I am fascinated by the ongoing debate of soot blowers vs sonic soot blowers. There is no question that steam soot blowers are an entirely different type of equipment to sonic soot blowers YET they both serve the same purpose.
I was recently reading a web page about sonic horns where the supplier argued in favour of sonic soot blowers by virtue of one simple fact ... that they receive an ever increasing number of requests to replace standard soot blowers, both lance and rotary type.
The majority of the requests are apparently from engineers working within the power generation industry who quote a number of reasons for wanting to replace standard soot blowers. One of their principal concerns was that of tube erosion caused by the steam from soot blower operations. The subsequent loss of efficiency and costly repairs was the impetus for the engineers seeking a better soot blowing solution.
According to the sonic horn supplier, sonic soot blowing technology can eliminate this kind of tube erosion and consequential repairs AND at the same time increase thermal efficiency within the plant by preventing the buildup of sinter on hot tube surfaces. It all sounds very convincing and clearly presents a case for standard soot blower suppliers to have to answer.
Talking of power generation plants - this is a fascinating subject in itself. I hadn't realised that there are at least four different types of power generation plant which together produce much of the world's electricity:
Thermal Power Plants (such as are used in Singapore)
Hydro Power Plants
Nuclear Power Plants
Solar Power Plants
I intend reading more and understanding whether/how soot blowers and sonic soot blowers are used in each one of these types of plant. First, however, I think more 'sooty' research looms :)
