Non-selective assessment of the technical condition of heat exchangers of transport power plants

The application of a stationary method of thermal conductivity to a two-layer flat wall made it possible to develop a calculated and experimental approach for diagnosing deposits in the water heat exchanger of a diesel locomotive. Determination of the real state of heat exchangers during operation becomes especially relevant, since this makes it possible to make informed decisions about the need for maintenance, current repair or continued operation of the diesel locomotive based on its technical condition. It was found that the temperature difference across the wall thickness is only 0.09 °C, and in the absence of scale, the wall temperature on the air side is close to the water temperature with an error of 1.8 %. The calculation showed that the wall temperature on the air side should be measured during operation with different thicknesses of the scale layer. The results of the calculations were used to create a nomogram that allows to determine the thickness of the scale depending on the temperature of the water and the temperature of the wall from the air. It is recommended to carry out temperature measurements at the beginning of operation and then periodically at regular intervals in accordance with the procedure for monitoring parameters. The use of computational and experimental approaches expands the diagnostic capabilities of transport power plants, and this method can be used in the development and implementation of a technical condition operation system.