Pulse Detonation Technology to Clean Power Generation Furnaces
Pulse Detonation Technology to Clean Power Generation Furnaces
(OP)
I've been researching the use of pulse detonation in cleaning coal-fired furnaces. From what I've found there are two popular units currently in use, the Powerwave+ produced by GE and the SHOCKsystem by Pratt & Whitney. (But now it seems P&W has moved that business to another company, SHOCKsystem.) Does anyone have an idea which of these systems has been seeing more use? I appreciate any comments.
Thanks!
Thanks!





RE: Pulse Detonation Technology to Clean Power Generation Furnaces
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Pulse Detonation Technology to Clean Power Generation Furnaces
RE: Pulse Detonation Technology to Clean Power Generation Furnaces
RE: Pulse Detonation Technology to Clean Power Generation Furnaces
rmw
RE: Pulse Detonation Technology to Clean Power Generation Furnaces
Shotgun usage was (is?) sufficiently common that special single shot "slag-buster" shotguns were (are?) made by major gun manufacturers. They have much thicker, heavier barrels to withstand the large number of shell fired. A side benefit of the greater barrel weight is reduced shock loading to the shoulder of the person(s) blessed with the duty of firing hundreds of rounds into a slagged up furnace.
Explosives usually don't do any significant damage directly, but as rmw noted, their effects in dropping large slag chunks can have very significant damage results. Shotguns rarely drop the big, damaging chunks, but the shotgun noise commonly does drop some slag distant from the target area. I would expect that the shock wave systems mentioned in the initial posting would likely have more in common with the explosives in terms of the risk of dropping large chunks.
RE: Pulse Detonation Technology to Clean Power Generation Furnaces
I will never forget when I was much younger sitting with a bunch of power plant mechanics in the kitchen during a break and they were discussing Mr Hardy's(?) work going on up above us and I asked what size clinker he was after. Without hesitation one mechanic answered 'about the size of a school bus' to which another mechanic popped off 'that can't be right. The first mechanic said well, what size is it to which the second guy replied; that clinker is about 35 ft long by about 10 feet wide by about 12-14 feet tall.....well, yes, I guess that is just about the size of a school bus isn't it?
rmw
RE: Pulse Detonation Technology to Clean Power Generation Furnaces
Hardy is the name that I remember, too. Until I read your last posting, I couldn't remember it.
RE: Pulse Detonation Technology to Clean Power Generation Furnaces
I have also used shotguns and TNT to blow up slag off-line. During online deslagging of superheat pendants in supercritical boilers, I would use a contractor that would insert a long water lance into the boiler. The guy holding the lance was somewhat blind to where the slag was, especially if it was recessed into the pendants. So me and one of his guys would be looking through the ports on the front of the boiler and would call back to the lance operator via radio to tell him where to move the lance. It was high pressure water and you had to be careful not to let it spray on a tube for too long. And you always had the risk of tripping a unit if a large piece of slag fell and upset the furnace draft, which the control room operator would change to give us more of a cushion. I never had a unit trip on me but others have.
RE: Pulse Detonation Technology to Clean Power Generation Furnaces
during the 1990's ( about 1993) there was a case where operators at a one yr old large boiler in China had knocked off a large slag glob from the upper pendants of a tower type boiler. When it hit the hopper , it broke loose a few waterwall feeders . Unfortunately, there were 23 workers in the hopper area, rodding out other slag accumulations from the clnker grinder. All 23 workers were killed from the steam/water mixture released from the failed feeders.