When it’s time to descale your heat exchanger or condenser, you must decide which cleaning process to use. There are three primary descaling applications you can employ to achieve the level of cleaning or descaling necessary. Let’s review the options available for your descaling project.
Chemical Descaling
For decades, chemical cleaning has been the most common method for descaling heat exchangers, condensers, and other machinery. This type of cleaning involves running specific chemical solutions through the unit to break down built-up scale. Different chemical solutions are used based on the types of metal and deposit build-up within your equipment. Often, a combination of fluids is needed to address specific deposits. While effective, continuous chemical cleaning can erode equipment, cause operational shutdowns during cleaning, and result in costly disposal of the toxic waste it generates.
Mechanical Descaling
Mechanical descaling is used when the project calls for a more manual and intensive cleaning. Equipment is usually taken offline and isolated from the rest of the system. Mechanical descaling tools, such as drills, brushes, and scrapers, manually remove scale and deposits from the equipment. When the build-up is excessive, additional mechanical processes can be used to ensure thorough cleaning. Mechanical descaling causes less equipment wear than chemical descaling, but it is more time-consuming and labor-intensive.
Organic Descaling
Today, an effective and safe option is available: the patent-pending Quantum Organic Descaler®. As the industry’s only true organic descaler, it uses naturally occurring compounds to deliver results comparable to those of chemical descalers containing hydrochloric or phosphoric acids. Quantum Organic Descaler® is 100% organic, non-toxic, and the only environmentally safe descaling product, protecting the environment, employees, equipment, and end-users across diverse applications. When Quantum enters the marine environment, it leaves no residue and causes no harm. It cleans equipment to bare metal without leaching or pitting, extending equipment life. Quantum requires no preheating and, as it is fully biodegradable, needs no neutralization, reducing job costs by up to 40%.