Cleaning and liquid contact with solids – Processes – With treating fluid motion
Patent
1988-10-03
1992-04-21
Pal, Asok
Cleaning and liquid contact with solids
Processes
With treating fluid motion
134180, B08B 302
Patent
active
051064278
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The invention concerns a process and an apparatus for washing insulators supporting overhead electric live lines. Hereinafter, the term "insulators" stands both for pin insulators and for insulator chains.
It is known that insulators supporting overhead electric lines are subject, in areas with a prevalently dry climate, to the settlement of impurities and atmospheric dust, which is not always entirely removed by the occasional action of rain. It is also known that the wet, or even simply damp surface of the insulator causes--especially in coastline areas, where the atmospheric dust is filled with sea salts--a phenomenon of surface conductivity of the insulator.
This phenomenon, which can be considered scarcely important in very rainy areas--where the "self-washing" action produced by rain keeps the insulator sufficiently clean--can instead determine serious difficulties on operation, in scarcely rainy areas where the heaping up of sea salts on the insulators can reach high percentages.
BACKGROUND ART
At present, to prevent the above phenomenon of surface conductivity of the insulators, maintenance operations are carried out, consisting in a more or less frequent washing of said insulators. This operation is carried out by deenergizing the line and manually washing the insulator. Nevertheless, these out-of-commission intervals on the line create problems for the users, so that it would be desirable to reduce them to a minimum.
For this purpose, the washing operation is also carried out on the live line, by spraying jets of detergent fluid from a distance sufficient to prevent discharges between the live parts and the spray nozzle, but with evident risks for the operators. Besides, this system is on one hand apt to determine discharges on the insulator--especially on mean-voltage lines, wherein the insulator is fairly small and is thus thoroughly hit by the fluid jet--and on the other hand it is scarcely efficient, due to the great distance between the nozzle and the insulator.
An improved apparatus, in respect of the simple washing jet controlled by a ground operator, is that described in the DE-A-2123203, which comprises a tubular U-shaped member provided with a plurality of nozzles, to which detergent fluid is fed through a pipe connected to a reservoir placed on the ground. The tubular U-shaped member is fixed to the end of an insulating rod, which is handled by an operator standing onto the bracket of a pole supporting the insulator to be washed. The operator moves the insulating rod so as to keep the tubular U-shaped member substantially centered in respect of the insulator, so that the jets of detergent fluid sprayed from the nozzles may reach the entire surface of the insulator. The operator must also move the insulating rod so as to shift the tubular U-shaped member along the whole insulator.
Nevertheless, this apparatus has at least the following drawbacks: climb up onto the pole bracket and to operate with a very long rod (the rod is certainly longer than 4 or 5 m, as it has to reach every part of the insulator), which is therefore awkward to handle; operation must be carried out with high precision, keeping the tubular U-shaped member always centered in respect of the insulator and shifting said tubular U-shaped member along the whole length of the insulator; member has to be shifted along the entire insulator, making sure that the washing is carried out properly on each part thereof; to this there should be added the fair amount of time required for the operator to reach his working position; member--merely operated by means of the long control rod--can easily get in contact with the body of the insulator and, in certain circumstances, favor an electric discharge along the actual insulator.
The DE-A-3310764 adds nothing to the teaching of the DE-A-2123203, except for suggesting to use a special detergent fluid, apt to facilitate removal of the dirt collected onto the insulator.
The AT-B-335548 concerns instead a washing apparatus comprising a two-valve boxlike body which tot
Cantamessa G.F. S.p.A.
Pal Asok
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