How to Clean Heat Exchangers With Sulfuric Acid

A heat exchanger is a device that transfers heat from a hot liquid or gas to a cold liquid or gas. Over time, the tubing inside heat exchangers will become clogged with corrosion or fouling created when the liquid or gas breaks down. The corrosion and fouling decreases the efficiency of the heat transfer between the hot and cold substances and reduces the flow through the heat exchanger. You can clean the inside of the heat exchanger with sulfuric acid, but you should be very careful since the acid will also eat at the metal composing the exchanger.

Dirty heat exchanger
Distilled water
2 rubber plugs
Safety goggles
Heavy rubber gloves
Sulfuric acid
2 glass or plastic pails

Instructions

- 1
  Drain the heat exchanger of any liquid inside then rise it thoroughly with distilled water.
- 2
  Insert a rubber plug into one end of the heat exchanger's tubes.
- 3
  Put on the safety goggles and gloves.
- 4
  Pour about 1 cup of sulfuric acid into the bottom of the pail then slowly add 1 gallon of distilled water to the pail.
- 5
  Pour the dilute sulfuric acid mixture into the open side of the plugged heat exchanger tube until the tube is about half full. Insert the plug into the end then turn the heat exchanger back and forth to break up the fouling inside.
- 6
  Remove the rubber plugs and drain out the contents into the empty pail. The liquid will come out brownish-black and may contain particulates.
- 7
  Repeat rinsing the inside of the heat exchanger out with dilute sulfuric acid until the solution comes out clear.
- 8
  Rinse the inside of the heat exchanger with distilled water five times to fully remove any sulfuric acid.

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