Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning – 2017

ENERGY SAVINGS FROM AN AUTOMATIC TUBE CLEANING SYSTEM (ATCS)

D.P. Ross1, P.A. Cirtog1 , Z. Cuckovic2, G. Bridges2, M. Crocker3 and C Dirks3

1
Pangolin Associates, Level 14, 70 Pitt St, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia [email protected]
2
School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Adelaide, SA 5000
3
Innovas Technologies LLC, 2261 Crosspark Rd. Suite 31 Coralville, IA 52241

ABSTRACT moving, and therefore a larger area of contact would indicate

The successful operation of a water-cooled HVAC a greater removal of foulant material. The stiffness of
chiller requires controlling the growth of biofilm and cleaning projectiles produces radial stress towards the tube
deposition of scale on the internal tubes of the condenser heat inner wall, and these stresses act as a normal force, thus
exchange surface. The formation of fouling reduces heat forming a shear force between projectiles and the tube inner
transfer efficiency and subsequently increases chiller work wall while the projectiles are moving in the tubes. In theory,
load and energy consumption. Commercially available a larger stiffness would produce a greater shear force and thus
ATCS specify replacement times for the sponge projectiles provide a better cleaning performance.
at every 1000 hours of chiller run time of operation based on Projectiles are usually larger in diameter than the tubes,
application of 30-minute injections intervals. This paper and this is important as it allows projectiles to have larger
presents research undertaken in conjunction with The physical contact with tube inner walls. The performance of
University of Adelaide and focused on endeavours to various projectiles has been extensively reviewed by
understand what the impact of physical aging (number of Jalalirad et al., 2013a; Jalalirad et al., 2013b; Malayeri et al.,
cycles) has on the contact area, stiffness (shear force) and the 2014. It was found that flexible and rough projectiles are
diameter of the projectiles. The experimental results show undoubtedly better in cleaning than stiff and smooth
that the projectile diameter and contact area increased with projectiles.
the number of cycles, while the shear force can drop in These authors developed a contact stability criterion, i.e.
magnitude by approximately half. Separately, analysis of the the Z factor, which relates the cleaning ability of the
mean fouling factor from on/off trials of a commercial chiller projectile to its stiffness in a qualitative manner. The Z factor
fitted with ATCS is presented. The mean fouling factor was is low for hard projectiles and vice versa. However, while a
in the order 15% lower when the ATCS is in operation. hard projectile can exert a shear force many times larger than
Furthermore, results from two case studies for the side by a soft projectile, its cleaning ability is not appreciably better.
side comparison of ATCS installed on one of two identical The reason was attributed to poor contact stability with the
200-ton and 300-ton chillers operating in parallel yielded tube surface. Instead, they showed that the size of projectiles
energy savings in the range of 13% to 19%. plays an important role to provide a continuous cleaning.
More recently, Abd-Elhadya et al, (2015) investigated the
INTRODUCTION impact of hardness and surface texture on cleaning action of
The fouling of heat exchangers is estimated to cost four different projectiles (1) rubber, (2) sponge, (3) notched
industrialized countries 0.25% of Gross Domestic Product and (4) ribbed. Their performance to clean a tubular heat
(GDP) and it is responsible for 2.5% of the total equivalent exchanger was investigated as a function of the injection rate.
anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide (Steinhagen et A CaSO4 solution was used as the foulant. The cleaning
al., 2011). In Australia, this equates to approximately $3.5 ability of the different types of projectiles was also observed
billion dollars annually, and it is evident that effective to vary with the injection rate.
mechanisms of defouling heat exchangers would result in One factor that was not evident in the open literature
considerable expenditure savings as well as reductions in reviewed to date is the anticipated changing physical
greenhouse gas emissions (Thulukkanam, 2013). performance due to ageing/degradation of the projectiles
The physical properties of projectiles such as their size, over time. In commercial chiller applications of the ATCS,
shape and surface roughness as well as their cleaning sponge ball projectiles operate at a minimum of 1000 hours
performance properties such as shear force and contact area of chiller runtime before the manufacturer’s requested point
are important attributes to their effectiveness in cleaning. of replacement. Based on 30-minute injection cycles, the
While the ATCS is in operation, the contact area provides a projectiles will undertake at the minimum for a single pass
point of constant physical contact between the cleaning shell and tube heat exchange some 2000 injection cycles. It
projectiles and the tube inner wall. These physical areas of is standard operating procedure for the projectiles used in
contact determine the extent of the cleaning performance, as such applications to be 1 mm larger than the tube internal
projectiles brush and sweep the walls of the tube while diameter.

