Explosive New Application For Primasonics Acoustic Cleaners!

When I was a kid and growing up in the small Ulster town of Dromore, we had to look for simple, cheap yet exciting ways to have some fun. I vividly remember one such form of entertainment when recently Primasonics International received an enquiry from a company in India who had a problem storing and discharging calcium carbide.

Back to my youth for a moment and my first contact with calcium carbide which was (indeed, still is for cavers) used as a fuel for carbide lamps. What we did as kids was to buy some rocks of calcium carbide from the local ironmongers, get a tin can which had a press on lid, punch a small hole in the base with a nail to make a cannon. We would then place a small piece of the calcium carbide in the can, spit on it, replace the lid and hold a lighted match over the small hole. The result was BANG - the lid flew off!

This video clip demonstrates my point!

So why does the explosion happen? Well, calcium carbide reacts with water to produce the explosive gas acetylene plus calcium hydroxide known as "slaked lime".

CaC2 + 2 H20 —› C2H2 + Ca(OH)2

However, do not think that calcium carbide is an out of date chemical. China, for example has the capacity to manufacture 17 million tonnes per year, mainly as a raw material for the manufacture of polyvinyl chloride. Calcium carbide itself is manufactured industrially in an electric arc furnace from a mixture of lime and coke at approximately 2000˚C and this method of production has not changed since its invention in 1888.

CaO + 3 C —› CaC2 + CO

The powder when stored in silos can become a little sticky, hence the Indian manufacturer saught our help with silo cleaning - ie. to prevent side wall build up and to aid material flow from the silos.

After studying the silo drawings and calcium carbide physical specification, we recommended the installation of a Primasonics Acoustic Cleaner Model PAS-75 to be mounted on top of each of their silos. We are now also working on an acoustic cleaner solution for the economiser section of their waste heat recovery boiler as well. Our local agent is now arranging to visit with this company to progress the enquiry to a satisfactory conclusion.

How strange indeed that a material I first came across as a boy has come back to me almost 60 years later as a good application for our acoustic cleaners.

Pre-Heater ID Fan Problems: Acoustic Cleaner To The Rescue

Cement silo cleaning that is conducted in an effective and safe manner is a priority for all cement plants around the world.

Cement as a material (like coal and gypsum) has properties which under certain conditions will cause it to cling to silo walls and create blockages. The results of this can be very costly and dangerous - loss of storage capacity, production delays and sometimes even serious and fatal accidents if attempts at manual cleaning are attempted. (Read more about health and safety in the cement industry)

So not only is effective silo cleaning required but also safe silo cleaning. Our acoustic cleaners meet the criteria for both. Indeed, in cement plants there can be other problems such as material build-up on pre-heater id fans.

We recently supplied our PAS-120 acoustic cleaner for installation on a pre-heater ID fan in a cement plant in Malaysia. Previously, the plant was having to stop the fan every 25 days to totally clean it but since the PAS-120 was installed that has not been necessary.


The only time they have stopped the fan since the installation of our acoustic cleaner has been to check to see if there had been any material build-up. What did they find? No build up at all inside the fan. Not surprising therefore that the company has since contacted us to express their satisfaction with the performance of our product. So much so that they now want our agent back on site to discuss other fan cleaning and silo applications!

Read more about cement plant cleaning and silos

Cement Silo Cleaning South America

Silo cleaning and boiler cleaning are two of the most common and important issues that industrial plants have to deal with today. Proper material flow in silos and efficient boiler performance in industrial plant operations, however, are not without their problems which is where we come in!

We have provided acoustic cleaning systems for this type of application for many years now and in many countries around the world. Indeed, this year has seen an expansion of our sales and network agents into new territories .... in particular South America.

We now have agents in Chile and Brazil and have achieved sales to Mexico, Argentina and Columbia as well. What is interesting is the main type of operation where our acoustic cleaners have been installed in these South American countries ... cement and wood processing (silos and boilers). Again, proof that these two areas of industrial operations are key to success.

