Patent ID: 7890197

Claim:
A method of controlling soot blowers or a soot blower operating sequence located near a heat exchange section, the method comprising: operating the soot blowers according to a first operating sequence; generating a first model for a clean operating condition of the heat exchange section from process data of the heat exchange section; generating a second model for a dirty operating condition of the heat exchange section from process data of the heat exchange section; calculating an ideal operating condition of the heat exchange section using the first model; calculating a dirty operating condition of the heat exchange section using the second model; calculating a current operating condition of the heat exchange section based on current process data of the heat exchange section; comparing the current operating condition to the ideal operating condition and to the dirty operating condition; and determining a second operating sequence and causing the soot blowers to operate according to the second operating sequence if the comparison of the current operation condition to the ideal operating condition and the comparison of the current operating condition to the dirty operating condition indicate that the first operating sequence is not an optimal operating sequence for the soot blowers.