February 27, 2018
Leonid Lushkevich
Developer of an innovative online detonation cleaning device - SootGone™. Founder, Owner, and CEO at LeonPulseLtd.
Are You Burning Dirty Fuel?
If what you burn in your industrial boiler is not natural gas – then – you have a problem with soot, ash and slag fouling the inner surfaces and causing inefficiencies.
If you burn coal, shale, waste, wood chips, the black liquor bye-product from paper making, or biofuel – all of them will pollute your boiler. Soot cleaning is therefore a very important task for the normal operation of your boiler.
If you operate a Waste-to-Energy Plant you’re burning "Who Knows What" – and who knows what forms inside your boiler!
How can you clean the ash, soot, slag, or other fouling that collects on the heat transfer surfaces of your boilers or furnaces?
The main factors to analyze while examining the various technological solutions available in the marketplace are that the device and method:
- Follows the rule of “First, do no harm" (thank you Hippocrates for inspiring this in medicine and letting industrial engineers use it! );
- Fulfills the three “E”s of being Effective, Efficient and Economic;
- Performs a complete cleaning of all parts of the boiler including ducts, interior constructs, tubes, heat exchangers and volumes of all shapes and sizes;
- Has a minimally sized footprint, both outside and within the boiler, makes little noise in operation and causes no disruption to normal operation;
- Is safe for personnel;
- Is reliable and requires minimal maintenance using “off the shelf” spare parts;
- Does not require periodic downtime;
- Is user-friendly and easy to operate;
- Has a low capital and installation cost;
- Has a low operating cost.
SootGone™ has been developed with “fresh eyes” and “from scratch” to keep your boiler clean and operating at full capacity and efficiently without disruption or down-time. It meets the above criteria and more. Our device belongs to the detonation type of soot blowers.
SootGone™ is safe for equipment and personnel.
The device itself has a very small volume of about 60 liters, which contains the detonation of an air-gas mixture (usually LPG, CH4 or H2, and ambient air) under normal (ambient) pressure. It is therefore quite in operation requiring no special safety procedures or extra ear protection.
The low mass and high velocity of the wave-pulse generated from the detonation is the secret source of our safe device.
SootGone™ is a High Performance Cleaning Device.
How it works:
1. Gas-air mixture formed by Flame Front Generator/ FFG fills Pulse Generator/PG via conduit pipes of small diameters.
2. Flame Front provided by FFG propagates through conduit pipes to Pulse Generators/PG.
3. Generated by PG detonation wave of low mass and high velocity directed inside the boiler (heater), expands in all directions and blows off the fouling.
Soot Gone™ is applicable for keeping clean big volumes up to small ducts, chimneys or heat exchangers.
There is no need for preliminary pressured gases for normal operation:
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One control unit for a number of Pulse Generators
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Operates on the ambient air and any kind of combustible gases: normally Propane-Butane(LPG) or Methane.
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No moving parts in a Pulse Generators, nothing to wear and tear
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It is very effective in keeping clean economizers, steam superheaters, air preheaters, and other heat exchanges.
The Soot Gone™ system is super effective in cleaning of different heat-exchangers like Super Heaters, Economizers, Air-Preheaters (including Ljungstrum Air Preheater) and can be applicable for ducts and chimneys cleaning as well.
Just imagine:
SootGone™ is akin to an octopus which has one head-controlling unit FFG (Flame Front Generator) and numerous tentacles PGs (Pulse Generators).
FFG is equipped with all necessary control & instrumentation devices and is able to activate an unlimited number of Pulse Generators one by one.
The low mass and high velocity of the wave-pulse generated from the controlled detonation is the secret sauce of our safe device.
With a velocity of Mach 3 (about 1000 m/sec), the wave-pulse is shot out by the Soot Gone unit in a cone shape.
This sudden flow at great velocity creates vortexes and pulses reverberating around the contaminated tubes cleaning all of their sides – however, the low mass ensures that the surfaces themselves are not damaged.
SootGone™ units can be configured to address specific cleaning needs – for instance, reaching and efficiently cleaning tubes that are nestled deep in bundles!
SootGone™ is by nature reliable.
With no moving parts, there is little wear and tear. Soot Gone is comprised of static standard parts – tubes, cylinders, valves - and electronic instrumentation.
Instead of being protruded into the boiler by meters when in use, SootGone™ does not move and has a nozzle of only 100-160 millimeters in length inside the boiler.
This nozzle is the one minor item that may require maintenance due to the risk of corrosion from dew point condensation, especially in Waste-to-Energy Plants. Our team knows how to mitigate this situation and assist you in addressing it.
SootGone™ is user-friendly.
Once installed by our team Soot Gone works automatically. It requires little training to operate or maintain. It can, of course, also be operated manually.
SootGone™ is a low cost system.
Your capital and operating budgets will barely notice SootGone™. Compared to other solutions in the marketplace, purchasing, installing, operating and maintaining Soot Gone costs less by an order of magnitude!
Choosing SootGone™ will make you a hero with everyone:
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Operations – solves a significant problem in efficiency and uptime;
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Employees and their Union – Work Safety is not compromised with any additional danger or noise;
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Maintenance – infrequent inspection and little if any need for repairs;
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Warehouse – no special spare parts, all standard items;
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Accounting – low cost in capital investment, installation, operation, and maintenance;
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Management – costs are down, and uptime and efficiency are up;
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Yourself and your partner - you will sleep soundly at night not worrying about a dirty boiler!