Ball-Tech Energy Ltd.

Present the
BallTechnic System

Air Conditioning and Industrial

Heat Exchangers
Cleaning Systems

Products line Prese.

Ball Tech Energy Ltd.

Ball-Tech Energy Ltd.

Established in 1989 as an R&D company.

Reorganized in 1994 with new investment and

A total solution
for
Air-Con.& Industrial
cooling systems
Scale Fouling and its
. Environmental problems

The Problem
Keeping Air Conditioning Systems in Full
Capacity & Efficiency

The Solution
Keeping the Heat Exchanger Tubes
Always Clean

Central Air-conditioning System -Block Diagram

Make Up Water 2-2.5%

COOLING TOWER
Blow down
water 1%
30
C

COOLING WATER CYCLE

/CONDENSER
HEAT EXCHANGER
EXPANSION
VALVE

C
6

COOLANT CYCLE

EVAPORATOR

FAN
COILS

CHILLED WATER CYCLE

COMPLETE COOLING CYCLE

Evaporating Loss 1-1.5%

1T.R =3 G.P.M
25
C

COMPRESSOR
1Kw / h = 1T.R (Piston)
0.8Kw / h = 1T.R (Cent)

C
10

The Problem

Cooling capacity of The majority of medium to large central air

conditioning systems are designed around a re-circulating open water
cooling systems.
Water flow in the tubes of Shell & Tube heat exchanger and remove
the heat from the coolant gas.
Water contains low solubility salts and sediments that deposit and
build a stony scale on the inner tubes surfaces, causing fouling of the
heat exchanger unit.

Fouling of the heat exchanger unit is causing

reduction of the Air Conditioning C.O.P
1mm of scale can be deposited in 2000 hours of operation.
1mm scale reduces the the system by 45%

?What is Causing Fouling? Why? How Fast

Water contain minerals of Magnesium and
Calcium that tend to deposit on hot
surfaces.
heat
Mg(HCO3 (2

MgCO3 CO + 2 H + 2 O
Deposit

heat
Ca(HCO3 (2

CaCO3 CO + 2 H + 2 O
Deposit

Scale, fouling sediments can be found after

100-200 operation hours

Coefficient of Performance (COP) of A/C systems

=C.O.P

Cooling Rate of A/C Systems T.R

QL
=
WC

Electrical power required to generate above T.R

C.O.P
3
2.5
2
1.5
1

Clean
Regular

0.5
0
0

No of operational
months

The Problem

Accumulation of stony deposits on the tube inner wall

has a heat insulating effect that results in:

Reduction of system C.O.P and overall capacity

Lower C.O.P requires extra installed capacityresulting in higher installation cost
Lower C.O.P means higher electricity consumption and

maintenance costs.

A/C system stoppage due to compressor high

head pressure.

The Effect of Scale on A/C

Performance
C.O.P
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0

Clean
Regular
0

No of operational months
Refrigeration
100%

Another
unit added

Minimum Refrigeration

Months
Electricity in Kw
100%
Another
unit added
0

Months

Current Design Consideration to Compensate

Fouling
Add more capacity per unit
Add units as backup during disassembly and cleaning

Current Operational Consideration to

Compensate Fouling

Use more electricity for the required cooling

Operate another system earlier
Special maintenance to disassemble and clean the heat
exchanger

The Increasing of Power Consumption

due to Fouling of Heat Exchanger
0 0.17

Scale Thickness mm
0.33 0.50 0.67 0.88

1.00

0.001

0.003

140%

Relative
Watts
Per T.R

120%
100%

0.0005

0.0015

0.002

Fouling Factor

0.0025

Keeping Heat Exchanging Tubes Always Clean

Existing Solutions
Chemical cleaning by acids.
Shutting down and chemical-acid cleaning of the heat exchanger tubes.
Frequent mechanical disassembly and acid cleaning of the heat
exchanger tubes require excessive maintenance time.
Acid can damage the tubes and the system.
An additional backup unit is required to provide cooling while
cleaning the system.
Loss of production and cooling for days.
Environmental problems due to the disposal of the chemicals.

