Proceedings of International Conference on Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning - 2015 (Peer-reviewed)

June 07 - 12, 2015, Enfield (Dublin), Ireland

Editors: M.R. Malayeri, H. Müller-Steinhagen and A.P. Watkinson
Published online
www.heatexchanger-fouling.com

MECHANICAL CLEANING IN PLACE OF HEAT

EXCHANGERS USING THE COMPREX® PROCESS

S. Immel1, J.C. Kuschnerow1, N. Klein1 and H.-G. Hammann1

1
Hammann GmbH, Zweibrücker Straße 13, 76855 Annweiler am Trifels, Germany
[email protected]

ABSTRACT
The impulse flushing process Comprex® originates
from pipe flushing in water distribution networks. In this
process, a section of the piping is shut-off and cleaned by
water and air blocks of high velocity without any chemicals.
The same process allows cleaning technical equipment in
industrial systems like heat exchangers including flow and
return pipes without disassembling the system.
From economic point of view Comprex® is an efficient
method to rehabilitate the heat transfer capacity by
removing and discharging deposits.
This paper will describe the basic principle of the
Comprex® process and some typical applications in industry
from municipal water systems to different types of heat Fig. 1 Correlation between operating time, deposits and
exchangers and other technical equipment. The focus will be hydraulics using pressure drop.
laid on the presentation of an ongoing collaborative research
project, which investigates the in-situ application of the operating time
Comprex® cleaning method to plate heat exchangers in the
i) ii) iii)
process industry. Promising results for the cleaning of
biofilms and mineral deposits, as appearing in cooling water Twarm Twarm Twarm
systems, show the potential of this cleaning technology. Q ΔT ΔT ΔT
Tcool
INTRODUCTION Tcool
During operation of technical water systems, deposits Tcool

are formed by fouling processes according to the specific

conditions of the system. Examples for these processes are film wall film film wall deposit film film wall deposit film
crystallization fouling, particulate fouling and biofouling,
Fig. 2 Correlation between operating time, fouling and heat
see Müller-Steinhagen 2011. On the one hand, fouling
transfer: i) no deposits, ii) marginal deposits and iii)
affects hydraulic conditions. As cross sections are reduced,
thick deposits.
pressure drop and energy demand for pumping increase
(Fig. 1). On the other hand, heat transfer performance of
Principle of the Comprex® process
heat exchangers decreases due to deposits (Fig. 2). This
The Comprex® process is used for cleaning potable
correspondingly results in higher cost to maintain the system
water pipe systems for nearly two decades. In this process,
due to low in performance efficiency.
water and compressed air are used for cleaning, see
There are several methods to remove deposits formed
Kuschnerow, 2015. Fig. 3 illustrates this process. During
due to fouling processes. For cleaning plate heat exchangers,
cleaning the Comprex® unit produces, controls and injects
chemical cleaning in place (CIP) is typically used in
purified compressed air into the system. In special cases an
industry. Another common option is mechanical cleaning
inert gas like nitrogen can be used, e.g. to prevent an
using high pressure cleaners after disassembling the heat
explosion hazard. Gas and water are injected into the system
exchanger. But these methods produce produce either
via adapters and hoses in defined quantities. During
chemical waste or require complex & time consuming
cleaning, the remaining parts of the system are isolated by
procedures. Cleaning plate heat exchangers using the
closed valves.
Comprex® process, both of these disadvantages can be
avoided.

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Expansion of compressed air in the system effects an

