Surface condensers

Surface condensers are critical components in thermal power plants, responsible for condensing exhaust steam from turbines to improve efficiency and support the water-steam cycle. Over time, these systems will accumulate fouling from minerals, biological growth and macrofouling, especially inside the condenser tubes. This fouling will reduce heat transfer performance, increase back pressure on turbines, and decrease overall plant efficiency. Regular cleaning and maintenance are essential to ensure reliable operation, maximize energy output, and extend equipment lifespan.

Fouling issues of surface condensers

Surface condenser tubes in thermal power plants get fouled due to the accumulation of deposits such as scale, biological growth (biofouling), corrosion products, and debris from cooling water. This fouling occurs due to impurities in the cooling water, including minerals, algae, mud, sand and suspended solids, which adhere to the tube surfaces over time. Keeping condenser tubes clean in a thermal power plant is essential for maintaining efficiency, reliability, and cost-effectiveness.

Fouling buildup includes: Biological growth (biofilm), sediment, algae, mud, sand, scaling (calcium carbonate), mussels and barnacles and macrofouling (debris).
Fouling origin: Originates from the cooling medium of the condenser, often a river, lake or the sea.

Effects of fouling in surface condensers

Keeping the condenser tubes clean in a thermal power plant is crucial for maintaining efficiency, reliability, and operational cost-effectiveness. Here’s why:

Maintaining heat transfer efficiency: Clean tubes allow for optimal heat exchange between steam and cooling water. Fouling (e.g., scale, biofouling, and debris) acts as an insulating layer, reducing heat transfer and lowering the plant’s efficiency.

Preventing increased back pressure: When heat transfer efficiency drops, the condenser pressure increases, causing the steam turbine to work less efficiently. This directly reduces power output and increases fuel consumption.

Reducing energy consumption: A fouled condenser forces auxiliary systems, like cooling water pumps, to work harder, consuming more electricity and increasing operating costs.

Extending equipment lifespan: Fouling can lead to corrosion, pitting, and tube failure, resulting in costly repairs and downtime. Clean tubes reduce corrosion risks and prolong equipment life.

Ensuring environmental compliance: Fouling can contribute to water contamination and thermal pollution, which may violate environmental regulations. Maintaining clean tubes helps reduce waste discharge issues.

Preventing unplanned outages: Severe fouling can lead to unexpected shutdowns due to overheating, leaks, or tube failures, disrupting power generation and causing financial losses.

Improve surface condenser efficiency

Cleaning surface condenser tubes is a crucial activity to maintain a highly efficient system. Goodway Benelux offers two (2) types of cleaning solutions for removing fouling with condenser tubes. Based on the type and severity of the deposit, accessability of the system and timeframe, one of the two solutions will be the best fit for the cleaning job.

Projectile cleaning: The fastest way to clean a large number of surface condenser tubes. On average, 1000 tubes can be cleaned per hour, by a crew of 2. This method is fast and effective at removing soft to medium deposits such as: silt, mud, algae, biological growth and light scaling.

Chemical cleaning-in-place: When hard deposits like scaling (calcium carbonate) are formed on the tubes, it is not always possible to remove these with projectiles. In those cases a chemical cleaning is better suited. A descaling agent is circulated through the tubes for a predetermined period, thereby removing the deposits. Though it is a much complexer job to undertake, the results are often very good. Sometimes even bringing the tubes back to their original state.

Surface condensers

From pre-sales inquiries to technical support, Goodway Benelux is available to assist customers at every stage. The company also provides on-site support, training, and product demonstrations. Their dedicated sales representatives and project engineers are ready to answer questions and provide guidance throughout the entire process.

Surface condensers

Solutions for cleaning surface condensers

Projectile tube cleaning

Chemical tube cleaning

Fouling issues of surface condensers

Effects of fouling in surface condensers

Improve surface condenser efficiency

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Surface condensers

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