Every cooling report read “all green” — and the heat exchangers kept failing

What this case study covers

A refinery's cooling program showed every metric green — cycles, chemistry, residuals, and general corrosion — yet the site kept failing heat exchangers every year at a cost of millions. An independent review found 127 mpy of hidden pitting behind a healthy-looking <3 mpy general number, rebuilt the metrics and baseline chemistry with the existing supplier, and eliminated the failures.

Inside this case study

• Why <3 mpy general corrosion hid 127 mpy of pitting
• How free chlorine was destroying the yellow-metal azole
• The dezincification the copper testing never caught
• The 3-year review, onsite evaluation, and saturation modeling
• The chemistry rebuild: cathodic inhibitor, Cl-tolerant azole, quad-polymer
• Results: 32% cost cut, 20% less water, zero pitting failures