Method of treating an apparatus to remove surface deposits

A method of treating an apparatus to remove surface deposits therefrom, the method comprising:

• selecting a colloidal particle dispersion having inorganic nanoparticles with an average particle size of from 300 nm or less that exhibit properties of Brownian motion that facilitate penetration of solid deposits on surfaces of an apparatus that is subject to surface deposits from contact with fluids, the inorganic nanoparticles comprising positively charged nanoparticles, the apparatus comprising at least one of a man-made body, a man-made structure, a tank, a storage tank, a mixing vessel, a vessel, a storage vessel, a valve, a pipe, a container, a drum, an aquatic vessel, a reactor, a combustor, a refrigeration unit, a cooling unit, a heat exchanger, a boiler, a radiator, a separator unit, an evaporator, a pump, a compressor, a tower, a column, a cooling tower, a filter, a filtration unit, a slug catcher, a Joule Thomson (JT) system, a cracking unit, a pyrolysis unit, a refining unit, a coalescer, a dehydrator, an amine unit, an amine system, a chemical processing system, a food processing system, a gas processing system, a petroleum processing system, a biomatter processing system, and a water processing system;
• contacting the surfaces of the apparatus with a treatment composition comprising the colloidal particle dispersion while the apparatus or portions thereof are under cathodic protection;
• allowing the composition to reside upon the surfaces of the apparatus for 10 minutes or more to act upon the materials adhering to the surfaces of the apparatus to loosen and breakup the materials adhering to the surfaces of the apparatus;
• and
• removing the loosened and broken materials from the surfaces of the apparatus, the removed materials comprising at least one of corrosion byproducts, amine degradation products, scale, mineral deposits, sand, silica, hydrocarbons, paraffins, asphaltenes, chemical residue, metal oxides, iron oxides, solids, biofilm, reaction products, coke, and water.