SmartSensors™ are advanced heat flux sensors installed within the furnace water walls of a boiler. Not to be confused with chordal thermocouples, they provide high resolution information from zone to zone. Coupled with the advanced data-processing SmartClean™ software, they can interpret where, when and how cleaning should be attempted. With the goal of improving overall furnace performance while respecting the material limits of the boiler and equipment, this technology is able to enhance furnace performance significantly.

The most effective applications of SmartSensors™ have been when integrated closely with SmartCannon™ technology. The enhanced area cleaning range of the SmartCannon™ coupled with the intelligence provided by the SmartSensors™ provides the most compelling furnace performance improvements, and is recommended where the greatest improvements are desirable. SmartSensors™ are also effectively used to enhance the performance of existing wallblower or water lances based cleaning systems.

A network of SmartSensors™ is installed within the water walls of your furnace. Although more sensors provide better resolution, for a typical 500MW boiler, the range of 16-24 are required for a well-balanced system. We recommend optimal sensor locations and suitable quantities for your specific requirement. Even more important we make the SmartSensors™ part of the cleaning solution and take responsibility for its results.

The heat flux data from each of the SmartSensors™ are collected in the Sensor Interface Module (SIM). This module in turn communicates via standard Ethernet protocol with the SmartControls™, intelligent central command system. Typically, each sensor is monitored at a lower scan rate to determine heat flux trending information (refer to Figure 4 heat flux graph). But when a specific cleaning device is activated, the SIM will automatically adjust to maximum high-speed scan rate ensuring that the temperature specific information is obtained real-time from one of the integrated thermocouples. This is especially important for monitoring the thermal impact that water cleaning devices such as water lances and cannons have on boiler tubes. By having all thermocouples wired directly through to the controls, any changes or discrepancies in readings can be determined remotely from the software interface without any local terminal switch changes.