A major offshore operator in Angola faced rising temperatures in a multiport water injection pump due to varnish fouling heat exchangers. Replacing and even adding a second exchanger only provided short-term relief as deposits quickly returned. Fluitec’s DECON solution was introduced to decontaminate the system and remove varnish buildup. After treatment, the additional heat exchanger was removed, and the system returned to running efficiently on its original exchanger with stable, normal temperatures. Over 10 years, the operator is projected to save USD 61,000, reduce oil use by 4,000 liters, and cut 62,000 kg of CO2e emissions.
Problem
In Angola, a major Offshore operator began noticing drastic increases in temperature in their multiport water injection pump. In attempts to identify the challenge, they replaced the existing heat exchanger with a clean, new heat exchanger. They noticed that the heat exchanger which was removed from the system was coated with varnish. With the new heat exchanger, the temperatures reduced for a short time, then increased again as varnish began accumulating on the exchanger plates. A second heat exchanger was added to help control the temperature, but this only reduced the temperature for a short period of time and then the temperature began increasing again.
Solution
Fluitec’s DECON™ was added to the system to decontaminate the varnish.
Results
The additional heat exchanger was removed from the system after DECON was added and the system is now using its intended one heat exchanger. The temperature is remaining in the normal range since DECON cleaned up the varnish deposits in the system.