acceleration of water blocks, which pass the system with Cleaning a system using the Comprex® process, it is
high velocity. Typical velocities found in piping systems are possible to keep all system parts in place. There is no
about 15 to 20 m/s. This high flow velocity results in necessity to disassemble the system. Shutdown times can be
removal of fouling material of the system using high shear minimized. With this process, it is efficient to clean systems
forces. After passing the system, water containing mobilized preventatively or according to the actual conditions. Fig. 4
deposits is discharged via adapters, hoses and a special shows a cleaning cycle of a technical system based on the
discharge unit. Frequently discharged water can be treated actual condition of the system. First due to fouling the
by sedimentation of deposits in a tank. In special cases the performance level decreases during operating time until a
Comprex® process can even be applied online while defined performance level is reached. Continuing operation
continuing operation of the system, e.g. for cleaning of the system would result in damage. By a short-time
municipal water pipelines, see Immel 2014. The pressure of cleaning of the system, the performance level can be
the impulses is kept below the pressure of operation of the restored close to the reference value.
pipe of heat exchanger.
Research project “WÄRMER”
technical system
closed valve piping closed valve
heat exchanger This paper presents first results of an ongoing collaborative
equipment research project called “WÄRMER”, see “WÄRMER-
...
water
website”. This project investigates the cleaning of plate heat
exchangers in the process industry aiming on the
adapter adapter
development of a service package for cleaning plate heat
exchangers in place without any chemicals. Co-operation
optional: nitrogen N2 partners are the Institute for Chemical and Thermal Process
COMPREX ®
Engineering, TU Braunschweig (www.ictv.tu-bs.de), the
compressed air discharge
unit
waste water
IWW water centre, Mülheim (www.iww-online.de) and the
Fig. 3 Basic principle of the Comprex® process in technical Hammann GmbH, Annweiler. The research project is
systems using water and compressed air or nitrogen. promoted by the German Federal Ministry for Economic
Affairs and Energy.
Cleaning strategies
There are several possible cleaning strategies to
maintain technical systems. Typically three cleaning EXPERIMENTAL SETUP AND PROCEDURE
strategies are employed:

i) preventive cleaning, Experimental plate heat exchanger

ii) cleaning based on the actual condition of the system, For experimental evaluation, a gasketed plate heat
iii) cleaning due to breakdown. exchangers (model: GEA Ecoflex® NT 25 M CDS-16) are
used. These heat exchangers have a maximum working
In many cases cleaning based on the actual condition of design pressure of 10 bar. Fig. 5 shows a photograph of the
the system using indicator parameters is the most efficient experimental heat exchanger. Using this standard type of
strategy. But complex and time-consuming cleaning gasketed plate heat exchanger brings numerous advantages.
methods which come along with disassembling the system The heat exchanger is easy to handle due to its size and
are difficult to handle and expensive. Hence, cleaning weight. As the heat exchanger can be simply disassembled,
activities are often delayed until damage occurs. the cleaning efficiency can be evaluated by visual control of
plates. Furthermore the modular design allows variation of
plate number and blocking degree.
100 %
performance level

quantity of effect of
deposits cleaning

scope of action

damage

operating time

Fig. 4 Cleaning strategy based on the actual condition of the

technical system.

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 Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning – 2015

Fig. 5 Gasketed plate heat exchanger for experimental use. Fig. 7 Testing plant for cleaning plate heat exchangers.

Model deposits and configurations

Testing plant for experimental purpose There are multiple requirements for model deposits to
To realize cleaning and optimization experiments, a replicate real deposits occurring in heat exchangers. This
custom-built testing plant was developed. Fig. 6 shows a include: should be easy to produce and to handle,
simplified scheme of the testing plant. A picture of the mechanically stable (adhesion, cohesion and hardness),
constructed testing plant is illustrated in Fig. 7. The testing reproducible concerning composition (water content,
plant allows cleaning experiments using experimental heat organic matter), non-hazardous to prevent waste problems
exchangers of different sizes. Flow direction and Comprex® and able to be discharged.
parameters can be varied by newly developed software. Taking all these aspects into consideration, several
Sensors monitor the pressures of the inlet and outlet of the model deposits were produced and tested. The model
heat exchanger and volumetric flow rate. The inlet of deposits consisted of clay, gypsum, gelatin and water in
compressed air is indicated (“air”). Pressure is delivered in different contents. The properties of these model deposits
bar with an uncertainty of ± 0,1 bar. Volumetric Flow is were first tested by simple methods based on the experience
delivered in Litre per min with an uncertainty of 0,1 L/min. gained in in water piping systems to estimate the cleaning
All experiments are done at room temperature. efficiency (Fig. 8). Further analytics of the model deposits
will be realized in the next step.
xIR
H

