Important Points for Boiler Cleaning

on a Ship
Boiler cleaning is one of the most important processes that are to be performed
routinely on marine boilers on a ship. Boiler cleaning is done to prevent and remove
carbon and particle deposits from the boiler.

However, there are certain important points that are to be kept in mind while doing
boiler cleaning. In this article we learn about these important points.

Boiler Cleaning: Important Points

 If the boiler water is treated properly with chemicals and the concentration of
chemicals is within the acceptable range then the deposits on the walls of water
and steam side of the boiler will be minimal.
 If boiler is operating on fresh water rather than heavy water the deposits inside
the tubes will also be minimal and can be removed by boiling out. The hard
deposits inside the tubes are removed with the help of scrubber and brush from
the upper drum.
 If the boiler oil burner is functioning properly and proper maintenance is being
carried out from time to time then the soot deposits inside the oil fired boiler will be
minimal. But the soot deposits cannot be completely avoided as during starting of
 boiler soot formation is more and over a period of time it collects inside the boiler
space.
 The soot deposits can be removed with the help of water washing with 10
percent soda solution through the inlet door in the uptake with the help of water
hose.
 Necessary precautions are to be taken during water washing. It is to be noted
that the refractory present inside the boiler does not get wet.
 During water washing the refractory should be covered with the plastic sheet and
water should be drained off continuously through the drain provided at the bottom.
 In case the refractory gets wet, the lighting of boiler should be done very slowly,
otherwise the refractory will crack and drop down and finally cause overheating
and deformation inside.

The above mentioned points are the basic things to be kept in mind while doing boiler
irrespective of the type boiler or ship.