Have there been any documented tube failures caused by water canon erosion?
A. Erosion is not a problem with water cannons. Water cannon does not clean the wall by direct kinetic impact, which is applied by conventional air or steam sootblowers. Water cannon cleaning technology employs a two-step process. First, water sprays and penetrates into the slag, and second, water in the slag expansion as it converts from water to steam, providing the energy need for the slag to detach from water wall. The water jet speed is very low when it hits the water wall. In addition, a water cannon will only clean a zone when the water wall is covered by a layer of slag so that water will not impact wall tube directly. Therefore, the water erosion problem is non-existant for water cannon system.
