Patent ID: 9377245
Filing Date: 2016-06-28
CPC Classification: C22F,F28D,F28F

Claim Text:
1. A method of in-situ reconditioning a heat exchanger comprising the steps of: a. providing an in-service heat exchanger comprising a precipitate-strengthened alloy wherein at least one mechanical property of said heat exchanger is degraded by coarsening of said precipitate, said in-service heat exchanger containing a molten salt working heat exchange fluid; b. deactivating said heat exchanger from service in-situ; c. in a solution-annealing step, in-situ heating said heat exchanger and molten salt working heat exchange fluid contained therein to a temperature and for a time period sufficient to dissolve said coarsened precipitate; d. in a quenching step, flowing said molten salt working heat-exchange fluid through said heat exchanger in-situ to cool said alloy and retain a supersaturated solid solution; and e. in an aging step, further varying the temperature of said flowing molten salt working heat-exchange fluid to re-precipitate said dissolved precipitate.