Long may we be able to contribute to that success with our innovative acoustic cleaners.

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Steam - That's A Bright Idea

First a little bit of history surrounding steam and boilers. It is said that the steam ‘engine’ was invented in about AD 50 by an ancient Greek called Hero, and called it an ‘aeolipyle’. However he only used the steam to power singing birds or tooting horns – just toys! Then in 1698 Thomas Savery patented a simple but clever steam pump which was used to pump water from coal mines. I suppose we tend to think of James Watt, born in 1736 as the real inventor of the steam engine and in 1776 his vastly superior steam engine was again used to keep mines free of water.

So that brings me onto the Water Tube Steam Boiler which was first patented in 1867 by the American inventors George Babcock & Stephen Wilcox. In their design, water flowed through tubes heated externally by combustion gases and steam was collected above in a drum. The water tube boiler allowed for higher pressures than earlier boilers. Two years later, Babcock & Wilcox published the first edition of "Steam: Its Generation and Use" - the industry bible which I and thousands of others rely on for the best information and advice.

From then until this current day, many other innovative ideas have been introduced into the art of steam production and improving the efficiency of boilers. Steam soot blowers were developed to improve boiler efficiency but, as this page about soot blowers for boilers explains, there can be inherent problems with this type of approach. The more recent introduction of Sonic Soot Blowers is the latest and perhaps greatest ‘tool’ to be employed in preventing ash build up and improving boiler and thermal efficiency.

The main advantages that Sonic Soot Blowers have over the old steam soot blowers are:-

Elimination of opacity spikes due to more regular, more efficient cleaning
Guarantees not to damage tube bundles or boiler structure
Elimination of tube corrosion and erosion problems
360° cleaning of all tube surfaces – not harsh leading edge tube cleaning as with steam soot blowers
Prevention of ash build up and sintering on steam tubes due to sonic soot blowers regular operation
No costly repair, maintenance or operational costs
Eco Friendly – helps to combat global climate change and the effect of global warming

Of course sonic soot blowers can be employed in other key items of plant such as ESPs, Baghouse Filters, SCRs and Marine Boilers. Take a look at this website dedicated to sonic soot blowers (the alternative to steam soot blowers) for more information.

Visiting Acoustic Cleaner Clients & Recipe For Returning Home

Did you ever have a day when simple ideas and plans just worked out so well? OK not many I am sure; however I had just such a day a few weeks ago. As Managing Director of Primasonics International I do not get the chance to revisit existing business friends and customers especially if they are located in London – let me explain.

Last year, after conducting extensive trials, we sold a number of our acoustic cleaners to London Waste, located at the Ecopark in Enfield, to be installed in one of their five power plants for preventing ash build up. This plant burns London’s domestic waste and turns it into electrical energy. Well to cut a long but interesting story short, the acoustic cleaners worked well to prevent the build up of ash within the boiler, thus both improving thermal efficiency and reducing operational and maintenance costs.

When I visited with the Plant Engineer again, he informed me that he was so pleased with the performance of our acoustic cleaners that his company were sending us an order for a large number of acoustic cleaners for the remaining four boilers.

As I live in Cumbria, it was a long trip (some 4.5 hours) to reach the site and of course I drove back home the same day. However it sure had been a very satisfying visit! I returned home quite late and not having stopped for any food, I raided my fridge to see what ingredients I could find with which to make a quick, yet tasty and substantial meal – and here is what I made .....

It took some 20 minutes to prepare and was sufficient for two people – it tasted great, so please feel free to try it! By the way, I used the fine textured proper Spanish chorizo, The nearest UK equivalent I can find is Tesco’s Cooking Chorizo - I prefer not to use the typical supermarket, lumpy cooked chorizo.

