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It is an inflatable barrier that can be inserted through existing access doors in duct work and will perform much better than wood frame and plastic barriers. They are constructed out of a durable wear resistant fabric rated up to *500°F (260ºC) and can be reused outage after outage. They are designed so that they will pass through most existing man ways for ease of installation and removal. Using the supplied 120V

blower system, they install quickly and become fully inflated in five minutes or less. They can be quickly removed from the duct work by turning off the blower and then open the large deflation zipper. Applications are in SCR’s, FGD systems, Gas Turbines, HRSG Exhaust Stacks, Boilers, Ash Hoppers and many others.

*Fabric selection is based upon the type of application, operating temperature and duration of intended use.

Duct Balloons

Reduce Maintenance Cost

This is a 24’0” high x 20’0” wide x 3’0” deep duct balloon being tested before shipment. It will collapse down small enough so that it can pass through an existing 24” x 30” man way. It weighs about 95 lbs and inflates in less than four minutes.

This is a 36’0” wide x 14’10” high x 3’0” deep duct balloon installed in a FGD scrubber outlet duct. It weighs <100 lbs. and can be installed in minutes. Due to the leaky isolation damper, it is used down stream (on the non-gas side) of it during inspection and maintenance of the FGD absorber on an annual basis. To read more, click here

Due to plant cycling, weekend shut downs may occur many times during one year. If the plant will be down for a few days, a stack balloon can be inserted inside the exhaust stack after a 24 hour period to keep the residual heat “bottled up” inside the HRSGs. Some plants use a combination of one duct balloon in the inlet duct in front of the IGV’s and one in the HRSG Exhaust Stack. The quantity and location on where to use them are based on the operating cycles of the plant, geographic location, corrosion prevention goals, outage requirements, etc. For more information, please click here.

*Excerpt taken from the HRSG Users Handbook, 2nd Edition (Chapter 9.1), distributed by the HRSG User's Group states: HRSGs that sit idle for extended periods of time are at risk of gas side

corrosion from the humidity in ambient air. In North America, HRSGs tend to sit idle more frequently in the fall and spring, which also coincide with wetter weather, increasing potential for damage unless preventative action is taken. Rain water and humidity entering through an open stack helps drive the corrosion process. Another driver is the change in ambient temperatures between day time and night time, where tube metal temperatures lag behind the daily high ambient temperature. When humid air contacts the cool tubes, condensation can occur, causing corrosion. This can be considered another form of “dew point corrosion”, except that entire sections of the HRGSs typically are affected, not just a few rows of preheater tubes receiving cool feed water.

Specially designed inflatable duct balloons can be used as temporary platforms in confined spaces. Company safety rules may dictate that any employee working in a confined space with inwardly converging walls must be able to exit the duct work without assistance, otherwise a confined space rescue team may need to be present. We offer specially designed duct balloons made to your duct work dimensions and shape that can be used as an inflatable platform where scaffolding can be labor intensive to install and result in increase outage times. Applications are in boilers, hoppers, pressure vessels, storage tanks, and many others.

This design measures about 6’ x 6’ square x 5’ high and is supplied with 25’ of 8” diameter flex duct and one 120V-2 HP blower. For more information, please click here

A gas turbine OEM issued a technical advisory (TA) alerting plant owners and operators of a potential issue with GT disk embrittlement. To reduce the risk of disk embrittlement, turbine starts in cold weather are now temperature limited. This duct balloon measured 139” in diameter and the application was awarded a 2010 Best Practice Award by the Combined Cycle Journal. For more information, please click here . (Scroll down to page 8 of 10 to see the award details.)

This 18’ diameter x 5’ deep duct balloon was installed between a Frame 7FA Gas Turbine and the HRSG at a 2 x 1 combined cycle plant in Texas. It functioned as a zero leakage barrier that isolated the space between the GT and the HRSG during CO2 blasting. The barrier was equipped with redundant blowers and reduced the outage window by allowing work to continue simultaneously on both areas of the plant. More information about this application can be found by clicking here