When ash-producing fuels burn, combustion by-products accumulate on boiler heating surfaces – including tube banks, walls, screens, superheaters, reheaters and economisers. This buildup creates an insulating barrier that forces boilers to work harder, consuming more fuel and generating higher emissions to achieve the same output. Clean heating surfaces help boilers function more efficiently and reduce a power producing facility’s environmental footprint.
“Getting the most out of critical boiler-cleaning equipment like soot blowers requires proper lubrication,” says Gavin Ford, National Marketing Manager at Lubrication Engineers (LE) South Africa.
Soot blowers are used to keep combustion particles from sticking to boiler tube tanks. They can be retractable or rotary and help to clean heating surfaces of boilers fired with ash producing fuels. Several soot blowers are usually found on each level of the boiler tower.
In addition to soot blowers, many boilers have cleaning elements like retractable systems and water wall deslaggers to remove heavier slag deposits that accumulate on heating surfaces; air heater cleaners to keep air preheater surfaces clean for optimal heat transfer and combustion efficiency; and gunblowers and furnace probes that target specific problem areas where manual cleaning isn’t feasible.