SOOT BLOWER 

DEFINITION

A sootblower is a device for removing the soot that is deposited on the furnace tubes of a boiler during combustion.

TYPES OF SOOT BLOWERS

        I.            Wall Blower.

     II.            Long Retractable Soot Blower (LRSB)

   III.            Air Heater Blower.

SOOT BLOWER FUNCTION

soot blowers in boilers I now want to move on to how a soot blower works. Essentially, a soot blower is used to blow away ash or soot deposits and the standard medium it uses for this purpose is steam - hence we have the term steam soot blower.

HOW A STEAM SOOT BLOWER WORKS

        I.           1. Can be operated manually or by remote control motor.

     II.            2.Steam is channelled into the pipeline leading to the soot blower.

   III.            3.The steam passing through the soot blower must be dry, so an operator first opens a valve to drain off water in the steam.

  IV.            4.When this has been done, the valve is closed, the soot blower rotated and a port opened so that steam can enter.

     V.            5.The soot blower tube blasts out the steam through small, drilled holes and the jet of steam targets areas in line with how the soot blower tube is rotated.

  VI.            6.A full rotation of the soot blower tube should mean that all surrounding areas are blasted and cleared of ash/soot.

7.This is the theory but in practice there can be problems ensuring that all ash/soot is cleared. Sometimes ash/soot build-up can be too heavy to be cleaned off completely in this way; also the soot blower might not have been rotated at the correct speed.This is where the sonic soot blower vs steam soot blower debate arises once more. With a sonic soot blower audiosonics are used as the cleaning mechanism in preference to steam. 

A sonic soot blower can therefore:

a) prevent ash/soot from actually building up in the first place

b) can avoid the type of tube erosion or corrosion sometimes caused by steam from a steam soot blower.

WORKING PRINCIPLES

        I.            1.With steam supplied to the blower and the steam supply line thoroughly drained. Rotation of the blower hand wheel causes the supply tube and nozzle to move towards the combustion chamber.

     II.            2.Nozzle and tube are rotated as they move inwards by means of a scroll cut in the nut and a stationary pin ‘A’ in the body assembly that runs in the scroll.

   III.            3.Ports in the tube communicate the steam supply line with the nozzle.

  IV.            4.The arrangement enables rotating, fine, high pressure jets of steam to be discharged to the tube plate over a considerable area.

     V.           5. When not in use, the retractable nozzle of the blower is well within the housing tube and is therefore protected from overheating, which could cause burning and distortion of the nozzle.

PROBLEMS  CAUSED BY SOOT BLOWER

        I.            1.Soot deposited on the heating surfaces of a boiler acts as a heat insulator. The result is that less heat is transferred to the water to raise steam and more heat is wasted up the chimney. This leads to higher fuel consumption and/or poor steaming.

     II.            Soot fires

2.A soot fire can be damaging to a boiler because it can cause localized hotspots to occur in the tubes. These hotspots may reach temperatures that weaken the materials of the tubes. Sootblowers reduce the risk of soot fires and their resulting damage.