Restoring the efficiency of Kharg Petrochemical Heat Exchangers with Abrizan Chemical Washing

A sudden drop in the outlet temperature of heat exchangers caused by hard marine deposits is the nightmare of every technical manager in the petrochemical industry, which directly leads to the shutdown of the production line. But what is the solution? By implementing a smart chemical washing operation at Kharg Petrochemical, the expert team of Abrizan Industrial Research Company was able to restore the efficiency of 9 plate exchangers to the design point in just 10 days; a task that traditional methods required a month for each device to do.

The Big Challenge: When Marine Deposits Take the Breath of the Facility

As one of the oldest and most strategic complexes in the country, Kharg Petrochemical was facing a serious challenge in its water treatment unit and utility systems. The plate heat exchangers, which were responsible for the vital task of cooling process water using seawater, were severely clogged.

The presence of a large volume of marine pollution and hard calcium carbonate deposits had become the main obstacle to heat exchange. The key performance indicator of these exchangers, the temperature difference (Δt), had dropped from the designed value of 10°C to a worrying figure of 2.5 to 5°C. This drop in efficiency had put the production chain at risk of capacity reduction and even shutdown.

Before the arrival of the Abrizan team, the maintenance protocol for these exchangers was based on purely physical methods. This process included the following:

• Separation of individual exchanger plates
• High-pressure water jetting to remove deposits
• Reassembly of the device

This method was not only very time-consuming (about a month for each device to be serviced), but also carried the risk of damaging the gaskets and changing the dimensions of the plates. In a situation where the speed of returning to production was the top priority of the Kharg Petrochemical management, a faster, safer and more effective solution was needed.

Abrizan Solution: Targeted Chemical Cleaning with Mitreh Products

After technical discussions and a detailed analysis of the deposits by Abrizan’s advanced laboratory, it was determined that the deposits were mainly carbonate. Therefore, the use of specialized acid cleaning solutions from the Mitreh brand was chosen as the best option.

The main advantage of this method was the ability of the chemical solution to penetrate all the narrow channels of the exchanger without the need for complete disassembly. Abrizan’s executive team controlled the process of dissolving the deposits by closely monitoring parameters such as pH, temperature and concentration of the materials.

Stunning results: 10 days instead of 30 days

The implementation of this project demonstrates the power of Abrizan’s engineering solutions:

1. Unparalleled speed: 9 exchangers were serviced and cleaned in a short period of 10 days.

2. Return to design zero point: After cleaning, the temperature difference of the exchangers (Δt) returned to 10°C, indicating the removal of about 100% of the deposits and the complete restoration of thermal efficiency.

3. Management approval: The results were fully approved by the management of the Kharg Petrochemical Complex and the managers of the process and technical units.

Frequently Asked Questions About Plate Exchanger Cleaning

Does chemical cleaning damage exchanger gaskets?

No, if standard chemicals such as Mitreh products are used and the process is carried out under the supervision of Abrizan experts, there is no damage to the gaskets. On the contrary, frequent opening of exchangers for physical jetting reduces the life of the gaskets.

Why does the Δt of exchangers decrease?

Calcium carbonate and biological deposits act as a thermal insulator. The thicker the deposit layer, the less heat transfer between the hot and cold fluids and the lower the inlet and outlet temperature difference (Δt).

What is Abrizan's competitive advantage?

The combination of 20 years of technical knowledge, a laboratory equipped to accurately identify the type of deposit and the production of specialized chemicals (Mitreh), allows us to provide a customized solution for each petrochemical, as you witnessed in the successful Kharg project.

Conclusion: Invest in efficiency, not just repairs

The Kharak petrochemical project proved that replacing traditional and time-consuming methods with smart chemical washing not only saves huge amounts of downtime, but also increases the useful life of the equipment. Returning Δt to 10 degrees means returning profitability to the production line.

If you need expert advice to identify the type of scale or the optimal selection of chemicals, Abrizan Company’s specialists, with over 20 years of experience in advanced laboratories, are ready to provide customized solutions to various industries.