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 Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning – 2017

The study also reports the results from the analysis over several to tens of hours compared with 1000 plus hours
undertaken for several water-cooled condenser shell and tube in commercial operations.
heat exchangers operating with the ATCS. Two distinct types The projectiles pass repeatedly through a tube testing
of tests were performed on different systems. Firstly, a system designed to quantify the degradation of the physical
sequence of ATCS on/off trials and its impact on the fouling and performance properties. Wieland Werke AG provided
factor analysed during the operating period. Secondly, a side the testing tubing and the test length of the tube was 1.6 m
by side comparison of two identical chillers, one fitted with with a 15 mm inner diameter. Three projectile sizes (15 mm,
ATCS and one without are presented for a medical centre and 16 mm and 17 mm) are subject to 2000 cycles. The physical
casino-hotel. and performance properties of the sponge balls are obtained
in intervals of 50 cycles. This means that a total of 40
EXPERIMENTAL measurements are taken on each sponge ball for each
The properties of cleaning projectiles are crucial to the property investigated.
ability to perform their cleaning action. This study The second component of this study involved the
investigated commercially available sponge ball cleaning investigation of an ATCS on/off trial as part of the Westmead
projectiles obtained from Ningbo Everfly Industry Co. Ltd. Hospital’s Chiller system located in Parramatta, Sydney. The
(China). The manufacturer specifications in terms of the unit fitted with the ATCS is a 19XR High Efficiency
exact chemical composition and the overall physical Hermetic Centrifugal Liquid Chiller manufactured by Carrier
properties of the sponge balls were not subscribed. As no (model 19XR 70 71475 DJ S 854.). The characteristics of the
detailed manufacturer specifications were enclosed, various condenser tubes are summarized in Table 1.
physical properties of the sponge balls were investigated to
enable distinction between each respective ball size. 
 Table 1. Tube parameter for Carrier chiller at Westmead.
Physical properties refer to the: diameter, width of the Number of tubes 870
ball at its reference line; shape, the observed measure of the
ball’s overall spherical symmetry; surface roughness, the Tube length 2.8 m
observed measure of the ball’s roughness. The performance Tube diameter 15.875 mm
properties include the contact area, which refers to the
surface area of the sponge ball with which it is in contact with
It was agreed with the Westmead Hospital’s technical
the inner surface of the condenser tube and the shear force.
operators that the chiller would remain as the lead chiller and
The full account of the experimental procedures for the
operational for 24 hours per day for the full 6-week trial,
contact area and shear force have been documented
commencing on the 14th of August 2015. Prior to this period,
elsewhere (Malayeri et al., 2014). In brief, the reported
the hospital’s chiller had been idle for 4 months (low season
contact areas were measured in a transparent tube with
load as southern hemisphere winter) and the chiller had not
similar inner diameter to that of the tube (15mm) used in
been cleaned since the beginning of its last operation. This
ageing experiments. Thus, the measured contact area would
reflects that the ATCS did not start from a clean state.
be similarly defined as the dynamic contact area (Malayeri et
However, based on fouling theory, as the surface temperature
al., 2014). The hydrodynamic force and shear are determined
of the condenser tubes is less than the minimum sintered
from a test rig equipped with a pressure transducer, a flow
temperature, any new foulant formation occurs in the
meter and the facility for injecting projectiles. The projectile
induction phase. A data acquisition system operated by
pass through the tube by the flow while the pressure in the
ClimaCheck was used to obtain instantaneous measurements
back of the projectile and respective flow velocity were
of various parameters, including temperatures, pressures,
recorded. Considering the cross‐section of the pipe, the
flow rates and power inputs at various positions on the chiller
measured pressure represents the required force for pushing
system. The logged data was used to obtain the overall heat
the projectile by the force of the flow. When the
transfer coefficient and therefore the fouling factor in the
hydrodynamic force is divided by the contact area between
condenser tubes.
the projectile and tube, then the respective shear can be The rate of heat transfer, Q, absorbed by the condenser
determined. However, the contact area between the projectile water from the refrigerant is found by the following equation,
and the tube while under the force of the flow cannot easily
be measured. To obtain reliable and consistent results Q = mc Cp (Tc,o – Tc,i) (1)
Malayeri et al., (2014) required the soft projectiles to operate
at the minimum flow velocity of 0.4 m/s. As this is The overall heat transfer coefficient, U for the condenser is
considerably lower than the typical 1 m/s specified for the then calculated at fouling and reference conditions,
operation in commercial applications of the ATCS, respectively. The reference overall heat transfer coefficient
undertaking analysis at this minimum would not yield the (condition prior to 14th) was obtained at 10 am on the 14th
required representation of normal operation. While this of August, as this is the point at which the condenser
represents a limitation of the present study, in the context of commenced operation and taken as the initial reference
the findings it is believed this shortcoming is minimal in condition. The fouling factor is thus obtained as:
comparison to the implied assumption of consistent projectile
properties when discussing fouling. Especially the potential
Rf = 1/Uf – 1/Uref (2)
extrapolation of short run experimental results conducted

