This one of the oldest systems used in the cleaning of boilers. Mechanical or pneumatic hammers hit the tubes and cause them to vibrate . It really should not be compared with the technique using infrasounds, wherein the gas is made to vibrate.

Additives can improve burning and so modify the chemical nature of the soot deposits. Most of the petroleum companies produce such additives for fuels.

Of course specialised technical tools help and this cleaning is usually very efficient. Unfortunately, this type of cleaning necessitates a boiler shutdown during the cleaning operation.
It can be said that a manual cleaning is much easier on a boiler fitted with an infrasound generator, as the deposits are brittle and do not stick so hardly to the tubes.