The History of the Industrial Cleaning Services Business

ABSTRACT

With today's climate of mergers and acquisitions in the industrial cleaning business, the historical significance of the people who came before us is being lost everyday. The initial knowledge base that they built for this business is our heritage.

This page is an attempt to maintain a historical archive of the industrial cleaning business. It will review the history of the industrial cleaning business, back to 1931 or thereabouts when it was really born. Included are as many of the people as possible who got the business started and made it succeed. It will include many of the ideas, events and processes and their chronology from start to the present.

I welcome any contributions you can make to the history of this business, however young or old that history is. I will gladly accept photos, additions to the bibliography, changes/corrections to the industrial cleaning tree, and even musings of times past. I will post it on this site if space allows, and provide due credit and even email/web link to you for your contribution.

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INTRODUCTION

In 1842, Ludwig Moeser published two articles on the water break test to determine cleanliness and removal of surface contaminates from metal. A U.S. patent was issued near the end of the 19th century for the treatment of oil wells with acid to increase the flow of oil from limestone formations.1 Frasch of the Frasch sulfur mining process is understood to be the originator of the idea of putting acid into well formations to increase production.

The first oil well was acidized in 1895.2 Raw (uninhibited) acid was used to acidize oil wells over the years. Because of the corrosive action on the piping it was not widely used.

Herbert Dow located in Midland, Michigan before the turn of the century, to have access to the subterranean salt brines that were there. These became the raw materials of The Dow Chemical Company that he founded. In the early days almost everything that Dow produced had constituents of these brines in its end products or was used as an intermediate in one of it's manufacturing processes.

Wells were drilled to reach the brines and to return the brines to the formations. These wells had to be maintained, so they had to have a Dow Well Service Department. Hydrochloric acid was used to clean the wells and open passages in the formation so that the brine could be recovered or disposed of.

Dr. John Grebe and Ross Sanford of the Dow Chemical Co. are responsible for the idea and the patent issued in 1932 for using inhibitors in the acid used to acidize wells to protect the piping. This was the real start of the application of acid through metal pipe, as the piping could now survive many applications. It greatly reduced the corrosion problems for the Dow Well Service Department in taking care of Dr. Dow's brine wells.

Well formations were naturally associated with the many and varied scale deposits that formed in water handling equipment and other industrial equipment such as boilers, tube and shell heat exchange equipment and water lines. Inhibited hydrochloric acid would clean many of these much faster than the customary slow and laborious manual methods of cleaning. These used rotary turbines, and various cutting tools. It was also natural that The Dow Well Service Department would become involved. This department became Dowell and was incorporated in the height of the depression in 1932 and Dowell Incorporated was born. Figure 1 shows the men who are responsible for getting this new company started. Sherm Putman, Bob Shaw, Bud Lee, Charley Mangold, Jim Cummins, and John Staudt of this group became key people in getting into the chemical cleaning business.

This was a poor time to start a business. Failures were rampant. The depression was not kind to the average American. It took rugged individuals who would go the extra mile, every mile, to succeed. These people did just that. They were relentless. They performed. Their attitudes set precedents. Claude H. Groom came from the Midland Organic laboratory. He worked with Dr. Veasey and F. N. Alquist on much of the original chemical cleaning work. He was one of these early men. He called these people the frontiersmen and the times produced the "can do" attitude that got this business going. They were hungry for jobs. A few proven people that worked for Dow in Midland were borrowed for a few months. Most were brand new. They adopted the character, morals and business ethics of the Dow leaders and under the Dow name became solid operators. There was a certain personality trait that stemmed from the Dow management that supported them. They were in a sink or swim environment. They refused to let any trouble shut them down. These men covered the job at any cost. No one turned down anything.

Because of the great distances, bad roads, poor telephone service and minimum people everyone had to be on his own. This is probably where their self-reliance and strong individualism was developed. It took that to survive.

THE INDUSTRIAL CLEANING BUSINESS

From 1934 on it became customary to clean water lines in the oil fields with inhibited HCl.

