COUNTERMEASURE WASHDOWN SYSTEM CLEANING

摘要

Methods and compositions for cleaning and maintaining chemical, biological and radiological countermeasure washdown systems on board ships are disclosed. Systems are effectively cleaned by the removal of water scale, including deposits, sediment, microbiological scale, micro-invertebrate fouling, and the like, from the inside surfaces of piping in the system. A section tap 20' of the system, which is fed off a water main 20 around the bottom of the ship's hull 21, is isolated for cleaning. An aqueous acidic cleaning solution is circulated from tap 20' through the fouled pipe section to be cleaned for a sufficient time and at a controlled pH to dissolve and loosen the scale. After cleaning all of the sections, the system is restored to operational readiness.