Circuit cleaning of central coolers “Oceanic Endeavour” during yard stay Båtbygg,
Måloy 01-02.08.2013
Reported by Henrik Olsson, Superintendent, Oceanic Endeavour
Central coolers were cleaned by “CIP” method ( circuit cleaning).
Equipment used was a CIP unit and Multi Solutions nontoxic chemical. All supplied by Multi Solutions AS.
This product is an environmentally friendly chemical which can be directly discharged overboard upon
completion. This will reduce accumulated bilge water in engine spaces compared to some other
chemicals which some of us have used in earlier applications. It is also nontoxic and harmless to the crew
and normal PPE such as eye protection and rubber gloves is sufficient.
CIP unit was connected to cooler according to following principle. Coolers can also be serial connected if
more coolers to be cleaned at same time. Number of coolers must be determined by experience due to
size etc. of coolers.
Central cooler was first opened up in order to get a reference and status of condition.
CIP cleaning was rigged up and chemicals filled up to a concentration of approx. 30% and remaining freshwater.
This is normally done by the sea water which is already in the cooler.
CIP unit and heater element started and the unit was running over night for a total of 18 hrs.
Upon completion, the cooler was again opened up for inspection and the result was confirmed
successful.
For the coolers onboard Oceanic Endeavour we are normally using 2 crew and the cleaning takes about a
12 hour shift for complete cleaning. During this time, the cooler is dismantled and not operational for the
whole duration. In case of an emergency the cooler will require some time to assemble prior to taking in
service.
Mechanical wear is a factor which is important. Gaskets getting worn and tear off from opening the
cooler and over tightened, compressed when closing cooler with leaks as a result. Multi Solutions
nontoxic chemical is a harmless product to rubber and plastic materials and will not affect the property
of the gasket material.
We also have to bear in mind the efficiency for crew by being able to other maintenance jobs during
cleaning process.
We have also briefly tested this chemical for the Alfa Laval JWP-26-C80 evaporator where the salt scaling
was dissolved very efficiently. Some equipment fabrication for cleaning the heater in bottom of unit will
be required since the plate stack is cleaned externally where the sea water flows on outer side of plate
stack. The cooler part on top has the sea water circulating internally in the cooler and this can be circuit
cleaned by the CIP unit.
This is another time consuming job onboard where we see a huge saving in time as well as the risk of
reduced production from mechanical wear when the heater/cooler is dismantled and retightened after
service.
For the compressor coolers we aim to clean the coolers during transit where all three coolers can be CIP
cleaned at the same time in a serial circuit. This will save us a lot of time where transits are normally very
hectic with other activities.