In about 1939, or possibly before, a Wickes "A" type boiler at the Dow Chemical Co. Truck Shop in Bay City, Michigan was cleaned with inhibited HCl. This is the first industrial job. E. C. "Pete" Hardy did this job. He was later my boss for many years. An Open Box Condenser was cleaned at a Wyoming refinery at about the same time as the "A" type boiler. Both jobs were done with Dowell equipment and personnel.

The records are long since gone but the business proliferated. On March 1, 1939 M. E. "Ben" Brines was borrowed from Dow's power department at Midland to assisted the new organization. He supervised many chemical cleaning jobs during this period. He returned to Midland, Michigan in July 1940.

In 1945 eight new men joined the industrial cleaning business. L. B. "Linc" Wilson , in Philadelphia, Harry McDaniel, R. S. "Bob" Harris, and Bill Courtner to New Jersey, F. I. McConnell, to Cleveland, T. R. "Tom" Greer, to Medina, Ohio and L. E. "Lou" West at Chicago.

Dr. Charley M. Loucks, our great teacher of everybody and our friend, started in the chemical cleaning business in September 1943 at Salem, Illinois and moved to Medina, Ohio in January 1944. He came to us from the University of Tulsa where he was Professor of Physical Chemistry. In tribute to "Doc" Loucks' the following is a direct quotation from his dedication of his book "The Chemistry Professor in Industrial Plant Maintenance,": "To all the wonderful people in the chemical Service business and in the employ of companies for whom we did contract work. Plant maintenance work may seem to some folks a little less glamorous than certain phases of engineering, but for challenging problems and for dedicated, unselfish people, Maintenance Engineering ranks high indeed.

MAJOR HAPPENING

The advent of chemical cleaning was a major happening. It made it possible for the manufacturers to design and build more efficient and higher pressure boilers, too complicated to clean by manual methods. It was no longer necessary to stay with the straight tube designs with their box headers, serpentine headers and hundreds of hand hole caps. Bent tube designs with much longer tubes could be used. The Manufacturers no longer had to be concerned with how boiler would be cleaned.

With the elaborate water treating equipment, chemicals and procedures the boilers were not supposed to scale up anyway, but they did. Dowell was so experienced at cleaning water handling equipment at that time that it was natural that they would undertake boiler cleaning.

Sometime around late 1941 or 1942 they cleaned a natural circulation B&W boiler that operated at 2 500 psi (17 242 kPa) for Indiana Michigan Electric Co. at the Mishawaka Station, a subsidiary of The American Electric Power Co. This boiler was the only one of it's kind and the highest operating pressure at the time. Unbelievable care went into developing the cleaning procedure. "Bud" L. W. Lee was in charge with Dr. Wray Love assisting. Pete Hardy was the Service Engineer and Claude Groom was the chemist from Midland. (He did much of the early chemical work as a Research Chemist with Dr. Francis N. Alquist at the Dow Chemical Midland Organic Chemistry laboratories.) Everyone was pretty keyed up. The equipment came from Salem, Illinois. There were several others on the job too. Claude advised that "The job went well."

Within a few months the next job was another B&W boiler at the Fisk Station of Commonwealth Edison Company in Chicago. Claude Groom said "We were much more relaxed." Commonwealth Edison had many men on the job. A. E. Grunert, Supt. of Generation, J. R. Michel, Assistant to Grunert, E. Mandel, Chief Chemist, and John Wardell, Superintendent of the Fisk Station. John Wardell was a moving force at the time.

Claude stated "From here on the jobs ballooned." His personal observation was that Dowell was the only organization at that time that could function in that environment.

Boiler manufacturers were there to see that nothing happened that could make them "pay".

Boiler consultants were there to see if they couldn't become the authorities.

Water treating consultants insisted that our presence meant that they weren't doing their job and that they should participate in chemical cleaning decisions. At that time we felt that there was a tendency to try to blame us for all of their failures.

There have been probably hundreds of meetings over the years with the operator, the manufacturer, the water treating consultants and the chemical cleaning company people involved. I have had my share. The water people were going to keep everything clean. They did very well but sooner or later we would be needed. In those days Dowell Inc. (The Dow Chemical Company) was the only company in this business until the early 1950s.

