One of the major problems in any plant operation is dust build up. Be it on a Boiler tubes, Economiser tubes, Air Heater Baskets, Hoppers, fan blade, dust-collector bags, in duct work or in distribution plates; this problem has caused costly down time and expensive maintenance to rectify.

The problem of how to keep heating surfaces sufficiently free of soot and ash is as old as the heat exchanger. The problem becomes more and more difficult the higher the ash content of the fuel and the quantity of constituents in the ash with low melting points, such as potassium or sodium.

In recent years, fuels such as bark, peat and wastes have been used in increasing quantities. Like coal, these fuels are rich in ash which often has a low melting point. Continuous cleaning is ideal, as it allows the plant to be operated at constant high efficiency and eliminates sudden overloads on the dust collector. In contrast, periodic cleaning is accompanied by variations in efficiency and a decline in the coefficient of utilization. If boilers are cleaned during operation, the load on the dust separators can often be so high that stack emission exceed permissible limits.