Safety and Inspection for Preventing Fouling in Oil Exchangers

One of the most costly problems in the maintenance of heat exchangers is de-fouling, which results in a waste of time and money. The present study includes two parts: the first section addresses fouling factor, its disadvantages, and circumstance of formation, fouling types, and general models of the fouling. In the second part, the problem of fouling in oil exchanger and particular type of fouling, namely, wax fouling in the oil mixtures has been studied. This paper reviews the fouling which is the most important parameter in designing heat exchanger and states the losses of the oil industry and other industries related to ignoring this issue. Failing to estimate this factor correctly, can result into problems in exchanger and as a result fluids of the process fail to reach the desired temperature. This paper tries to present solutions to deal with the problem of fouling in the oil industry and assesses the financial loss that comes from deposits in the industry.