Client: Super Major Refinery (Port Arthur, TX)
Equipment: (1) Shell & Tube Bundle with 334 U-tubes
Tube Specifications: 1” OD, 0.083” MW, 12’ Straight Length, SA-179 Metallurgy
Challenge: Achieving IRIS-level cleanliness for essential integrity assessment during a critical turnaround.
The Challenge: Persistent Fouling Impedes Integrity Assessment
In refinery and chemical plant operations, heat exchangers are prone to fouling, which reduces thermal efficiency, increases pressure drop, and can lead to under-deposit corrosion. Regular cleaning and inspection are vital to maintain operational reliability and prevent costly unplanned outages. For critical components like U-tube bundles, a high degree of internal tube cleanliness is required to enable advanced inspection techniques such as Internal Rotary Inspection System (IRIS). IRIS provides comprehensive data on tube wall thickness and integrity, essential for informed run/repair/replace decisions.
During a scheduled turnaround, A Super Major Refinery in Port Arthur faced a significant hurdle: a used U-tube bundle, critical for continued operations, could not achieve the stringent cleanliness levels necessary for IRIS inspection. Despite multiple conventional cleaning attempts, residual fouling persisted. Onsite efforts, including 20k psi hydroblasting and mechanical scraping, proved insufficient. Subsequent offsite ultrasonic cleaning also failed to meet the required IRIS standard, jeopardizing the turnaround schedule and potential deferral of significant capital expenditure.
The Solution: Precision Grit Blasting for IRIS Readiness
Recognizing the urgent need for specialized cleaning, the refinery engaged Curran International. The U-tube bundle was expedited to Curran’s Dickinson, TX cleaning facility. Curran’s team deployed its specialized grit blasting process, utilizing GMA Garnet 30-60 media, to precisely remove tenacious deposits from the internal surfaces of the 334 U-tubes.
Curran’s scope of work included:
- Staging the exchanger inside a dedicated blast booth with masked gasket surfaces.
- Verifying tube cleanliness via video probe during the cleaning process.
- Facilitating third-party IRIS inspection immediately upon cleaning completion.
- Providing comprehensive QC documentation.
This focused approach, leveraging Curran’s deep expertise in tubular heat exchanger cleaning, was executed under a demanding timeline. The entire cleaning process, from receipt of the bundle to preparation for third-party inspection, was completed within five consecutive days, ensuring the client’s turnaround schedule remained on track.
Curran International’s Minimal Footprint Onsite Operations
Our efficient and compact setup ensures minimal disruption to ongoing refinery operations, featuring a 375 CFM air compressor, blast pot, dust collector, blast media, and dedicated drums for spent media collection.
Before and After
Here are images illustrating the successful removal of fouling and the restored internal tube cleanliness achieved by Curran’s grit blasting process.
The Outcome: Extended Service Life and Significant Savings
The successful grit blasting enabled 100% of the U-tubes to pass IRIS inspection, providing our client with full visibility into the current asset condition. Inspection data confirmed the bundle’s integrity, allowing it to remain in service for at least two additional years until the next scheduled turnaround. This outcome delivered substantial value:
- Enhanced Reliability: Full visibility into asset condition mitigates risks associated with unknown tube integrity.
- Capital Expenditure Deferral: The client avoided immediate capital investment for a new bundle or retubing.
- Optimized Turnaround Schedule: Rapid response cleaning ensured the project remained on schedule, avoiding costly delays.
While the project achieved a major success, the case highlights that even greater efficiencies and cost savings could have been realized had Curran International been engaged earlier in the process. Direct engagement with Curran’s specialized cleaning services ensures inspection readiness on the first pass, thereby avoiding wasted time, resources, and costs associated with ineffective conventional cleaning methods.
Curran International’s grit blasting solution proved instrumental in overcoming a critical inspection challenge, demonstrating its effectiveness in preparing heat exchanger bundles for advanced non-destructive examination and ultimately extending asset run length and enhancing operational reliability.