pre-treatment of 90/10 cupro-nickel tubes with ferrous sulphate. 1

[Gem1]

Hi All,

I'm wondering if anyone has any helpful information about pre-treated cupro-nickel condenser tubes. That is, tubes that have been given a ferrous sulphate treatment prior to installation in an older condenser, to build up a bore scale and prevent pitting.

I'm having trouble finding information about the product and am wondering if there is any benefit in using the pre-treated tube as opposed to just doing some dosing treatments after installation of clean tube.

Thanks!

 

[EdStainless]

The typical path is to install and then circulate CLEAN water with or without ferrous sulfate.
The real key is that the water that the tubes see at first must be clean, even if that means filling the condenser with potable water and using a small recirculation pump.
This will allow the alloy to form its natural patina.

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Plymouth Tube

 

[metengr]

We have re-tubed heat exchangers with Cu/Ni and never required a pre-treatment.

 

[Gem1]

Thanks for the info guys. I was suspicios about a company providing pre-treated tubing on a number of levels. However, I have heard that older plant needs dosing after installation of new tubes because of significantly less free iron in older systems than is present during start up of a new plant. Any opinions on this?

 

[EdStainless]

What really hurts 90/10 is changing water quality. I know of plants that treat periodically based on changes in tidal flows or such.

The real key is simply to make sure that flowing clean water is sued during the first few days of exposure. If your cooling water is bad then fill the condenser with potable water and ferrous sulfate before you start running.

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Plymouth Tube