Pipe joints or couplings – Repair
Patent
1997-03-14
1999-07-20
Nicholson, Eric K.
Pipe joints or couplings
Repair
285 97, 285 96, 285382, 2853824, 277331, F16L 1304
Patent
active
059247436
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention concerns a device adapted to be fixed and sealed to at least one cylindrical member.
The device is preferably intended for working on an argon feed tube of a nuclear reactor heat exchanger at a distance of several meters from a slab and inaccessible for this reason.
Methods have previously been proposed for repairing a nuclear reactor heat exchanger tube in the vicinity of the tube plate of the heat exchanger. In prior art patent documents EP-0 271 739 and EP-0 181 250, a sleeve is inserted into the tube to be repaired and is expanded and then welded to it.
Methods like these require access to the working area.
The present invention proposes a device that can easily be installed remotely, by guiding it on the cylindrical member to be processed and then by expanding it by using a pressurized fluid.
The device comprises: deformation than the first sleeve and fixed and sealed to the first sleeve at both ends, against the latter and each fixed by one edge to one end of the second sleeve, and second sleeve.
It preferably includes at least a third ring pressed onto the second sleeve and disposed between the previous two rings.
In the preferred embodiment the rings have bevelled free edges on the side adjacent the second sleeve.
The sleeves and the rings are advantageously made of metal.
In this case the fixing is performed by welding and the sleeves and the rings are made of stainless steel.
The injection means are tubes discharging between the first sleeve and the second sleeve and connected to a pressurized fluid supply.
The pressurized fluid can be water at a controlled pressure between 1 200 bars and 1 600 bars.
In a first embodiment the device is adapted to be fixed to the interior of at least one tube and: the tube, diameter of the first sleeve, diameter of the second sleeve.
In a second embodiment, the device is adapted to be fixed to the exterior of at least one cylindrical member and: of the cylindrical member, diameter of the first sleeve, and diameter of the second sleeve.
The device can be used to connect two tubes end-to-end, as a device for repairing a damaged area of a tube or a device for closing off a tube.
In the latter case, the first sleeve includes a wall for closing off its internal space.
The invention is described in more detail below with reference to figures showing one preferred embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 1 is a part-sectional view of one particular application of the device of the invention.
FIG. 2 is a view in longitudinal section of a first embodiment of the device of the invention before it is expanded.
FIG. 3 is a view in longitudinal section of a first embodiment of the device of the invention after it is expanded.
FIG. 4 is a view in longitudinal section of a second embodiment of the device of the invention before and after it is expanded.
FIG. 1 shows a nuclear reactor heat exchanger tube 10 equipped with an argon feed tube 11. Damage has been detected in the area 12 of the tube 11 and is causing a leak. The area 12 is inaccessible since it is several meters from the slab. The device 20 of the invention is slid along the interior of the tube 11 by pushing it with a corrugated tube 13 and is equipped with a detector arrangement, for example an optical fiber 14 connected to an endoscope or a video camera, enabling the fault in the area 12 to be identified and the device 20 to be positioned in the area 12.
FIGS. 2 and 3 show the device 20 of the invention in a more general way. Here it is intended to join two tubes 1, 1' end-to-end or to repair a faulty area 1", for example a weld, between the two tubes 1, 1'.
In the initial state, prior to expansion, it includes: capacity for deformation that the first sleeve 2, in the example shown by virtue of it being thinner than the first sleeve 2, and fixed and sealed to the first sleeve 2 at both ends, sleeve, pressed against the latter and each attached by one edge to one end of the second sleeve 3, rings 4, 5.
A plurality of rings like the ring 7 can be disposed along the length of the second sleeve 3.
The fi
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Bonmartin Michel
Bonnand Christian
Veyrat Bruno
Wolff Yann
Central Nuclearie Europeene
Electricite de France
GEC Alsthom Stein Industrie
Nicholson Eric K.
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