with a basement drain pipe. Putting the snake (flexible shaft) inside a garden hose cured that--the assembly of both was shoved into the pipe as far as the first bend.

When flexible shafts in the larger pipes have wrapping problems, perhaps putting them in some stiffer tube will help at least as far as the first bend.

The garden hose sounds logical, the phone guys use a snake with a tough nylon jacket.

Thank you Mr.unredundant for your reply.

It is for cleaning the Sugar Factory Evaporator and the Condenser for Turbine.

DHAYANANDHAN.S

MJCronin knows his stuff on this topic, but he left out another popular alternative: Goodway Cleaning Systems. Google them.

Actually, depending on what the scale material actually is, you might find the following:

(1) if Calcium Carbonate based, then glycolic acid or inhibited hydrochloric acid at sufficient dilution will work best, and you will not need to scrape or have rotating brushes.

(2) if Calcium Sulfate based, then you may need to try several different cleaners, although hydrochloric acid will work but slowly, and with poor results. Alkaline EDTA might work on that one. If it consists of a network of interlocked crystals, then you will need strong concentration of polyelectrolytes to deflocculate the mass, and cause it to shed from the tubes.

(3) if Calcium-Magnesium-Potassium Alumino-silicate (clay) with iron cementum (such as I have in my plant), the only solution I have found is concrete cleaner/remover. This works primarily by deflocculating the interlocked crystals and supplanting surface edge charges with those of the polyelectrolyte. A light brushing still still be required, even with the best of cleanners.

As to the flexibility of the cleaning rod that holds the rotating brush, I do not know the specification, but any responsible company will have equipment to offer that will not destroy the tubes by operating within them. Heck you could even get by with a good stiff test tube brush sized correctly for fit, attached to a stiff tube of small gauge stainless steel, just keep moving the rod forward until it comes out the other end, then you can pull it back.