Heat exchange – With cleaning means for heat exchanger
Patent
1986-11-21
1987-08-25
Favors, Edward G.
Heat exchange
With cleaning means for heat exchanger
15 351, 1510406A, F28G 112
Patent
active
046886303
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a device for retrieving foam rubber, spherically shaped cleansing bodies which are circulated through the cooling system of a tubular heat exchanger or the like. The device has a sieve mounted inside a cylindrical housing, feed and discharge tubes, and valves for opening and closing the tubes.
It is conventional to clean the pipes of a water-cooled, tubular heat exchanger with spherically shaped cleansing bodies. They are made of foam rubber, or a similar material, have a diameter slightly larger than the inner diameter of the pipes, are pumped into the cooling water, and are subsequently forced through the pipes. After the cleansing bodies have passed the heat exchanger, they are retrieved from the cooling water by means of a filtration device and reintroduced into cooling water which flows toward the heat exchanger. Due to friction the cleansing bodies are subject to wear and abrasion. As their diameter decreases they must be removed from circulation and replaced.
Japanese Pat. No. 47 22765 accomplishes they by incorporating a sieve-like interceptor apparatus in the system. Such an interceptor has a filter sieve and a chamber directly beneath it. To each a discharge tube and associated valve mechanism are attached. The interceptor can be operated to allow the cooling water and the cleansing bodies entrained therein to circulate the bodies through the pipes during normal cleaning and to divert the bodies so that they are trapped by the sieve and retained in the interceptor. Trapped cleansing bodies in the sieve are removed and sorted, and those with excessively reduced diameters are replaced. In this arrangement the cleansing bodies are separated from the cooling water by carrying them in a flow of water through a pump, located upstream of the filter device, from the sieve past the interceptor and through one of the discharge tubes back into the cooling water pipes located upstream of the heat exchanger. This requires three valves which must be controlled and operated to open and close so that water can pass through, or cleansing bodies can be retrieved and inspected. Generally this requires complex, costly electronic controls and a corresponding number of actuating motors. Additionally, the typically used ball valves wear out quickly and thereby lose their seal.
Similar drawbacks are encountered with the retrieval device described in the German Pat. No. 32 27 708. It employs a conical sieve basket and a valve at the lower end thereof which alternately connects the outlet of the sieve basket, or a chamber located directly beneath it, with a discharge tube which, on the outside of the chamber, leads to a shut-off valve.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is therefore to provide a retrieval device of the present kind, having feed and discharge tubes, which can be operated and controlled to open and close in a more simple manner, and in which a more effective sealing of the valves is achieved.
This objective is realized in accordance with the present invention by extending the feed and discharge tubes into the chamber; by mounting valve members to a central shaft so that they can close the tubes extending into the chamber, and a sieve plate fixedly mounting to the shaft and perpendicular thereto. The sieve has a sectoral cutout that may be opened and closed by a rotatable valve disk attached to the shaft.
The advantage of the present embodiment is that only one control device is needed for opening and closing the feed and discharge tubes. This significantly reduces the costs of electrical controls. The valve plates or discs are positioned at right angels to the tube openings which eliminates sliding motions during closure and thereby establishes a particularly effective seal. A further advantage is that instead of the typically complex, conventional sieve or filter basket, a simple sieve plate is provided with a sectoral cutout that may be closed by a rotary valve disc, also actuated by the central shaft.
The retrieval apparatu
REFERENCES:
patent: 3303525 (1967-02-01), Peoples et al.
patent: 4447925 (1984-05-01), Riedel
patent: 4544027 (1985-10-01), Goldberg et al.
patent: 4566533 (1986-01-01), Buchinski et al.
patent: 4578838 (1986-04-01), Prinz
patent: 4620589 (1986-11-01), Koller
Favors Edward G.
GEA Energiesystemtechnik GmbH & Co.
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