Most engineers and operators know (or should know) that boiler tubes containing deposits create long-term reliability problems for the boiler. Long-term overheating of the metal will result from prolonged operation with heavy tube deposits. The tubes will first bulge and then fail. Because the deposits tend to be widespread, this generally means that large sections of boiler tubing will be damaged and require replacement. With the exception of corrosion fatigue, all water-side boiler tube failure mechanisms occur under deposits. Get rid of the deposits and you also stop the water-side tube failures.

The standard method for determining when to chemically clean a boiler is to take a boiler tube sample and have the deposit amount measured—a deposit weight density (DWD)—and the composition of the deposit analyzed. If the DWD results indicate the need to chemically clean, action should be taken sooner rather than later. This quiz is designed to test your knowledge of boiler chemical cleaning fundamentals.
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To learn more about boiler chemical cleaning, read: “Boiler Chemical Cleaning: Doing It Correctly.”…

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