The soot blower is a device for removing the soot and dust that adhere to the heat transfer surface of various heat exchangers (boilers, air preheaters, economizers, etc). The heat exchange performance is reduced by the adherence of soot and dust contained in the combustion gas on the heat transfer surface of heat exchanger soot blow pipes (for boilers, it is generating tubes, superheater tubes, water-wall tubes, etc). Soot blowers are installed and run over fixed intervals in order to prevent a reduction in heat exchanger performance.

In the case that multiple soot blowers are installed, they basically run sequentially in the upstream flow of gas.

Representative types of electric soot blowers include: the retractable type with a structure that runs back-and-forth while rotating, the fixed-rotation type where the injection pipe enters inside the heat exchanger and then that injection pipe rotates, or the reciprocation type, which is mainly used for the in-pipe gas style furnaces of air preheaters and the like, with a structure that moves a T-shaped injection pipe installed inside heat exchangers back-and-forth.

Besides those listed above, there are various other types, including the swinging-retractable type, which moves back-and-forth while oscillating, the wall deslagger, which is used for cleaning walls, and the fixed-stationary type, which is only run for injections from stationary injection pipes within a furnace.