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 Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning – 2017

It is important to note that this analysis was on an active mechanism for the loss of elasticity of the projectile with
system, thus the analysis of the in-situ heat exchanger was time.
not controlled. This is caused by the fact that the operating
conditions of the chiller system vary as the demand for Table 2. Observations of shape and surface roughness for 17
cooling in the Westmead Hospital changes (real world mm projectile versus number of cycles.
conditions).
This change in operating conditions affects the analysis Cycle Photograph Shape Surface
of the ATCS as it influences the mass flow rate of the Roughness
condenser water. It is desired that the analysis is carried out The sponge
at a constant operating condition throughout the operating ball’s surface
period, as this would result in the most feasible result. The shape of contains several
However, as the chiller adjusts its capacity based on the New the sponge ball very small
is spherical. pores, however,
existent situation, it is implied that this variation in the
in general the
operating condition is negligible over the short 6-week trial ball is smooth.
and the only variable in the analysis of the heat exchanger is
the changing between “on/off” operations of the ATCS. In Obvious
summary, for the six-week operational period of the analysis The ball’s increasing in
the ATCS was turned on for a total of 19 days, with the shape has the number of
cumulative total of 912 injection cycles. remained pores and their
100
Finally, two case studies on the impact of the ATCS on spherical as at size. The
identical chillers operated side by side, one with ATCS and the beginning surface
one without, as the control, are presented. The chiller energy of testing. roughness has
efficiency was analysed according to ASHRAE Guideline increased
14-2002, Measurement of Energy and Demand Savings.
Slight decrease Further increase
RESULTS
in the ball’s in the number
Table 2 contains photographs of typical results 200
spherical shape. of pores and
found, with the 17 mm projectile degradation versus number their size.
of cycles presented here. Table 3 shows compares the 15, 16
and 17 mm projectiles at the beginning and at the end of the Noticeable
test, respectively. The 17 mm sponge ball loses its symmetry Further increase in the
and shape during the course of 2000 testing cycles, moving decrease in the roughness of
from a spherical shape into an irregular one. The surface 400 spherical shape the ball in all
roughness of the sponge ball has also notably changed. A new of the ball from areas except for
ball’s surface is smooth, with a low number of small surface 200 cycles. the centerline
pores. However, after 2000 cycles the surface roughness has line.
increased significantly, with the number and size of pores
both increasing. The surface
The sponge ball also contains several areas which for the roughness of
lack of better definition appear as though some surface Noticeable loss
the ball has
in the ball’s
delamination occurs, further increasing the irregularity in the 800 increased
spherical shape
shape of the ball. The 16 mm sponge ball’s shape underwent significantly
the most significant changes during the testing period, from 400 cycles
changing from a sphere to a prolate spheroid. The 15 mm
sponge ball was the most spherical at the end of the testing
procedure out of three ball sizes. Overall with regard to The surface
surface roughness, the 17 mm ball retains the smoothest The spherical roughness of
surface out of the three balls, with the 16 mm ball the shape of the the ball has
1600
roughest of the sponge balls. That is, projectiles that start ball has further increased
with more pores, transition and finish with more pores. decreased further from
800 cycles.
Therefore, the balls initial roughness is likely to be more
closely linked to its quality of manufacture and/or differences
in chemical composition (unknown). High speed camera
visualisation experiments conducted by Abd-Elhadya et al, The shape of No noticeable
(2015) upon the surface texture of sponge projectiles has the ball has not increase in the
shown pores undergo repeated cycles of compression and 2000 significantly surface
expansion with the movement of the projectile through the changed since roughness since
tube. While these visualisation tests were for only short run 1600 cycles. 1600 cycles.
passes, it is surmised that this evidence when extended to
longer duration tests as reported here, is the principle

