For two decades, Thompson Industrial Services LLC has been cleaning air-cooled heat exchangers (ACHEs) utilizing its proprietary, biodegradable and nonhazardous FINFOAM® method. Clients notice immediate return on investment with improved heat transfer efficiency and energy savings enhanced by prolonged unit life. This method, unlike high-pressure water or "soap washes," uses a low-pressure, high-volume foaming process that is 100-percent safe and gentle on delicate fins that can bend or break by other methods.
Refineries and petrochemical plants in the U.S. and across the globe continuously experience increased production, efficiency gains and extended equipment life after switching their ACHE cleaning to FINFOAM. More recently, Thompson has proven the same effects in power plants and major utilities in the Southeast and Central U.S. The airside of air-cooled condensers (ACC), rotary air coolers and lube oil coolers has traditionally been cleaned utilizing high-pressure water that can severely damage fins and has limited effect against oils and greases, which can leach from the fan-gear box. Thompson Industrial Services' revolutionary technology, aptly named FINFOAM, utilizes a pH-balanced, biodegradable and nonhazardous formula that, when foamed, fully encapsulates the entire surface area of fins and even dislodges blockages trapped in the center of the bundles.
Traditional high-pressure water blasting leaves fins bent and greatly reduces heat transfer due to decreased airflow and surface area. The FINFOAM process ensures complete cleaning by visually confirming foam effluent purity and is minimally invasive to simultaneous plant operations (it does not interrupt throughput). Once a complete foaming breakthrough is achieved, the low-pressure, high-volume water rinse flushes all FINFOAM solution and debris to grade for easy cleanup. Debris is pushed out in the same direction it originally entered the condenser, keeping equipment safe and fully operational. The spent FINFOAM and water is nonhazardous, biodegradable and won't adversely affect a facility's waste or biological stream.
Earlier this year, a major utility company in Central Florida was able to record impressive results on both of their units, noting, "Before the outage, at 150 MW (megawatts), the VFD (variable frequency drive) was at 100 percent, and we saw a high temperature of 411 degrees Fahrenheit. It is currently at 158 MW, the VFD is at 94 percent and maintains the temperature setpoint of 392 degrees Fahrenheit. One word: Success! We will be scheduling this every year."
Regarding its second unit, the company reported, "Currently, Unit 2 is online at 152 MW, and the outside temperature is 90 degrees Fahrenheit. The VFD is running at 94.3 percent of speed, and RAC (recycled aggregate concrete) temperature is currently 390 degrees Fahrenheit. Seven days ago, Unit 2 was online at 148 MW, the outside temperature was 84 degrees Fahrenheit, and RAC temperature was 395 degrees Fahrenheit with the VFD pegged at 100-percent speed. I would say we have a winner: Five-degree improvement on a 6-degree-hotter day with a 6-percent reduction in speed and less MW output!"
The results are speaking (and paying) for themselves as FINFOAM provides a quick return on investment for all types of facilities with ACHEs, condensers, convection sections, boilers and other equipment. Plant and outage managers no longer have to sacrifice the safety and integrity of their equipment in order to improve efficiency. Once a site experiences the results of FINFOAM, it typically becomes the preferred method for future cleanings. Thompson's ultimate goal is to help clients meet their bottom lines with the safest, most productive methods available. In addition to specialty services like FINFOAM and chemical cleaning, Thompson specializes in safe, quality lifecycle industrial cleaning service solutions from critical path pre-commissioning and dependable on-site operations support to productive outages, turnarounds and decommissioning.
For more information, visit www.thompsonindustrialservices.com or call (800) 849-8040.
