Brushing – scrubbing – and general cleaning – Implements – Pipe – tube – or conduit cleaner
Patent
1992-12-15
1995-08-01
Roberts, Jr., Edward L.
Brushing, scrubbing, and general cleaning
Implements
Pipe, tube, or conduit cleaner
15 351, B08B 904
Patent
active
054370736
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to a tube cleaning device; more particularly, this invention relates to a device suited to cleaning condenser and heat exchanger tubes, inter alia.
For the sake of brevity, this invention will generally be described in connection with tube cleaners for heat exchanger and condenser tubes. However, it is to be appreciated that the invention has application to a wide variety of tubes and that the scope of the invention is not limited to such cleaners.
Condenser and heat exchanger tubes are normally manufactured from materials such as brass, aluminium-brass, copper-nickel, titanium, stainless steel and carbon steel.
It is well known that tile operating efficiency of heat exchangers and condensers in power plants is reduced and fluid flow is restricted when the condenser tubes become fouled by such deposits as scale, algae, mud, slime and the like. In addition, if tubes are not cleaned regularly, deposits may cause pitting or corrosion of the tubes, resulting in major damage and shortened tube life.
Deposits in tubes can be classified loosely as two types: soft deposits, such as algae, mud and slime, and hard deposits, such as scale. The soft deposits may be loosened or even removed by using high pressure water alone, but removal is most effective if high pressure water is combined with some abrasive action. Hard deposits need a positive abrasive action; water is useful mainly to flush out the hard deposits once they lave been scraped from the tube wall, and to remove acidic deposits found under pitting peaks.
To clean the tubes, various systems have been devised. Many of these involve the propulsion of a cleaning projectile through time tubes. Propulsion is effected by means of an air, water or air/water gun which shoots the projectile through the tube. Over the years, time projectiles have included rubber scraper plugs, balls and brushes and may be propelled through the tubes.
In recent years, more sophisticated propelled tube cleaners have been devised. One such tube cleaner, designed for use with a water gun, comprises a metal core on which are mounted a series of spring-loaded metal scraper blades. Each blade is designed to make contact with part of the arc of the tube wall's diameter, by forming an obtuse angle with time wall. Time blades are fixed in position around the metal core so that their arcs overlap and all the circumference of a tube wall is intended to be contacted by at least one blade as the cleaner progresses through the tube.
This cleaner is designed to remove obstructions and debris as well as all deposits, including soft deposits and hard scale from the tube wall. It will be appreciated that time cleaner has a certain degree of body strength and this is required in order to remove hard scale effectively. Material removed by the scraper blades is swept through the tube by the water used to propel the cleaner.
This prior art cleaner may be reusable for up to 20 times; however, depending on the nature of the deposits, the life of the cleaner may be reduced to 8 to 10 uses. In addition, this cleaner suffers from the disadvantage that the metal blades may corrode unless cared for in a proper manner. Further, the fit between the tube wall and the scraper blades must be a close one for the cleaner to operate efficiently. There is very little tolerance for variations in the diameter of the tube. Therefore, this cleaner is not adaptable for use with tubes which vary in size, even within a small range of gauge.
This can be a significant problem. Many tubes have a plastic or other lining running from the inlet into the tube for a short way, to prevent water erosion of the tube. If the prior art tube cleaner referred to above is chosen to fit the lined part of the tube, there may be insufficient contact between the scraper blades and the unlined length of the tube to effect proper cleaning. On the other hand, if the tube cleaner is chosen to fit the unlined length of the tube, there will be a tight fit between the cleaner and the lined part of the tube and use of the cleaner ma
REFERENCES:
patent: 1042841 (1912-10-01), Thorsen
patent: 1547440 (1925-07-01), Penn
patent: 1700851 (1929-02-01), Oberhuber
patent: 1835238 (1931-12-01), Oberhuber
patent: 2170997 (1939-08-01), Griffin
patent: 2281918 (1942-05-01), Constant et al.
patent: 2734208 (1956-02-01), Griffin
patent: 3384915 (1968-05-01), Rands
patent: 3460180 (1969-08-01), Girard
patent: 3691584 (1972-09-01), Landers
patent: 3850311 (1974-04-01), Brandt
patent: 3871139 (1975-03-01), Rands
patent: 4016620 (1977-04-01), Powers
patent: 4083074 (1978-04-01), Curtis
patent: 4413370 (1983-11-01), Payne et al.
patent: 4937907 (1990-07-01), Antal
patent: 5035021 (1991-07-01), Le Devehat
LandOfFree
Tube cleaner does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Tube cleaner, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Tube cleaner will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-727693