Inhibited hydrochloric acid was the work horse of chemical cleaning business. Additives were used to make it more effective. Ammonium bifluoride for silicate containing deposits. Later it was found to aid the solution of iron oxides. Surface active agents, emulsifying agents and breakers were added depending on the problem. Caustic soda and soda ash were also every day materials. Too much silicate in the deposit or calcium sulfate would dictate alkaline boils in conjunction with the inhibited acid solvents. Sometimes multiple alternate stages would be required to produce the necessary results. The tougher the scale or the deposit problem the stronger and hotter (up to allowable maximums) were the materials used. These procedures are still good and still used. They usually require more time, many flushes, neutralizers etc. This can take much more time and with the advent of increasing waste disposal regulations can be impossible.

In 1946 copper and copper oxide deposits were being noticed more and more as boiler pressures increased.

Copper oxide deposits were first removed in solvents in 1945.

There was a lot of learning going on in 1945 about corrosion and corrosion in boilers. Careful inspection and documentation after a chemical cleaning job was very important to avoid later blame for operational corrosion. Later it was found that one of the problems was that the tubing supplied for boiler construction during World War II was not always of the best quality. (Metal from the top of an ingot could be full of blow holes and included slag and scale because of poor descaling, scarfing during slab preparation, and metal inclusions in the rolling process and tubing process led to many isolated corrosion areas in wartime boilers.) Many meetings and discussions were held from this period on into the late 1950s of everyone concerned about boiler corrosion. Corrosion occurred in non chemically cleaned boilers as well as those that were chemically cleaned. In the early 1950's I inspected a boiler at an auto company in Detroit after chemical cleaning with Charley Loucks. We found generally no evidence of corrosion with the exception of about 6 or 8 tubes that had fairly serious tube end effects. This was a indication of the wartime metallurgy supplied as the chemical cleaning solvents are not selective.

Copper oxide was successfully removed from feedwater heaters at Consumers Power in July of 1946 using an ammonium chloride, aqua ammonia solvent, followed by chromic acid.

Another first took place December 15, 1948. Nitrogen blanketing was used for the first time to keep air away from the newly cleaned surfaces of Ohio Edison's No. 6 Beach Street plant in Akron, Ohio. This was a joint development with Ohio Edison.

Another first also in December 1948 on the 27th was the metallic copper removal from a Montaup Electric Company boiler. This is believed to have been done with an ammonium persulfate solvent. In the late 1940s and early 1950s the U. S. steel business was still healthy and making money. Many significant cleaning procedures were developed and employed at this time. The cooling systems of a great number blast furnaces were cleaned during operation. Blast furnace stoves were cleaned with a combination of solvents and high pressure jetting with great success. So were the open hearth checker works. Gas washers, and gas lines were regularly cleaned during the normal operation of the blast furnaces and boilers. Many other cooling systems were routinely cleaned. A great success was the precleaning of lubrication and hydraulic systems on various rolling mills. The steel business needed chemical cleaning and we needed them too.

At this same time a number of the moth balled ships from World War II were being reactivated. This meant the removal of the preservative "Goo" from practically every system on the ship. Every system had a port and starboard system. Systems included the main steam system, boilers and all. There usually were two more intermediate and low pressure steam and water systems, lub oil etc. Many of these ships had all of the systems cleaned in the 1950s.

The second metallic copper removal process was completed by John Rusch at the Logan Plant of the Appalachian Electric Power Co., A. E. P. and the first time to their 1 000 000 pph boiler "A" in early 1951. This is believed to be the first use of the bromate process.

Phosphoric acid was first used to clean utility boilers by Sol Whirl of DuQuesne Light Co. The second phosphoric acid cleaning job was on Detroit Edison's Conners Creek No. 15 boiler on February 8, 1951.

The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, NACA's worlds largest wind tunnel had the grease and paint removed from the inside May 15 through 17, 1951 using methylene chloride. An extremely interesting problem in humidity control and handled by J. M. "Jack" Howell and Dr. Charley Loucks.