Don’s ‘Delicioso’ Dinner

Ingredients
Chorizo – 400 g cut into 30 cm chunks
2 Chicken Breasts cut into chunks
1 Small Onion finely chopped
1 Red Pepper deseeded and finely chopped
100 g of frozen peas or sweetcorn of a small can of either.
1 Tablespoon/15 g of Paprika (I like Spanish Sweet Paprika for this dish)
250 ml chicken stock
120 g/4 oz of roughly grated strong cheese such as Spanish Manchego or Mature Cheddar.
1 Pack (250 g) of Uncle Ben’s Cooked Long Grain Rice

What to do
In a deep walled pan put in the chorizo pieces and cook over a high heat for 4 minutes, turning the pieces over from time to time – remove the cooked chorizo retaining the rich red oil in the pan.

With the heat still high put in the chicken chunks and diced onion, stirring well to ensure that all the chicken pieces are tossed in the oil and sealed. Cook for 15 minutes on moderate heat.

Add in the paprika, diced red pepper along with the peas or sweetcorn and still in well, cook for a further 2 minutes before adding the hot stock, allow to bubble and turn heat to low.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Stir in the packet of cooked rice and stir well, allow to cook for a further minute.

Divide onto two plates, sprinkle over the grated cheese and place in a hot oven (180°C) or under a moderate grill for a couple of minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Learn about Spanish Manchego Cheese
Learn about the different types of Spanish Paprika

Ratholing – When Acoustic Cleaners Come Into Their Own

According to Wiktionary (the wiki-based open content dictionary), ratholing is an uncountable noun - ie. it has no plural form just as, for example, the word 'information'. According to Wiktionary and a range of other sources on the web, ratholing has several meanings and all of them poles apart!

The average person in the street might never have heard of the word ratholing but speak to any of the following and they will know the word well:

a) a poker player

b) a computer network/server technician

c) a cement plant manager

A poker player will be accused of ratholing if they have been seen removing poker chips from the table whilst a poker game is being played. This is just one of many poker card tricks used by poker players.

A computer network/server technician will encounter ratholing in an entirely different context as the term relates to the process where a proxy server identifies a client who is causing problems by generating too much traffic and is subsequently blacklisted.

A cement plant engineer worries about ratholing in silos and hoppers at the plant. Also referred to as funnel flow, ratholing in this context is when the silo or hopper is emptied and the central core of the cement inside drops but an outer ring close to the side walls remains and doesn't drop and empty. Ideally the plant manager needs to see all the cement emptied from the silo or hopper and the best way to avoid this kind of ratholing is to use acoustic cleaners.

I can’t say that I’m familiar with definitions a) and b) but when it comes to silo cleaning, I’m proud to have done my fair share of combat against ratholing!

Acoustic Locators - A Different Kind Of Acoustic Technology

Being involved with acoustic cleaning, I am always interested to read any material relating to acoustic technology. The truth is that acoustics can be used for all manner of things.

Just the other day in fact I came across the term acoustic location - essentially the science of using sound to pinpoint the direction of something travelling and its distance. Primarily used for military purposes as one might imagine, acoustic location can be conducted in different environmental situations - in the atmosphere, in water and also in solids - and it can be done in two different ways:

Active acoustic location

The principle involved is to use a signal generator and a listening device. Sound is generated to produce an echo and this echo is analyzed and the object's location detected.

Passive acoustic location
The principle is simply to detect the sound or vibration created by a specific object.

Passive acoustic location was used as early as the First World War in fact and continued to be used into the early part of the Second World War in order to detect aircraft engine noise. However, it became outmoded with the invention of radar. I was fascinated to read how, during both World Wars, acoustic location was used in various countries and in different ways.

In Britain acoustic mirrors were placed at strategic points around the coast during WW1 in order to detect any potential aerial attack.

(Photo) In Sweden they used acoustic location as anti-aircraft defence during the early part of WW2. Photograph taken in 1940 copyright Carl Gunnar Rosborn

In Japan, acoustic locators were used in WW2 - they opted for large metal tuba-shaped devices, subsequently referred to as war horns. See Wikipedia's page

Fascinating though it is to read all of this, I still prefer a more 'peaceful' application of acoustics. Give me silo cleaning any day!