"Prevention of honeycomb, soot and cinder on the back flue sheet, along the bottom of the combustion chamber, in the tubes and around the superheater return bends is of vital importance. These accumulations are responsible for a whole chain of undesirable factors which seriously interfere with the ability of the locomotive to deliver its full rated power output.
Superior Automatic Soot Blowers prevent these accumulations. They will greatly assist in keeping locomotives in service and at constant, full working capacity without waste.
Each Superior Automatic Soot Blower installation consists of five parts : two rigidly constructed blowers, a heavy-duty straight or angle globe valve, an especially designed pneumatically operated steam valve, and a rotary type cab operating valve.
The blowers, compact and perfectly sealed units, installed on opposing sides of the firebox, house a turbo-mechanism which actuates the cleaning nozzles. The materials used in their construction have been selected to eliminate abnormal difficulty from corrosion. As a further safeguard, these parts are submerged in a bath of oil.
The blower nozzles extend through the side water legs of the firebox. When in use, they are oscillated by the blower turbine over an arc covering the full elevation of the back flue sheet (see Fig. 5.70 on opposite page). The motion of each nozzle is timed to produce the best results and the blast of steam from each sweeps over approximately 60 per cent of the flue sheet surface. The particular shape of the nozzle orifice produces a jet of steam of tremendous velocity.
The steam flow is controlled by a pneumatically operated duplex valve connected by air lines to the cab valve. The cab valve is conveniently located within easy reach of the fireman when sitting on his box.
Because of exposure to the terrific heat of the firebox the nozzles are designed for long life and are made of materials chosen for heat-resisting qualities. Further protection is afforded by means of a check valve arrangement which permits cool air to be drawn through the nozzles when they are inactive- this check valve automatically closes to the outside air when steam is admitted to the blower.
Initial installations of the Superior Automatic Soot Blowers are made under the careful supervision of experts and require only a few hours. Subsequent installations can then be readily handled by regular shop mechanics, as no unusual operations are required. The only work on the boiler proper is the removal of a staybolt and the substitution of a stay tube 3½" in outside diameter, usually a piece of standard arch tube.
Illustrations on this and the opposite page show clearly the locations of the various parts and also how flue sheets, superheater return bends, and combustion chamber bottoms are kept free of accumulations of soot and cinders. The Manufacturer will gladly supply complete information and, convincing evidence of the effectiveness of the Superior Automatic Soot Blower."
