Sootblowers - continued.

c. Soot blowers help prevent corrosion of boiler parts. Ash with entrained sulfur can create a corrosive environment. Ash produced from the firing of oil contains varying amounts of vanadium, alkaline substances, sulfur and other objectionable elements.

If gas temperatures are lowered far enough, the acid dew point for the fuel being fired may be reached. This causes a highly corrosive sulfuric acid to form on boiler surfaces.

Soot blowers are an effective means of maintaining the heat absorbing surfaces in the convective pass at an acceptable level of cleanliness. This maintains design heat transfer rates during operation.