There are many risks associated with the recovery operation. However, you can reduce these risks by stabilizing the combustion process with automatic port cleaners. It is important to invest in reliable automatic cleaners that can handle the rigors of the process with the least amount of maintenance and the least risk of failure. Find out why the recovery boiler community has put its confidence in the patented “index-cleaning” technique from Anthony-Ross Company.

Primary Automatic Port Cleaner (APC) Advantages

Value:  The patented “index cleaning” technology design purposes are based upon lowest risk of cleaner failure; lowest maintenance costs; and lowest operating cost. With the Anthony-Ross Company, your mill can achieve the best boiler performance with the lowest operational and maintenance cost.

Experience: Anthony-Ross Company continues to be the worldwide leader in Automatic Cleaner systems, with more than 280 recovery boilers [using our solutions?]. This broad-based experience provides our users with a product that has withstood the scrutiny of many users and evolved to work even better.

Technology: The high reliability of Anthony-Ross solutions makes it easy to forget risks of automatic cleaning, such as jamming and difficult removal, which may result in production upsets and hazard exposure to personnel. Anthony-Ross patented index-cleaning technology is the “low risk” method of cleaning, representing over 70 percent of the market worldwide. 

Cleaning: The reasons to invest in cleaners are for automatic cleaning all the time and without supplemental manual cleaning. It would also be imperative to be able to automatically clean during most boiler disturbances. Our cleaning technique of “a little bit at a time” is the only system that can clean all the time during normal boiler operation and almost all the time during disturbances. All other competitors use the “all-or-nothing” method of cleaning, and this brute force style of cleaning will require supplemental manual cleaning support.

Maintenance: Because of our low-stress index-cleaning technology, the Anthony-Ross APC System requires significantly lower maintenance than other systems. Small cleaning head size means that only a small area of the ports is cleaned with each punch. Much less impact force is transmitted to the system mechanics, enabling many ports to be ganged together, resulting in fewer prime movers. (For example Anthony-Ross has 18 cleaner units, compared to 50 for our competitors.) In addition, alignment with a “one-punch” unit has three critical degrees (horizontal, vertical and rotational), versus only one critical degree for the APC. The Anthony-Ross APC system also offers three times greater alignment sensitivity, combined with high-impact force cleaning and high duty cycles, as well as more than double the critical component density.

The patented PDA system provides the mechanical flexibility at the primary air level (when combined with the APC) to improve the recovery boiler operating performances, availability and wear properties.

Primary Port Damper Assembly (PDA) Advantages

Better char bed control, using significantly less primary air: Anyone can control the char bed easily, as long as you do not mind running the boiler with plenty of primary air. Unfortunately, these conditions lead to poor efficiencies, high carbon carryover, and premature boiler pluggages. The PDA provides the reliable mechanical flexibility to adjust the port opening size so that the port pressure can be raised to control the char bed, while reducing the airflow rate. The PDA can safely turn down the port size by 90 percent, something that is otherwise impossible to achieve.

Reduced lower furnace heat release: Combustion too close to the port opening results in a high peak heat release to the wall tubes nearby. This leads to premature tube wastage around the ports. Higher air pressure combined with lower airflow rates, enables lower heat release at a greater distance into the furnace. The heat released is then spread out among larger wall surfaces.

Improved boiler runtimes and efficiencies: By using substantially less primary air to safely control the char bed, it is possible to introduce more combustion air above the liquor spray to complete the combustion process. This results in less lifting force on the liquor spray drops, which reduces the carbon carryover. With reduced fouling rates in the upper furnace, boiler runtimes increase. In addition, the tertiary air flow rate has a greater contribution to total combustion. This provides greater control range for the excess air controller to maintain low excess air. It is easy for operators to adjust only the tertiary air to control the “excess air,” because this does not disturb char bed formation. However, if there is not enough control range, the operators must adjust the secondary and/or primary airflow, which can lead to a future char bed disturbance.

Non-Stick Operation: The spring-loaded design and the movement of the PDA every 15 minutes (cleaning cycle) ensure that it does not stick, which might otherwise be prone to stick, break their connection to the damper shaft and interfere with the port opening.