While tube leaks can occur for numerous reasons, one of the most common causes is the formation of holes. Holes can form within a tube as a result of deposit build-up, corrosion, improper cleaning heads being used, and more.
MB Engineering Services is an engineering services company that repairs heat exchangers for the offshore oil and gas industry. When exchangers are shut down, it is MB’s job to carry out the necessary repair work to get the heat exchanger back online as soon as possible.
For tube expanding it is desirable to roll the tube quickly as it prevents work hardening of the tube and less frictional heat is generated. The limiting factors in this balance of speed vs. power are voltage or pneumatic pressure. These either limit the speed or power being produced.
Tube rolling occurs when the tube rotates due to inadequate friction between the tube OD and the hole in the tube sheet. This can cause increased expansion times and decrease the efficiency of the operator. Increasing the friction between the tube and tube sheet and or collar the tube will not rotate within the tube sheet. Increasing the friction can be done using several different methods:
Learn how to quickly change out roll sets to avoid drops in productivity.
In order to obtain the best results and improve tool life, proper lubrication is necessary. There are many different types of lubricants designed to suit specific applications and operator preferences.
3 roll expanders often cover the widest range of tube sizes and work well in many different applications. However, there are circumstances where the 5-roll expander is the best option for the job.
Rushing out to a job site? Review your tooling before you go to ensure you are prepared to overcome any challenges you may encounter. Here is a general checklist of tools recommended during heat exchanger and/or boiler maintenance.
When removing tubes from a vessel, one of the most difficult tasks can be removing tube stubs from the tube sheet. Depending upon how long the tube has been in the vessel, in addition to how efficient the initial expansion was, the removal process can be very difficult.
The factors affecting a Tube Bundle Cutter’s performance are: bandsaw blade selection, blade tooth pitch, cross-sectional area of the bundle, blade speed and feed.
