Posted by Raymond on November 22, 2001 at 05:36:16:
In Reply to: on-line cleaning economizer posted by willem on November 15, 2001 at 14:42:25:
: I'm looking for a online method to clean an economizer online. no sootblowers available, nat.gas heated furnace, but a slight layer of scale and sulfur on the tubes.
willem,
If your economiser is operating under atmospherical pressure, ore a light vacuum, flue gas side, you can consider a periodical manual steam hosing.
Of course you have to check first the sulphur fouling layer for its possibility of mechanical removal. The latter, without a thought, is a conditio sine qua non.
On top of that you need a sufficient number, strategically placed, inspection holes with easy access, to be able to reach the bends and corners of the eco bundles, with the steam hoses. If not installed they can, of course, be fabricated with the boiler in operation if the boiler is operating under atmospherical pressure flue gas side.
If all the above conditions are to satisfaction, you can start with a manual steam hosing of the eco tubes on a periodical basis. Maybe initiated by low flue gas differential temperature across the eco.
With proper fabricated hoses to be able to get in to all those eco corners you will have good results. The frequency when firing natural gas will, normally, be low, say twice a year and certainly with better results and lower cost than installing soot blower(s)
Raymond