Heat exchanger cleaning apparatus and method of use thereof

Abstract

The invention comprises a method and apparatus for cleaning a heat exchanger, comprising the steps of: providing the first heat exchanger, the first heat exchanger comprising a set of heat exchange pipes at least partially inserted into the first heat exchanger; inserting a blasting lance in a first pipe of the set of heat exchange pipes, the blasting lance comprising: a front end and a set of ultrasonic sensors; spraying a cleaning fluid forward into the first pipe from a front end of the blasting lance; and emitting a force wave from a first ultrasonic sensor physically directly connected to the blasting lance and optionally sensing an imperfection in a second pipe of the set of heat exchange pipes with the first ultrasonic sensor while the blasting lance is at least partially inserted into the first pipe of the heat exchange pipes.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.