H
H

waste
water water

xIR

control unit
Fig. 8 Removal of model deposit by simple finger test.
air

To investigate geometrical effects on cleaning

efficiency, different deposit geometries can be realized on
plates of the experimental heat exchanger. Fig. 9 illustrates
Fig. 6 Simplified flow diagram of the testing plant for the some examples for geometrical structures on heat exchanger
experimental cleaning of plate heat exchangers. plates. Fouling layers with a thickness of 3 mm are indicated
in dark grey, and with a thickness of 1 mm in light grey.

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 Immel et al. / Mechanical Cleaning in Place of Heat Exchangers using the Comprex® Process

a) b) c) d) e) f) untreated river water. These mixtures are easy to produce

and reproduce, easy to handle and show good adhesion and
cohesion. The material is non-hazardous and easily
disposable. It is insoluble in cold water and stable in water
flow but dischargeable by hot water.

Cleaning experiments using model deposits

An example for the cleaning experiments using the
developed model deposits is shown in Fig. 11. For this
experiment the plate was charged with deposits using the
geometry shown in Fig. 9 c). The plate was placed in the
heat exchanger using the configuration according to Fig. 10
A. The first picture (Fig. 11a) shows the charged plate with
Fig. 9 Different types of deposit geometries on plates of the
deposits before cleaning. On the outside of the plate, thick
experimental heat exchanger.
deposits are visible which block nearly two thirds of the
A B C
cross section. The second picture (Fig. 11b) was taken after
a Comprex® cleaning phase using standard settings. After
this standard cleaning, just a thin layer of deposits is
remaining on the plate. The third picture (Fig. 11c) was
taken after an additional Comprex® cleaning phase using
optimized settings. As potential customers have different
expectations on cleanliness of heat exchangers, it is
necessary to figure out the best cleaning performance which
can be reached without dismantling the plant. The amount
of remaining deposits on the plate could be reduced
Fig. 10 Different plate configurations with charged plates
significantly. As evident in these photographs, the potential
(Fig. 9) in the experimental plate heat exchanger.
of the Comprex® cleaning system is clearly visible. Further
optimization experiments will be realized during the
Another option for variation is the plate configuration,
ongoing research project “WÄRMER”.
which means the amount of plates and the location of the
charged plates inside the heat exchanger. Some plate
configurations are shown in Fig. 10. Case A uses four plates
to realize only one charged cross section within the heat
exchanger while case B and C result in multiple parallel
charged cross sections. By varying location and amount of a) before cleaning b) standard cleaning c) optimized cleaning
charged plates, different blocking degrees can be simulated.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Model deposits and configurations

Developing a reproducible model deposit was one of
the very first steps on investigation of cleaning plate heat
exchangers. Different model systems were tested. Table 1
shows qualitative properties of different model deposits
formed of clay, gypsum, gelatin and water.

Table 1 Qualitative properties of different model deposits

for heat exchanger fouling. (below average: - average: O
above average: +)

model deposit adhesion cohesion hardness

clay-water - - O
clay-gypsum-water - O +
Fig. 11 The effect of cleaning a gasketed plate heat
gelatin-water O + O
exchanger with standard Comprex® and optimized
clay-gelatin-water + O O
Comprex®.
As a result of examining different model deposits, clay-
Cleaning experiments using real deposits
gelatin-water-mixtures showed the best compliance to
Another example shows the effect of cleaning a welded
typical soft deposits found in heat exchangers running with
plate heat exchanger taken from a real world system charged

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 Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning – 2015

with real deposits. These heat exchangers are of a size which section will deal with three application examples of
is similar to our laboratory equipment. Investigations on Comprex® in the field of cleaning heat exchangers.
heat exchangers of industrial size are described in the next
section. As it is a welded plate heat exchanger,
disassembling the plates was not possible. For this reason,
only a visual control at the feed inlet was possible combined
with hydraulic measurements of the heat exchanger to
determine the effectiveness of cleaning. Fig. 12 shows the
effect of cleaning on the basis of visual control at the feed.
Efficiency is defined as the maximal cleaning performance
realized by the lowest effort (time, number of impulses…).

