Abstract: In the operation of cleaning the pipes of heat exchangers by means of sponge rubber balls which are entrained by the cooling water, a cylindrical housing is connected upstream of the heat exchanger, in which housing several chambers are formed by several dividing walls rotating about a vertical axis, and the chambers are subdivided by a horizontal sieve plate into an upper group of chambers for receiving the balls and into a lower group of chambers. In this arrangement, two opposite cooling water supply and removal connections are each provided in the region of the lower group of chambers, and two similar cooling water connections are provided in the region of the upper group of chambers which are connected to the heat exchanger pipes. In order to also allow a discontinuous cleaning operation, while stopping the balls and without interrupting the flow of cooling water, the present invention provides that the interior of the housing (2) is subdivided by three dividing walls (4,5,6) which are arranged at 120.

Abstract: A tube-type heat exchanger having inlet and output conduits and tubes connected therebetween, and a return conduit extending from the output to the inlet conduit is, as is known, traversed by a coolant liquid from the intake to the output conduit through the tubes. Balls are released into the intake conduit from the return conduit and pass with the coolant through the tubes to clean same. These balls are trapped in the output conduit and introduced back into the return conduit where each ball's momentum is measured and outputs corresponding thereto are generated. These outputs are compared with a set-point signal corresponding to minimum acceptable ball momentum and all of the balls from the conduits are withdrawn and replaced with fresh balls when in a predetermined period of time a predetermined number of the outputs fall below the set-point signal.

Abstract: A tube-type heat exchanger having inlet and output conduits and tubes connected therebetween, and a return conduit extending from the output to the inlet conduit is traversed by a coolant liquid from the intake to the output conduit through the tubes. Balls are released into the intake conduit from the return conduit and pass with the coolant through the tubes to clean same. These balls are trapped in the output conduit and introduced back into the return conduit where each ball's momentum is measured and an output corresponding thereto is generated. This output is compared with a set-point signal corresponding to minimum acceptable ball momentum, and any ball whose momentum is below the minimum momentum is withdrawn from the return conduit and replaced in the conduits with a fresh ball.

Abstract: Cleaning member for cleaning the interior of heat exchanger tubes by rotating, including a sponge rubber body having a given diameter, an adhesive film disposed on the sponge rubber body, and an abrasive layer formed of granular abrasive elements being fastened on the sponge rubber body by the adhesive film, the granular abrasive elements having an average linear dimension being smaller than the given diameter of the sponge rubber body, and the granular abrasive elements being disposed in a loose packing causing the abrasive layer to be deformable together with the sponge rubber body.