During chiller operation, the cooling water system is influenced by factors like water quality, temperature, and air quality, leading to scale formation and fouling over time. This scaling reduces performance, increases energy consumption, and can cause under-deposit corrosion, shortening the chiller’s lifespan.
Annual water quality management helps prevent hard scale on copper tubes, but fouling like ooze requires physical cleaning. Traditionally, this involved thorough pipeline cleaning after shutdowns, but the automatic ball tube cleaning system offers a more efficient solution. It cleans fouling during operation, keeping the tubes clean and ensuring sustainable, high-efficiency chiller performance.
An Automatic Tube Cleaning System (ATCS) provides numerous benefits for chiller systems:
- Lower Electricity Consumption: Keeps tubes clean for optimal heat transfer, reducing energy use.
- Reduced Maintenance and Downtime: Minimizes manual cleaning needs, lowering maintenance costs and downtime.
- Lower Water Treatment Costs: Reduces the need for chemicals by preventing scale and corrosion.
- Increased Chiller Capacity and Stability: Ensures maximum performance and consistent operation.
- Extended Tube Lifespan: Protect against damage, prologing tube life.
- Quick ROI: Cost savings lead to rapid payback.
- Easy Installation and Ongoing Support: Simplifies setup and ensures continuous system efficiency.
This system enhances efficiency, reliability, and cost-effectiveness, making it a smart investment.
Working Principle
The Automatic Tube Cleaning System (ATCS) operates on a simple yet highly effective principle designed to keep heat exchange tubes clean and free from fouling. The process begins by introducing specially designed spongy rubber balls into the system. These balls are slightly larger in diameter (about 1-2 mm) than the internal diameter of the copper tubes within the heat exchanger, and their wet specific gravity is nearly equal to that of water, allowing them to move freely with the water flow.
Here’s how the system works:
- Ball Strainer: The rubber balls are first placed into a ball strainer. The ball injecting pump then sends these balls from the strainer into the heat exchanger.
- Heat Exchanger Cleaning: As the rubber balls enter the heat exchanger, they are propelled through the copper tubes by the pressure difference between the inlet and outlet of the circulating water. As the balls travel through the tubes, they are squeezed tightly against the inner walls, effectively scrubbing away any fouling or deposits that have accumulated. This mechanical action ensures that the inner surfaces of the tubes remain clean, allowing for optimal heat transfer efficiency.
- Fouling Removal: The loosened fouling and debris are flushed out of the tubes by the water flow, ensuring that they do not re-accumulate or cause blockages within the system.
- Ball Collection and Recirculation: After cleaning the tubes, the rubber balls are carried by the water flow into a ball collector. From here, they are directed back into the ball strainer by the ball collecting pump, ready to begin another cleaning cycle. This continuous cycle of ball injection, tube cleaning, and ball collection keeps the system running efficiently without the need for manual intervention.
By maintaining clean heat exchange tubes, the ATCS significantly improves the performance of the chiller system, reduces energy consumption, and extends the lifespan of the equipment. The entire process is automated, ensuring that the system remains efficient with minimal maintenance requirements. This method of cleaning is highly effective in preventing scale buildup and maintaining the long-term stability and efficiency of the chiller system.
