Experimental evaluation on the influence of soot removal with novel sonic horn and supersonic air nozzle on heat transfer performance of boiler economizer
4 affiliations
- 1Department of Mechanical Engineering, PES’s Modern College of Engineering
- 2Department of Mechanical Engineering, Government Engineering College Palamu
- 3Department of Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Technology, Debre Markos University
- 4Department of Mechanical Engineering, G H Raisoni College of Engineering & Management
Abstract
Carbon soot particles deposit on the outer surfaces of economizer tubes, inhibiting heat transfer to water and reducing thermal efficiency. While offline cleaning methods require costly shutdowns, online techniques optimize heat transfer through continuous cleaning, thereby reducing downtime and associated costs. The main goal of the present study is to assess the improvement in heat transfer achieved by two online experimental soot-cleaning methods: a sonic horn and a supersonic air nozzle. The experimental results showed that the sonic horn provides 22% and 23.6% enhancements in heat transfer across different sets of readings. The supersonic air nozzle, however, provides higher heat-transfer enhancements of 27.4% and 30.6%. Both methods are successful at removing soot, though they differ in the area cleaned and their intensity, as observed in the experiments. Even in hard-to-reach places, the high-energy, low-frequency sound waves deliver consistent cleaning performance. In contrast, the supersonic air nozzle provides concentrated cleaning only in the region where the high-velocity jet can reach. The sonic horn cleaning method removes deposits primarily through acoustic pressure fluctuations, whereas air jet cleaning relies on high-velocity gas flow to dislodge particles.
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BibTeX
@article{damle2026experimental,
title = {{Experimental evaluation on the influence of soot removal with novel sonic horn and supersonic air nozzle on heat transfer performance of boiler economizer}},
author = {Tushar Damle and Harshad Deshpande and Sameer Bhosale and Abhishek Sharma and Alemu Workie Kebede and Himadri Majumder},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1038/s41598-026-63119-5},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-63119-5},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Experimental evaluation on the influence of soot removal with novel sonic horn and supersonic air nozzle on heat transfer performance of boiler economizer
AU - Tushar Damle
AU - Harshad Deshpande
AU - Sameer Bhosale
AU - Abhishek Sharma
AU - Alemu Workie Kebede
AU - Himadri Majumder
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/01
JO - Scientific Reports
DO - 10.1038/s41598-026-63119-5
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-63119-5
AB - Carbon soot particles deposit on the outer surfaces of economizer tubes, inhibiting heat transfer to water and reducing thermal efficiency. While offline cleaning methods require costly shutdowns, online techniques optimize heat transfer through continuous cleaning, thereby reducing downtime and associated costs. The main goal of the present study is to assess the improvement in heat transfer achieved by two online experimental soot-cleaning methods: a sonic horn and a supersonic air nozzle. The experimental results showed that the sonic horn provides 22% and 23.6% enhancements in heat transfer across different sets of readings. The supersonic air nozzle, however, provides higher heat-transfer enhancements of 27.4% and 30.6%. Both methods are successful at removing soot, though they differ in the area cleaned and their intensity, as observed in the experiments. Even in hard-to-reach places, the high-energy, low-frequency sound waves deliver consistent cleaning performance. In contrast, the supersonic air nozzle provides concentrated cleaning only in the region where the high-velocity jet can reach. The sonic horn cleaning method removes deposits primarily through acoustic pressure fluctuations, whereas air jet cleaning relies on high-velocity gas flow to dislodge particles.
SN - 2045-2322
ER -