Ball Tech system

, It is an hydro-mechanical system
circulate Sponge Balls through condenser's
tubes and keep them permanently clean.

Ball Tech system installation

Ball Tech system Cleaning Concept

Features

The system injects and collects the soft balls in seconds

100% reliable system
Inject and Clean the tubes every 40 min (adjustable) totally
avoids scale
* The Sponge Balls made of natural rubber with special wear resistance
additives
The sponge ballls diameter is 1 mm larger than that of the heat
exchanger inner tubes diameter..
* Sponge Balls and condense water specific weight are identical.
* Sponge Ball has Excellent Flexibility
* The sponge balls enter and moves through the heat exchanger tubes by
the water flow
* The sponge balls wipe off the inner tubes walls without disturbing the
condense water flow.
* Balls replacements - Every 1500 Hrs of the chiller works.

Ball Tech system installation

Ball Tech Injector and Sponge Ball rinsing

Ball Tech system advantages

It is a simple, reliable hydro-mechanical system.
It keeps heat exchangers tubes permanently and
absolutely clean.
It is simple to install and requires no modification to
the heat exchanger.
The ball flow does not disturb the condense water
flow.
It does not impair environmental quality.
It preserves heat exchangers C.O.P. as designed by
the manufacturer.

 Saving on Air-conditionings energy consumption

about 15% and more.
Reduce maintenance and chemicals cost.
It is one-time investment recoverable within one year.
It prevents accelerated chillers compressor wear.
Clean and simple procedures for supervision by any
maintenance technician.

Patent Protection

Ball-Tech Energy Ltd. has patented its BallTechnic System

products throughout the world

Patents No

US 5176204
US 5176204
US 5086833
US 4865121

Israel 96802
Israel 94289
Israel 79885
Europe 0-417-332-B1

Patents Applications in the following countries:

Israel
USA
Mexico
S. Africa
Europe

Japan
China
Singapore
Thailand
Australia

The Thermodynamic Cycle P-H Graph

Pressure

IDEAL
ENTROPY
LINE
S=0

3
P2
P2

3
ACTUAL
ENTROPY
CONDITIONS

P1
QL

sat vapour

sat liq
H3

H3

H1

Clean system thermal cycle

Achieved with BallTechnic
Fouling effect - System thermal cycle
after 1000 Hrs of operation

Hes H2

ENTHALPY

H2

C.O.P=QL

Wc
C.O.P=QL

Wc

m(H 1-H3)
m(H 2-H1)
m(H 1-H 3)
m(H2-H1)

Calculation of Cleaning Reliability:

The BallTechnic system is using 30 balls for every 100 tubes in a pass
(30% of the counted tubes)
Can this ratio clean all the tubes?
Yes, with 99.999....% reliability

Some simple probability calculations

The chance of a ball not to pass through a specific

tube is 0.7
There are, however, about 40 cleaning cycle in 24Hrs

and deposits are formed within 200 Hrs.

The probability of a ball not to clean a tube is reduced

over 24 Hrs. at the power of 40 is:

(0.7)40 = 6.3 * 10-7= 0.00000063

Conclusion: cleaning reliability of every tube is proved.
Field experience: Unnecessary disassembly of the heat
exchangers of systems equipped with BallTechnic shows 100% clean
tubes with no exception

Ball Transfer Force

Balls specific gravity is the same as water

Ball diameter is 1 mm larger than tube diameter
Pressure drop on tube is at least 1 meter (0.1 bar) per pas

Example
A 20 mm tube diameter, with 0.1bar (1 meter) pressure difference per
pass

The force that pushes the ball through the tube is:

0.1 bar x (3.14x22 cm)/4 = 0.315 Kg

This pressure is much higher than is required to

push the sponge ball through the tube .