Alternative cleaning
Hydroblasting (offline cleaning)
Also known as hydroblasting, hydro blasting, high-pressure water cleaning.
Hydroblasting uses high-pressure water (typically 700–2,000 bar at the nozzle) to remove hardened deposits from boiler tubes, heat-exchanger surfaces, and process-equipment internals during planned outages. Hydroblasting is the standard offline cleaning method for deposits beyond the reach of online cleaning systems.
Industrial uses
- Recovery-boiler water washes — periodic deep cleaning campaigns
- Heat-exchanger off-line tube cleaning
- Refining furnace radiant-tube decoking adjunct
- Cement-plant preheater and kiln-inlet manual cleaning
Position vs sonic horns
Hydroblasting is offline (requires shutdown), labour-intensive, and addresses deposits that have already consolidated into hard, bonded layers. Sonic horns are online, automatic, and prevent the consolidation that would otherwise require hydroblasting. Most plants run both: continuous acoustic cleaning extends the interval between hydroblasting campaigns, often doubling the campaign-to-campaign run time.
Related terms
Related terms
- Water wash (recovery boiler)A water wash is the offline cleaning campaign performed during recovery-boiler shutdowns, using high-pressure water to remove deposits that in-service cleaning cannot reach.
- Dry-ice blastingDry-ice blasting projects solid CO2 pellets onto a surface; the pellets sublimate on impact, leaving only the dislodged material as secondary waste. Common for offline boiler cleaning.
- Manual lancingManual lancing is operator-performed cleaning using handheld rods, lances or jets. Labour-intensive, HSE-burdened; the cleaning method of last resort in most industrial settings.