Particulate build-up on the boiler tube bundles in power plants fouls the tubes and if not quickly removed then leads to slagging which is a major cause of reduced boiler efficiency and fuel waste.

Until the arrival of Sonic Horns, also known as Acoustic Cleaners, which actually prevent particulate build-up from occurring in the first place, the standard system employed to try and remove the fouling and slagging was the steam soot blower which used a combination of superheated steam and compressed air to try and blast away the fouling. However as this type of equipment is usually only employed once per shift (every eight hours) the ash build up is allowed to sinter onto the steam tubes and so slagging occurs.

It is then very difficult for the steam soot blower to remove this hard material especially as steam soot blowers find difficulty in cleaning the complete circumference of each tube. In addition steam soot blowers can cause corrosion and erosion problems inside the boiler, another power plant nightmare!

The Sonic Horns approach is totally different. Firstly because they only use powerful but safe sonic sound waves then there is no risk of corrosion or erosion being caused or indeed causing any type of effluent stream.

Secondly, unlike steam soot blowers which are used every eight hours or so, Sonic Horns operate for a few seconds every few minutes and actually prevent the formation of ask deposits therefore no fouling or slagging!

Thirdly, sonic sound waves can reach the entire circumference of each tube, travelling at a speed of 344 m per second. The sound frequency range employed by Sonic Horns (350 Hz to 60 Hz) are way above the resonance frequencies of metal, therefore they will not cause any structural damage to power plant structures and tube bundles.

Sonic Horns are cheaper, easier to install and have significantly less maintenance requirement than steam soot blowers. They are also easy to retrofit into existing boilers, superheaters, economizers, SCRs, ESPs, air heaters and baghouse filters.

If you would like us to quote for a solution for your Boiler cleaning requirements please do not hesitate to contact us.