before cleaning after cleaning

Fig. 14 Example for cleaning in place of a gasketed plate

heat exchanger using the Comprex® process: water and
Fig. 12 The effect of cleaning a welded plate heat exchanger air feed at the top; waste water and air outlet at the
with Comprex® on the basis of visual control at the bottom of the heat exchanger.
feed of the heat exchanger: before cleaning (left) and
after cleaning (right). Example 1: steel work
Steel works use large heat exchanger cells for cooling
Fig. 13 illustrates hydraulic properties of the welded the furnace. In these heat exchanger cells, fouling and
plate heat exchanger. Pressure drop diagrams were corrosion products reduce volumetric flow of the cooling
measured before and after cleaning with Comprex®. At a medium and heat transfer performance. For this reason, the
volume flow rate of approx. 3.5 m3/h the pressure drop cells are shut down and cleaned at frequent intervals
reached more than 0.7 bar before cleaning. After cleaning, however the time frame for maintenance is very short.
the pressure drop at the same volumetric flow rate was By cleaning the cooling plant using the Comprex®
reduced to approximately 0.35 bar. circa an almost 50% process, the time for cleaning can be relatively short. The
reduction in the pressure drop. Combined with visual Comprex® process needs simple adapters as connection to
control, this shows the significant effect of cleaning the heat the system (Fig. 15). Water needed for cleaning can easily
exchanger using Comprex®. be supplied externally. The compressed air is produced and
0,8
before cleaning
injected by the Comprex® unit. A specially designed
0,7 discharge unit is used at the outlet of waste water and
after cleaning with Comprex discharged deposits.
0,6
pressure drop, bar

0,5
cell
0,4

0,3

0,2
cooling
medium
0,1 adapter

valves closed
0
0 1 2 3 4
volume flow rate, m³/h
Fig. 13 The effect of cleaning a welded plate heat exchanger furnace

with Comprex® on the basis of pressure drop.

water air discharge unit waste water
APPLICATION EXAMPLES
There are many possible application of the Comprex® Fig. 15 Procedure of cleaning a cooling plant consisting of
process in technical systems. Basic requirement for applying several cells in a steel work.
the Comprex® process are simple adapters for connection to
the system (Fig. 14). As these connectors exist, cleaning the
system using Comprex® is usually easy to handle. This

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 Immel et al. / Mechanical Cleaning in Place of Heat Exchangers using the Comprex® Process

Turbidity of waste water at the point of discharge is

used as indicator for the efficiency of cleaning. During Mass flow and temperature difference as a function of
cleaning, the specific cleaning parameters (e.g. length and time is shown in Fig. 18. The Comprex® phases are clearly
pressure of impulses …) of the Comprex® process are varied visible, as the mass flow fluctuates during cleaning. This
depending on the turbidity. The total time for cleaning one fluctuation is caused by the simultaneous presence of water
heat exchanger cell consisting of four heat exchangers is and air which disturbs the measurement. Simultaneously the
about 10 hours. Fig. 16 shows the result of cleaning by temperature difference increases due to increased heat
means of the coarse particles within the discharge unit. transfer performance by discharged deposits. The
temperature difference increases from 9 K to 14 K during
Comprex® cleaning while mass flow does not change. That
means the heat transfer performance of the shell and tube
heat exchanger is increased by 44 % as result of Comprex®
cleaning. The waste water is discharged in the waste water
system of the customer.

mass flow

Comprex® Comprex® Comprex®

Fig. 16 Discharged fouling material in discharge unit (left) phase 1 phase 2 phase 3
and in detail (right).