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 Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning – 2017

Table 3. Comparison of initial and final states of projectiles is unable to return to its original shape. It is effectively
stretched out of shape. The change in the shear force of the
Ball Size 15, 16 and 17 mm sponge balls over the 2000 cycle testing
Initial Final
period is shown in Figure 3.

15 mm

16 mm

Fig. 1 Impact of the number of cycles passes through the tube

17 mm on the diameter of the sponge balls

The change in the mean diameter of the 15, 16 and 17 mm

sponge balls over the 2000 cycle testing period is shown in
Figure 1. It was found that all three sponge balls experience
expansion, with the 16 mm sponge ball experiencing the
largest increase in its diameter while the 15 mm sponge ball
experiences the least.
The 17mm sponge ball immediately expands 0.5 mm
once submersed in water at the beginning of the testing
operation. The diameter of the sponge ball increases steadily
over the first 1000 cycles from 17.5 mm approximately 18.2
mm. A total increase of approximately 1.2 mm is observed
from the beginning to the end of the test. The 16 mm ball
expands approximately 0.1 mm initially, with a total increase Fig. 2 Impact of the number of cycles passes through the tube
of approximately 1.5 mm thereafter observed. The 15 mm on the contact area of the sponge balls.
ball initially expands 0.8 mm, the highest increase of the
three balls evaluated. Thereafter, a total increase of
approximately 0.4 mm was observed.
The contact area of all three sponge balls also increased
during the tests, with the net contact area of the 17 mm
sponge ball increasing the most and the 15 mm sponge ball
increasing the least as shown in Figure 2. The degradation of
the sponge balls during the testing period has indicated a
positive relation with the contact area, which is attributable
to the balls loss of elasticity. In terms of the contact area, as
a property of the cleaning projectiles likely effectiveness, the
17 mm sponge ball delivers the highest contact area and
therefore potentially the most effective in removing foulants.
At the end of the testing period, the 17 mm projectile
final contact area was 475 mm2, approximately 85 mm2
larger than at the beginning of the test. It is concluded that
the gradual increase in the diameter and contact area is a
Fig. 3 Impact of the number of cycles passes through the tube
result of the steady loss in the elasticity of the ball, as the ball
on the shear force of the sponge balls.

