Developing a Test Protocol to Determine Packing Performance in a Soot Blower

Soot deposit accumulation on heat transfer tubes and surfaces in recovery boilers reduces thermal performance, compromising thus the efficiency and life of the equipment. A soot blower is employed to remove these by-products to maintain boilers within design conditions. This specialized device has a seal between its tubes to maintain fluid pressure to clean the heating pipes and inside surface. Nevertheless, sealing can be a challenge due to its large displacement amplitude, the reciprocating movement, and the sudden change of temperature and pressure. Many different solutions are available in the market that offers viable sealing methods, but there is no test method to classify them. This work proposes a soot blower test protocol to evaluate the sealing solutions available. Comparative results for the different seal types are presented.