Fin Fan & Heat Exchanger Cleaning
Restore air-cooled heat exchanger and fin fan efficiency without damaging fins, fans, or tube bundles. Mobile across Southwestern Ontario.
Why fin fans need cleaning
Air-cooled heat exchangers and fin fans accumulate insects, pollen, dust, oil mist, and process residue between the fins. As fouling builds, airflow drops, the heat transfer rate falls, and the upstream process loses efficiency — sometimes by 20–40% before it shows up in process data.
Most operators clean fin fans with high-pressure water, foaming chemicals, or compressed air. All three have problems: water flattens fins, chemicals attack adjacent components, and compressed air alone does not lift sticky residues.
Why dry ice blasting works on fin fans
- Non-abrasive on fin tips. CO₂ pellets are softer than aluminum or copper fins. We lift the residue without flattening or curling the fin material.
- Dry process. No water, no rinse-down, no risk of moisture ingress into adjacent electrical or process equipment.
- No chemical residue. Nothing left behind to react with refrigerant, glycol, or process fluids.
- Cleans in-place. No disassembly of the bundle. Often cleaned with the unit warm, sometimes with the fans still running.
- Restores designed airflow. Removes the fouling that water and chemicals leave behind.
Typical fin fan job
Pre-cleaning: we measure airflow / inlet-outlet temperature differential where possible to establish a baseline.
Cleaning: dry ice pellets are blasted between the fins at a pressure tuned to the fin material and density. We work both sides of the bundle if access allows. The Cold Jet PCS 60 is our usual machine for this; the Aero 80HP is brought in for very large or heavily fouled bundles.
Post-cleaning: we re-measure airflow and differential. Most operators see a 15–30% improvement in heat transfer immediately, with corresponding upstream process efficiency gains.
Industries we serve with fin fan cleaning
- Petrochemical and refining
- Power generation (cogen, peaking plants, HRSGs)
- Food and beverage processing
- HVAC and commercial cooling
- Manufacturing — extruders, compressors, hydraulic coolers
How a typical heat exchanger cleaning project runs
Most fin-fan and heat exchanger work is scheduled into a planned shutdown — refinery turnaround, petrochem outage, chiller offline window. ODIB integrates with the turnaround coordinator: certificate of insurance, JSA, operator credentials, and method statement submitted in advance. On site, the crew works the bundle section by section, restoring fin clearance and removing the air-side fouling that’s degrading thermal performance. We can usually work alongside other shutdown trades without conflicting access.
Pricing
Fin-fan and heat exchanger cleaning is quoted day-rate because the work is consumption-driven — bigger banks take more dry ice. A two-person crew with full equipment runs $2,400–$3,800/day in Southwestern Ontario. For multi-bank refinery and petrochem turnarounds we contract for the full outage scope. See our cost guide for ranges and the factors that move price.
FAQ
Will it bend the fins?
No. The dry ice lifts the fouling off the fin surface without mechanical force on the fin itself. Compare to water-blast or brush cleaning where the bundle gets bent or wetted — dry ice leaves fin geometry unchanged.
How much thermal performance recovery should we expect?
Depends on starting condition. A heavily fouled air-cooler with restricted fin clearance typically recovers most of its design approach temperature after a thorough clean. We document fin clearance and rough thermal estimates before and after.
Can you work on operating fans?
No — fan blades must be locked out and the fan motor de-energized before we approach the bundle. That’s a hard safety requirement, not a flexibility issue.
Do you handle SRU and chiller coils?
Yes. SRU air-coolers, ammonia/glycol chiller coils, and process condensers are all standard work. We coordinate with the unit’s safety procedures on access and isolation.