Automatic cleaning of steam boiler by high pressure water - Linear XZ positioner carrying nozzle for high pressure water.

        In the boiler furnace there are tubes to transfer heat from the burned fuel (coal) to the water circulated in the tubes. The tubes in the furnace are organized in few rows. Space between the tubes should be clean as much as possible. During the combustion there is a high tendency to fill that space by the solid unburned parts of fuel. This will cause worsen heat transfer from fire to the water and finally diminish the energetic efficiency of the boiler.

    Space between the tubes has to be cleaned regularly. Usually maintenance personnel has to clean this space manually by the long metal bar. Equipment described in this document uses high pressure water (around 20 MPa) in a thin ray. Cleaning process can be automatic. Water feeds nozzle which is targeting space between tubes. Nozzle is attached by one end to the boiler wall. Free end of nozzle is used to change direction of water ray. Filling material (ash, slag) will be removed by consequent movement of the water ray over the tubes.

      Movement of the nozzle free end is performed by the linear XZ positioner. Positioner is controlled by the programmable logic controller (PLC). Path is stored in the controller memory.

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Benefits:

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• Energy savings;

• Higher maximal power;

• Extension of operating time between outage;

• Boiler lifetime extension;

• Automatic operation.