Condenser Performance Improved using DarTT Technology at Middle East Power Station

Efficiency restored thanks to condenser cleaning

A 456 MW combined cycle gas turbine power and water desalination plant needed to find an industrial cleaning contractor who could clean the condenser tubes within 5 of their heat recovery units during a short shutdown period. Having read about Tube Tech’s innovative darTT cleaning system on the internet, the plant were hopeful that Tube Tech could solve their problem.

The plant provides over 15% of the country's peak system capacity and more than 30% of the country’s installed water capacity and is a relatively new facility.

Previous traditional contractors had only managed to clean a small percentage of the 15,780 condenser tubes in the previous outage and the plant operators were concerned that the remaining build up of scale was having a considerable effect on their heat transfer rates.

As with all contracts Tube Tech requested that the client complete a full and detailed questionnaire.
With accurate information to hand, Tube Tech assessed the data to ensure the contract would be completed safely and on time.
As the contract involved the use of the Tube Tech darTT system, the exact ID of the tubes was crucial as each darTT is handmade.
Tube Tech opted for a phosphor bronze darTT cleaner specifically designed for cleaning soft, non-ferrous tube materials.
The design of the darTT creates contact areas to ensure 360° coverage on the internal diameter of the tube, thus guaranteeing a uniform clean along the tube length.
Despite the scale within the tubes being significantly thicker and harder than originally reported by the client, the Tube Tech darTT system still managed to perform the operation to a standard far higher than that of any previous water jetting contractor.

Scott Donson, Sales Manager: “We know that our darTT system is extremely effective on standard condenser deposits and were pleased with the way the pumps functioned in the excessive heat, however we were surprised by the thickness and volume of scale removed by the darTT projectiles, proving that the quality and rugged darTT design was a real benefit. We were able to remove an impressive amount of deposit, scale and debris to make a significant improvement on the heat transfer rate of the heat recovery units.”