In the middle 1950s American Electric Power installed Philo No. 1 or UP No. 1, B&W's first universal pressure boiler. It was once through and I understand, couldn't be drained. A solvent was needed such that all traces would disappear after the unit was cleaned, flushed and went on the line. Citric acid was chosen and used for its first cleaning. The job went well but citric acid had the potential problem of iron citrate precipitate.

Mixed organic acids then came on the scene. Citric-formic acid mixtures were then used to avoid the problems of citric alone. This was about the middle 1950s also.

The first single stage iron oxide-copper removal job was done for Al Pasini, System Supt for Detroit Edison Co. about 1955 on their River Rouge #1. The job was done after personal assurances to him by Charley Loucks and Dave Nesbitt that it would work. This is the inhibited acid thiourea process.

The cleaning of various missile systems was developed and implemented about 1955. This work included pressurized white cleaning rooms etc.

45 Single Stage Iron Oxide-Copper Removal (inhibited acid thiourea) jobs have been completed by April 1957. In the late 1950s chelants particularly EDTA types started to be used initially for glass lined reactors and general cleaning. Considerable development was done to clean boilers during operation. After the Celinski patent for the use of ammonium EDTA for iron oxide and general deposit removal a new era of central station boiler cleaning arrived. It was now possible to take a boiler off on Friday night and clean it while it was cooling and with light refiring and cooling, inspection and get it back in operation for Mondays load.

Sam Alfono's and Bill Bell's Citrosolvª process started to be used at about 1960.

In 1962 the first large utility boiler cleaned with the new Dow Vertan 675ª, tetra ammonium EDTA procedure was done at the Campbell Station of Consumers Power Co. at Kalamazoo, Michigan.

The first hydroxyacetic-formic mixed acid job was done March 20, 1962 on No. 6 B&W monotube 4500 psi boiler at the Philo Station of the Ohio Power Co., American Electric Power. This was done by Fred Wheeler, Roy Martin, and Dave Nesbitt. Ed Morris and Stewart Steinhart for A. E. P., and L. G. McLaughlin of duPont were on the job. The second major tetra ammonium EDTA job and the first known complete central station system to be cleaned as a complete unit at one time was done in the Netherlands, for Provinceal Gelderse Electriciteits Mij. on their No. 12 Sulzer 400 ton per hour (400 000 kg per hour) at 190 Kg/cm2 (18 638 kPa) unit. Dave Nesbitt, N. Dijkman, Preston "Rip" Engle, Ben Andriessen, Jan Griep.did the job with much long range counsel from Orvil Smith, Consumers Power, Jackson, Mi. and Al Prince, Dow Industrial Service, Midland, Mi. The cleaning circuit consisted of six (6) high pressure heaters , two parallel sets of three in series, the economizer, the boiler, No. 1, 2, and 3 superheaters, the high pressure triflux reheater, No. 4 and 5 superheaters, all high pressure steam lines, two sets in parallel, to the turbine, jumpered around the turbine, then the cold reheater, triflux reheater and hot reheat lines. The high pressure chemical cleaning circulating pump discharged to the high pressure feedwater lines and heaters by way of the boiler feedwater pump outlet and took suction from the hot reheat lines.

The next major step was the development of the Alkaline Copper Removal (ACR)ª process in the middle and late 1960s. It allowed the tetra ammonium EDTA boiler cleaning process to continue with the same solutions with adjustments and remove copper and yield passive surfaces. This made it possible for iron oxide, mineral deposits and copper deposits all to be removed in the same solution and again over the week end. A huge saving for the operator.

Lower temperature lower pH EDTA applications soon followed and then HEDTA processes that allowed the same advantages but at much lower temperature.

Probably the next significant development was the Dowell Sulfide Scale Removal (DSSR)ª process. This allowed sulfide deposits to be removed without producing hydrogen sulfide gas.

NUCLEAR DECONTAMINATION

We started into the nuclear decontamination also in the late 1960s. It started for me, and our newly formed group in September of 1972, with the undertaking of the analysis of the metallurgy, the development of solvent candidates, followed by, possibly one of the most thorough and extensive testing programs for a solvent and the development and proving of Dow NS1ª solvent and the Dresden decon procedure up to about 1975. The job was successfully done in September 1984 for Commonwealth Edison Company under direction of Dr. Dave Harmer. Dr. Oswald Anders and A. David Nesbitt were also there from the original organization along with many others.