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 Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning – 2017

It was observed that the shear force of both the 16 and 17 not been cleaned since the beginning of its last operation. The
mm sponge balls drops in magnitude by approximately half, mean fouling factor (Rf) was found to increase when the
whereas the 15 mm sponge ball attains a much smaller drop. ATCS is turned off and decreases when the ATCS turns on
The degradation of the sponge balls during the testing period again. This result is anticipated, and shows that the impact
has indicated a negative relation with shear force, simply as the the ATCS is having upon improving the heat exchanger’s
number of cycles increases the shear force decreases. As shear performance. The observed successive increase in the mean
force is a desirable property for projectile cleaning of foulants, fouling factor at each respective switch over infers the system
this decrease is unfavourable. Furthermore, the larger two is in the growth phase and not the initial induction phase nor
projectiles exhibit the greatest reduction in shear force versus final asymptotic phase of fouling in accordance with fouling
the smallest 15 mm projectile. Intuitively, as these projectiles literature. This is the case when the surface temperature of
deliver the highest shear forces against the inner tube wall (a the tube is greater than the minimum sintered temperature,
desirable property), for every action there is an opposing foulant become partially sintered, and only a fraction of the
reaction. Thus, because of repeated cycles of compression and total foulant can be removed.
expansion observed by Abd-Elhadya et al, (2015) more rapidly
lose their elasticity. Consequently, deform and lose shape,
exhibit in some instances delamination, increase in roughness
and ultimately the projectile ages more rapidly.

Fouling factor
The fouling factor represents the theoretical resistance to
heat flow due to the formation of undesired deposits on heat
transfer surfaces (Bott, 1995). The formation of foulants in
operational heat exchangers occurs in three distinct phases;
induction, growth and the final asymptotic phase. To account
for the various types of fouling and the resultant fouling
factor, heat exchangers are designed with the consideration
that fouling will occur. This design criterion is commonly
known as oversizing, where additional surface area is added
to heat exchanger tubes to lessen the negative effects of
fouling. However, in most applications fouling will occur
despite good design, effective operation and maintenance, Fig.4 Fouling factor with and without ATCS in operation.
and therefore heat exchangers must be effectively cleaned
and sustained for their operation to run adequately.
In HVAC applications, fouling of the chiller condenser
tubes has substantial impact on the power consumption of the
compressor. Even with good water treatment programs, it’s
not uncommon to find chillers that appear to be in good
working order operating at a fouling factor of 0.0025 hr-ft2-
F/Btu (0.014 m2K/kW) or higher — causing compressor
power consumption to increase by 25% or more (Piper 1999)
The results for the comparison of chiller operation with
and without ATCS in operation is demonstrated in Figure 4
This figure presents the fouling factor (Rf) versus time at
intervals of 5 minutes based on data collected by the
ClimaCheck system. The oscillations in the data represent the
variable refrigerant flow as the chiller responds to the daily
thermal cooling cycle of the building with outside air
temperatures and solar irradiance heat gains. It was initially
conveyed this was fixed flow (as assumed in the calculations) Fig.5 Average fouling factor with and without ATCS in
but later confirmed by the plant manager as variable flow and operation.
was unable to be directly recorded by ClimaCheck. This
represents a limitation on the present work. The average Table 4. Mean Fouling factor (Rf)
fouling factor on a daily basis was calculated and is displayed Operation Rf (m2.K/kW) % change
in Figure 5. The mean fouling factor (Rf) is displayed with
and without ATCS turned on. Table 4 indicates that the ATCS ON 1 0.0158 Reference
fouling factor (Rf) at the beginning of the operational period ATCS OFF 0.0188 +19.0 %
is at its lowest value, as anticipated. It is important to note
that this system was not commenced from a cleaned tube ATCS ON 2 0.0165 +4.4 %
state. The chiller had been idle for four months ATCS OFF 0.0196 +24.1 %
commensurate with the winter low period of demand and had ATCS ON 3 0.0172 +8.9 %

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 Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning – 2017

