Ash content of fuel and heating equipment: is automatic cleaning necessary?

Literally without an introduction, we note that if you use wood pellets with ash content up to 1% according to the EU EN Plus A-1 standard, it is possible not to choose boilers with automatic cleaning. Household versions can be successfully cleaned using special catalytic granules, during combustion, dissolving ash deposits on the walls of the boiler and the heat exchange circuit.

More powerful models and industrial designs have an automatic cleaning system, internal or external. External is realized under air pressure during compressor operation. The inner one usually traps ash particles, preventing them from settling on the walls. The type of cleaning measures depends on the model. Heating equipment and its design depend on a specific manufacturer and its set of technologies. There is no generally accepted architecture for cleaning systems.

Pellet boilers are available with automatic or mechanical cleaning, as well as without a cleaning system.

Is it possible to buy heating equipment with mechanical cleaning?

To answer this question more accurately, you need to understand the physical and chemical process itself. At the moment, pellets with draft ash are presented on the Ukrainian market, and the standards applied in the EU - EU EN Plus A-1 - have not been introduced. We can use any pellets in heating, including pellets of sunflower husk with ash content 4-7% and lignin 10%. The higher the ash content, the more soot contamination of the furnace. It is known to act as a heat insulator, resulting in a drop in efficiency. Ash content rises in models without pyrolysis afterburning of fuel.

In other words, cleaning is required for all types of solid fuel boilers. How is it implemented is another matter? This can be done:

• using a compressor;
• built-in cleaning system using an ash catcher with an automatic module for unloading ash residues into an external box.

The second option is the version for boilers with automatic cleaning. Although on the market you can find models with built-in compressor cleaning, which can also be attributed to this class with a stretch. A modern pellet boiler works with a lambda sensor that monitors the ash content of the fuel, and has ash catchers.

Thus, boilers with automatic cleaning are not required in everyday life, you can buy a household model with mechanical cleaning. The main thing is to have it. But here, too, the statement is not unambiguous.

Can i choose pellet boiler without automatic cleaning?

This is perfectly acceptable if you use pellet fuels that comply with the EU EN Plus A-1 standard. These are high quality wood pellets available on the market. In this case, the cheaper boiler will be the reason for buying more expensive fuel.

In this case, for cleaning from residual soot, catalytic granules are used, during the combustion of which the emitted combustion products clean the walls from plaque. The pellets can be used with greater regularity if, in the case of short-term use, a pellet with a higher ash content has been used. Which contaminates heating equipment more than a standardized pellet. But this is fixable. Boilers with automatic cleaning do not require this. The rest of the models are cleaned with special cleaning granules with each boiler heating cycle.