CHEMICAL CLEANING TODAY, WHAT IS IT?

After all of these experiences for us to build on and use, the following is the writers description of what chemical cleaning should be today.

Chemical cleaning is the science and art of applying chemicals to safely remove restricting, insulating or contaminating deposits from piping, heat exchangers or other equipment. These chemicals can be applied in liquids, vapors (or gases) or in foams. Removing impurities or foreign matter can be critical especially in nuclear power plants, pre commissioning or decontamination of military missile or satellite hardware, or close tolerance lubrication and hydraulic systems.

Deposits in equipment may come from many sources. Included are deposition from the fluids used in its operation, corrosion from the materials used in it's construction or from the surrounding atmosphere. New equipment may also be supplied with unwanted oils, paint, mill scale or impurities or inclusions in or on its surfaces, foreign particles, or just plain rust.

Reduced heat exchange and increased fuel costs are caused by insulating deposits. Deposits may restrict output capacity and increase pumping costs. They may reduce the operational life of equipment by causing further corrosion. Deposits can come loose and plug instruments, strainers or control equipment, or ruin lubrication bearings etc. This is especially true when starting up new equipment without proper pre-operational cleaning.

Equipment can be filled and drained with properly sized inlets, outlets, vents and drains. Other flow rates may be needed to keep solvents mixed and in contact with the deposits to be removed and perhaps to suspend and remove the unwanted materials. Flows may need to be high enough to entrain gases in the solution and carry them from the unit being cleaned. In large vessels (boilers or tanks etc.) the required movement may be provided by differences in fluid density, circulation with pumps, jets, gases from reactions, externally applied gases or heat application and in some cases boiling.

Many kinds of equipment and utilities may be needed. Tanks are used for mixing, circulation and storage of the materials used. Pumps provide means for filling, sometimes for circulation and sometimes for draining, although different flow rates may be needed for circulation. Filters may also be required. Hard piping or special SAFE hoses of the proper sizes are used to conduct the fluids and utilities. Blending, measuring, testing equipment and laboratories are used to monitor the progress of the cleaning. Steam, water (different qualities from river, potable to deionized, and deoxygenated), gases (nitrogen, carbon dioxide, air etc.), and electricity, may be used in significant amounts during the progress of chemical cleaning

The most important need is the personnel with the proper engineering skills and experience. They must analyze the problem, design the process including the chemical and mechanical systems, gather the necessary resources and then accomplish the desired result safely and effectively.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to extend a special appreciation to Claude Groom, John Rusch, Charley Madden and Chris Block for their assistance in the preparation of this paper.

Others that we don't want to forget who's names have not been shown are some of the key people at Haliburton Industrial Services. Haliburton Industrial Services officially got into the industrial cleaning business in about 1958 or 1959. The following are some of their people that were particularly important in the development of industrial and chemical cleaning.

Haliburton Industrial Services :John Knox, John Dillman, George Bodman (also Dow), Preston Engle (also Dow), John Gatewood, Bill Stevens, Gary Bradley, Red Keen, Glenn Morris

American Electric Power Service Corp. Ralph F. Dodd

Borg Services Bjorn Borg

Babcock & Wilcox Fred Powcock, Joe Lux, Lou Vaughn, Bill Leedy, Dick Wyke, Denny Frye

Combustion Engineering Frank Gabrielli, Ken Atwood, H. A. Klein, Chuck Comp

Consumers Power Co Joe Noland, Tom Rowald, Orvil Smith, Mason Stiff

Detroit Edison Co. Carl Berger

Dow Chemical Co. A. David Nesbitt, Claude Groom, Charley Madden, Wayne Frenier

Solvent Service Dick Elliot, Bob McCole

Others Chris Bloch, Bill Brown (also worked with Charley Loucks), Jerry Burtner, John Rusch

The many European friends at EDF INEL Provinciale Geldersche Electriciteits Maatschappij and others.