IMPULSE® Cleaning System
Key features
The IMPULSE® Cleaning System is a development of the pulse detonation propulsion technology pioneered by GE and uses a supersonic shock wave, created by the detonation of a mixture of fuel and air, to dislodge material that has built up on surfaces within the boiler.
IMPULSE® Cleaning technology delivers dramatic improvements in the online cleaning of fouled surfaces, when compared to conventional cleaning systems. The pulse waves work effectively as a non line-of-site cleaning system, removing deposits without erosive damage to heat transfer surfaces – unlike conventional cleaning methods. The IMPULSE® system is also self-contained and has no need to tap into expensive plant steam.
Over 360 IMPULSE® Cleaning units have been installed on 75 power plants, across utility, EfW, co-gen and industrial sectors in Europe and the USA.
Most recently, RJM has provided IMPULSE® units at a plant firing waste wood in the UK and a waste plant in Scandinavia.
Eleven units were installed at Ince Bio Power in the UK in 2024 and a further five units were installed in 2025.
“These eleven IMPULSE® units have delivered an important step change in performance, with an increase in output of around 1 MWe and increased availability at the gasifier of 5%, equivalent to an extra 19 days of additional generation per annum,” said Steve Billett, Director of Sales at RJM.
RJM is now working with a number other sites in the UK to install IMPULSE® Cleaning technology.
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Key benefits of IMPULSE® Cleaning:
- Effective and efficient on-line cleaning system
- No erosion or damage to heat transfer surfaces
- Low Opex and maintenance; innovative design avoids moving parts
- Minimal intrusion into boiler means small installation footprint and low installation cost
- Does not scavenge plant steam, therefore no reduction in exported power
- Negligible recoil from proprietary detonation technology
- Non line-of-site cleaning; gives better coverage than sootblowers
- Significantly less expensive capital cost and lower operational costs than its competitors
- Suitable for all boilers, all sizes, all combustion technologies and all fuels
- Proven technology