As similarly presented in Ross et al. 2015, the 12%. The resulting comparison is shown in Figure 7 of the
calculation of energy related savings for a chiller with and normalised power per ton of refrigeration (TR).
without ATCS has adopted the International Performance
Measurement & Verification Protocol (IPMVP) framework.
The dominant independent variable on cooling load is
the outside weather. Weather has many dimensions, but for
whole-facility analysis, the outside air temperature is
sufficient. The standard practice of using a referenced base
temperature cooling degree day (CDD) was once again used
in the present study. Cooling degree days are based on the
average daily temperature.
The average daily temperature is calculated as follows:
[maximum daily temperature + minimum daily
temperature]/2. A simple linear model was used to correlate
daily chiller energy consumption without any adjustments, to
a single independent variable, CDD. This is shown in Figure
6. The overall difference in energy consumption with and
without ATCS in operation was 6%. This reduction in energy
consumption is consistent with known literature when ATCS
systems are in operation (ASHRAE 2000).

Fig. 7. Comparison of normalised chiller power

Data collection from the Plaza was continued beyond the

initial performance review. This comparison in chiller
efficiency is shown in Figure 8 below. After more than 3500
hours of operation, the chiller with the tube cleaning system
continued to demonstrate significant energy efficiency
improvement, and the average energy efficiency advantage
rose to more than 13%.

Fig 6. Daily chiller consumption versus CDD with ATCS on or off

Case studies
One common misunderstanding made by building
owners and operators to the authenticity of the energy
savings claims is that these savings simply reflect the
improvements resulting from the initial tube cleaning
conducted at the time of installation of the ATCS. Despite the
extensive literature on the subject, the only acceptable proof
is a side by side evaluation. The results presented here Fig 8. Analysis of side by side chillers with and without ATCS
compare the operation of identical chillers to further
eliminate any bias. That is, one chiller acts as the control, the At a separate facility, a sponge-ball type ATCS was
other identical chiller is fitted with an ATCS. installed to one of two identical 200-ton chillers at
In August of 2012, a sponge-ball type tube cleaning Winneshiek Medical Center in Decorah, Iowa. Both chillers
system was installed in one of two identical 300-ton chillers were cleaned at the time of ATCS installation. A short term
at The Plaza Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The single point evaluation was performed after six weeks of
tube cleaning equipment was installed on Chiller 1, while operation to verify energy consumption in the chillers.
Chiller 2 served as the control. These two chillers shared a For the test, both chillers were operated at 100% capacity
common cooling tower circuit, thus eliminating potential until the temperatures, pressures, and power consumption
differences of environmental variation on the chillers. The 3- stabilised. The summarised results are presented in Table 5.
month study on the impact of the tube cleaning system on The reduction in chiller power consumption was over 19%
chiller energy efficiency demonstrated the chiller with ATCS for the chiller fitted with an ATCS.
installed yielded energy efficiency gains of approximately

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 Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning – 2017

Table 5 Comparison of chiller performance after 6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

weeks of operation The authors gratefully appreciate the supply of condenser
tubes by Wieland Werke AG and project financial assistance
Parameter With ATCS No ATCS change including provision of sponge projectile balls made by
Load 100% 100% - Balltech Australia for the University of Adelaide study.

Average Amps 196.1 233.6 +37.5 NOMENCLATURE

Average Voltage 491.3 491.3 - Tc,i Inlet Temperature of Condenser Water, °C
Tc,o Outlet Temperate of Condenser Water, °C
Tc,i (oC) 32.7 33.3 -
mc Mass Flow Rate of Condenser Water, kg/s
Tc,o (oC) 36.1 36.7 - Cp kJ/kg.K specific heat capacity of the condenser water.
U Overall heat transfer coefficient, W/m2 K
Condenser Approach (oC) 1.3 1.6 +0.3 Rf Fouling resistance of the fouling layer, m2.K/kW



Chiller Power (kW) 150 178.7 +28.7
Subscript
Normalised chiller 0.75 0.89 +0.14 i inlet
efficiency (kW/Ton -TR) o outlet
f fouled
CONCLUSIONS ref reference
The physical and performance degradation of the sponge
balls provides further understanding of the effectiveness of REFERENCES
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