Cleaning and liquid contact with solids – Processes – Hollow work – internal surface treatment
Reexamination Certificate
2002-09-03
2004-04-06
Gulakowski, Randy (Department: 1746)
Cleaning and liquid contact with solids
Processes
Hollow work, internal surface treatment
C134S022180, C134S024000, C134S113000, C134S16700R, C134S178000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06715499
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a water lance blower or blaster for the cleaning of thermal installations, including a water lance having a nozzle for forming a water jet and having a mouth. The water lance is movably disposed with its mouth at or in a hatch and is capable of blowing the water jet through a thermal installation, which is in operation and has flames and/or smoke gases flowing therein, onto wall regions capable of being reached from the hatch. The invention also relates to a method for operating a water lance blower for the cleaning of a thermal installation, which includes providing a water lance having a mouth and having a nozzle for forming a water jet. The water lance is movably disposed with its mouth at or in a hatch and is capable of blowing a water jet through the thermal installation, which is in operation and in which flames and/or smoke gases flow, onto wall regions capable of being reached from the hatch.
Water lance blowers of that type and methods for operating them are described, for example, in International Publication Nos. WO 96/38701 and WO 96/38703, corresponding to U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,925,193; 6,035,811; and 6,283,069, International Publication No. WO 96/38702 corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 6,073,641 and International Publication No. WO 96/38704 corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 6,101,985. Water lance blowers of that kind discharge a bunched water jet through a combustion space onto an opposite wall and thus clean the thermal installations during operation, in particular the combustion spaces of steam boilers. A flaking-off of dirt formed of soot, slag and ash is brought about as a result of kinetic water jet energy and of violent evaporation of water which has penetrated into pores of deposits.
A region of impingement of the water jet of a water lance blower generally follows a defined predeterminable path on a surface to be cleaned, which is also known as a blow figure. That path generally runs in a meander-like manner and, where appropriate, avoids obstacles, orifices or other sensitive zones.
In order to ensure an effective cleaning of the thermal installations, it is necessary for a jet emerging from a water lance to maintain a predeterminable quality during the operation of the water lance blower. The water lance has a nozzle which is disposed on the thermal installation in such a way that the nozzle is exposed permanently to flames and/or smoke gases, flue gases or fumes within the thermal installation. The result thereof is that the nozzle becomes dirty and various particles, such as, for example, soot, ash or the like, settle on or in the nozzle. In addition, residues from the water, such as, for example, lime, also settle inside the nozzle.
Those deposits may, for example, narrow the nozzle orifice from which the water jet emerges and therefore adversely influence the water jet quality. Possible consequences are, for example, the widening or bursting-open of the water jet after the latter has left the nozzle. There is consequently the possibility that, because of a dirty nozzle, the water jet will not exactly follow a predetermined blow figure and therefore put sensitive zones of the thermal installations at risk. Furthermore, deposits within the nozzle increase friction between the water stream and the nozzle wall and consequently reduce the water quantity per unit time which is conducted through the nozzle. Moreover, due to the increased roughness of the nozzle wall, the deposits may cause the water jet to burst open directly when it leaves the nozzle, with opposite wall regions of the thermal installation no longer being reached or only being partially reached. The cleaning action of the water jet is thus reduced.
At the present time, the water jet quality of the known water lance blowers is determined, for example, through the use of operating properties of pumps generating a water stream, a visual check and evaluation of the nozzle or a subsequent assessment of the cleaning action. The water pumps are mostly disposed far away from the water lance and moreover often supply a plurality of water lances. It is therefore only possible with difficulty to assess an individual water jet and identify the cause of a reduction in the water jet quality. A visual check and evaluation of the nozzle is very complicated and requires highly qualified assistants who can infer the degree of soiling of the nozzle on the basis of external observation. In the subsequent assessment of cleaned surfaces of the thermal installation, residual dirt on the boiler wall and deviation of the impinging water jet from the predetermined blow figure are of main concern. Due to the thermal installation being operated in parallel, an appraisal of the cleaning action is only possible at a very high outlay in terms of sensors in or on the boiler wall. Moreover, the cleaning action achieved only ensures an inaccurate forecast of the water jet quality during the following cleaning process.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a water lance blower with a monitoring device for the quality of a water jet and a method for operating the same, which overcome the hereinafore-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices and methods of this general type and which permit the quality and therefore also the cleaning action of the generated water jet to be assessed reliably, even during operation.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a water lance blower for cleaning a thermal installation having flames and/or smoke gases flowing therein during operation. The thermal installation has a hatch and wall regions accessible from the hatch. The water lance blower comprises a water lance having a mouth and having a nozzle for forming a water jet. The water lance is movably disposed with the mouth at or in the hatch for blowing the water jet through the thermal installation and onto the wall regions during operation of the thermal installation. The water lance has at least one sensor for detecting at least one characteristic parameter, as a measurement value, for monitoring quality of the water jet.
Therefore, the water lance blower according to the invention is distinguished in that the water lance has at least one sensor which is disposed in such a way that the latter detects at least one parameter for monitoring the quality of the water jet. The configuration of the at least one sensor on or in the water lance takes place according to the type of sensor and the parameter to be measured. The sensor may be disposed inside or outside the thermal installation. The measurement values detected by the at least one sensor are transmitted and subsequently evaluated. An objective assessment of the jet quality of a water lance during operation is possible for the first time through the use of such sensor technology.
In accordance with another feature of the invention, the at least one sensor is constructed as a solid-borne sound sensor. The solid-borne sound sensor is mounted, preferably outside the thermal installation, on the water lance. The solid-borne sound sensor is constructed, in particular, as a microphone or a piezoelectric acceleration recorder. It is particularly advantageous to mount a plurality of solid-borne sound sensors which, for example, record the solid-borne sound of different frequency ranges. This subsequently ensures a more accurate frequency analysis of the measurement values or makes it possible to carry out a separate analysis of various parts of the water lance.
In accordance with a further feature of the invention, the nozzle of the water lance is disposed inside the thermal installation and the nozzle has at least one capacitively acting sensor, through the use of which the water content in the surroundings of the nozzle which are near the water jet can be determined. The capacitively acting sensor is preferably disposed on the surface and/or in depressions of the nozzle. The simple provision of sensors of this typ
Bartels Franz
Eimer Klaus
Frach Manfred
Clyde Bergmann GmbH
Greenberg Laurence A.
Gulakowski Randy
Mayback Gregory L.
Perrin Joseph L
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