Method of pressure pulse cleaning heat exchanger tubes, upper tube support plates and other areas in a nuclear steam generator and other tube bundle heat exchangers

This patent describes the art of removing corrosive deposits from locations within a heat exchanger in which the heat exchanger is characterized by an enclosed tank containing heat exchanger tubes which are closely packed together and support plates arranged transverse to and sequentially spaced along the longitudinal axis of the heat exchanger tubes and forming junctions therewith, where the support plates contain a multiplicity of transverse holes extending through their entire thickness and where crevices exist between the outer surface of the heat exchanger tubes and the support plates at the site of the junctions and wherein these crevices and the holes in the support plates act as flow holes to permit liquid which is placed in the enclosed tank to rise to a multiplicity of levels within the tank. The heat exchanger also contains an outer shell and a tube support sheet at the lower extremity of the tank to provide a base support for the multiplicity of heat exchanger tubes