Pulp & Paper

Black Liquor Recovery Boiler Inspections

In order to process pulp, paper mills recover vital chemicals by burning black liquor in chemical recovery boilers. By combusting black liquor, the recovery boilers generate steam that’s led into a turbine, producing electricity.

Since smelt accumulates on recovery boilers’ floors, a water wall leak could result in a violent explosion if it comes into contact with the smelt bed. To prevent this, Gecko takes a multi-faceted approach.

For composite and overlaid lower furnace tubes, Gecko determines composite thickness and base metal thickness, while for carbon steel tubes, inspectors check for overall metal thickness. This helps our inspectors determine overall wear patterns throughout the furnace.

Additionally, inspectors check critical air ports and liquor nozzles due to the high probability of corrosion in those areas. This includes bent waterwall tubes around these openings.

Inspectors also check recovery boilers for under deposit corrosion (UDC) and other waterside damage, which causes pitting inside crucial water tubes. Pitting does not appear visually from the outside, making traditional inspection a needle in the haystack search.

Gecko’s Robots allow our inspectors to survey and pinpoint all under deposit corrosion in recovery boilers before leaks or explosions happen.

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We believe in using the best tools for the job. That's why we build our own robots.

Meet Our Robots
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Our robots feed data to our software. Patented deliverables provide the most complete assessment and predicts future failures of your asset.

Experience Gecko Portal

A Gecko Robotics Inspection Provides:

SAFETY
10X FASTER
1000X More Data
50% FEWER INSPECTORS

Certified Inspection Teams (UT Levels I, II, & III)

Turnaround in less than 24 hours

3D deliverable thickness map

Robotic and traditional hand held inspections

Intuitive web portal for in-depth data review

No need for costly scaffolding

150+ thickness readings per square foot (1600+ per square meter)

Full inspection of your silo in only 1 shift

Case Study:

Recovery Boiler

A paper mill in Georgia was experiencing problems with UDC on the waterside of the tubes in their boiler. Learn how Gecko prevented eventual tube failure

Read More
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