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Posted by Mark on February 28, 2007 at 13:35:28:
In Reply to: Johnson firetube boiler, (biomass) posted by Kraig on February 27, 2007 at 18:58:47:
: They are specking out a johnson firetube boiler for the new biomass plant being built this spring.(25,000 lb. hr. boilker) I do not know anything about Johnson boilers or firetubes for that matter, we have all watertube. How will cleaning a firetube boiler be as compared to a watertube? I know it is not much fun crawling into the drums on a watertube boiler.We will be burning the gas from the wood chips so I assume it will be very clean. Is punching the tubes on such a unit difficult? We have an air driven tube cleaner. How about the reliability/durability of the Johnson boiler? any Pros or Cons? Thanks.
:::If you will be using a gasifier as your heat input to the Johnston boiler you will be very satisfied with accessibility for cleaning the tubes. Watertube boilers in a biomass service are usually very difficult to thoroughly clean the fireside surfaces. Sooblowers and sonic horns will help but still can be hard to get the debris out. As long as you dont get "sap" or other adhesive type carryover in the gas from the gasifier you can use a flue brush or motor driven cleaner with vac attachment (or not) to "punch" the tubes. Water side washout shouldnt be any more difficult than on your watertube boilers.
Johnston makes a very durable boiler.