Example 2: petrochemical plant

temperature difference
This example shows the special case of cleaning a heat
ΔT = 9 K ΔT = 13 K
exchanger online without shutting down the plant. The
valves have been kept open and the water flow of the
time
process is used for the cleaning procedure. It is a large shell
Fig. 18 Mass flow and temperature difference of process
and tube heat exchanger in a petrochemical process with a
water vs. time during online cleaning using the
length of about 5 m and a diameter of about 1 m. The reason
Comprex® process.
for cleaning is a strong drawback of thermal performance
due to fouling. A system shut down is not viable. Fig. 17
shows the procedure of cleaning the shell and tube heat Example 3: biogas treatment
To supply biogas into gas distribution networks the raw
exchanger online.
gas needs to be treated by certain processes. One of these
To realize the online cleaning of the heat exchanger,
processes is the amine gas treatment to remove carbon
control of system parameters like temperature, pressure and
dioxide and hydrogen sulfide. In this process a special shell
mass flow are essential. To prevent system damage, the
and plate heat exchanger is used to heat amine solution (Fig.
Comprex® cleaning is regulated due to the system reaction
19).
in collaboration with the operator of the plant. That means
the cleaning intensity is adjusted according to the behavior
of system parameters, especially temperature. For explosion T4
hazard reasons, the cleaning is realized with an inert gas
instead of air, in this case nitrogen is used.
T1
product

shell and tube heat exchanger

Medium 1
water
(T2 < T1)
T2

inert gas, e.g. N2

Medium 2
(T4 > T3) T3
Fig. 17 Scheme of online cleaning a shell and tube heat
exchanger in a petrochemical process. Fig. 19 Sketch of shell and plate heat exchanger.

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 Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning – 2015

Fouling on the “amine side” results in a strong

drawback of thermal performance. For this reason it is
necessary to clean the heat exchanger during regular
shutdown of the plant. In order to connect Comprex®
equipment to the system two adapters are used (Fig. 20).
The remaining system is separated by closing valves. Water
supply for cleaning is realized with a well close to the plant.
During Comprex® cleaning fouling material is
mobilized and discharged. The thermal performance of the
heat exchanger was optimized, energy efficiency was
increased and altogether process safety was ensured.

amine NOMENCLATURE
solution

A area, m²
Δp Pressure drop, bar
closed n number, dimensionless
adapter
waste water p pressure, bar
Q volume flow rate, m³ h-1
t time, s
T temperature, K
ΔT temperature difference, K

shell and Subscript

thermal oil plate heat
exchanger
cool cold side
v volume
warm warm side

REFERENCES
air

adapter Müller-Steinhagen, H., 2011, Heat Exchanger Fouling –

Mitigation and Cleaning Technologies, 2., revised and
closed enlarged edition, PP Publico Publications, ISBN 3-934736-
water
20-3
amine
solution
Immel, S., Schimmelpfennig, S., Klein, N., Utke, C. and
Gnirss, R., 2014, Brunnengalerien und Rohwasserleitungen
Fig. 20 Scheme of cleaning a shell & plate heat exchanger
online reinigen, wwt wasserwirtschaft wassertechnik, 01-
using the Comprex® process.
02/2014, pp. 15-19.
Website of research projekt „WÄRMER“:
http://www.comprex.de/waermer
CONCLUSIONS
Website of Institute for Chemical and Thermal process
The Comprex® process is an innovative method for
Engineering (ICTV), TU Braunschweig:
mechanical cleaning of heat exchangers in the process
http://www.ictv.tu-bs.de
industry without disassembling the heat exchanger.
Website of IWW Water Centre, Mülheim;
Comprex® can be applied to different types of heat
http://www.iww-online.de
exchangers. This paper presents first results of an ongoing
Kuschnerow, J.C., Immel, S., Klein, N. and Hammann
collaborative research project called “WÄRMER” using the
H.-G., 2015, Energieeffizienz durch gezielte Reinigung von
Comprex® process which has demonstrated the improved
Wärmeübertragern und Kühlkreisläufen, Wümek Kongress
efficiency of this type of cleaning method.
Würzburg 2015.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors acknowledges the Federal Ministry of

Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) for funding within
the scope of the Central Innovation Programme for SMEs
(ZIM).

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