US2313042A - Condenser tube cleaner - Google Patents

Description

March 9, 1943. g T. J..BAY

- CONDENSER TUBE CLEANER Filed Aug. 26, 1942 ing steam in contact herent protective coating Patented Mar. 9, 1943 ThomasY J. Bay, United States Navy VAppncation August 2c, 1942, serial No. 456,215

3 Claims:

(Granted under the act of amended April 30, 1928;

The present invention relates to tube and pipe cleaners and it has aparticular relation to cleaners for the Water cooled tubes of steam surface condensers.

Deposits of slime and otherv foreign matter on the inside surfaces of steam condenser tubes tend to decrease the flow of heat from the condenswith the outside of the tubes, through the metallic tube Wall, to the cooling watr flowing through the tubes. Thus the effectiveness of the condenser is gradually decreased and it becomes necessary to clean the inner surfaces of the tubes periodically in order to maintain reasonably high vacuum consistent with satisfactory and eicient operation of steam turbines and other apparatus served by the condensing equipment.

In tropical Waters slime formation on condenser tube surfaces is much more rapid than in'colder waters and the relatively high temperature of the circulating Water has a direct effect in Areduction of the condenser vacuum obtainable. High temperature. circulating water combined with high power operation of propelling machinery tends to overload condensing equipment and reduce condenser vacuum below safe and economical limits unless the tube surfaces are kept free of slime coatings and other deposits of foreign matter. A

Periodic removal of foreign deposits from the interior surfaces -of naval vessel condenser tubes has been required in the past principally as -a measure for minimizing 4corrosion of the tubes and deposit attackor selective pitting of the-metal tube surfaces underneath particles of -foreign matter. The standard method ofvcleaning naval vessel condenser tubes has been by use of an air o'r water lance to sweep out foreign deposits. In cases of extreme fouling, as often occur in the tropics, rubber plugs have beenv employed for cleaningthe tubes. These rubber plugs are slightly larger than the inside diameter ofthe tubes `and are forced through -the tubes by use of air or water pressure to scrape off the slime and other foreign matter. The use of rotating metallic wire brushes, Scrapers and other types of metallic condenser tube cleaners of various ktypes for cleaning naval vessel condenser tubes is prohibited because the metal scraping parts of these devices scratch and otherwise'injure the interior surfaces of the tubes by damaging the thin, ad-

and rendering the tubes subject to accelerated corrosion, pitting'and early service failure.. i Y y The rubber plugcleaning method mentioned `into practical s ments in their March `1833, as 37o o. G. 757) above has been found satisfactory for removing slime from condenser tube surfaces under certain applications. One of the principal objections to the use Vof rubber. plugs at present is associated which arelnserted in the inlet end of the condenser tubes to prevent corrosion and impingment erosion. Such an assembly is shown in my patent. Under these conditions it 1s extremely dicult to insert a rubber plug tube cleaner into cleaner of the rotary type which will -pass freely through the restricted throat or neck portion of a condenserV tube protector and vvhich will thereafter expand into intimate contactwith the vvall of the tube in order' to remove foreign matter therefrom.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a condenser tube cleaner provided with means for supplying. Water thereto for lubricating the same and for flushing the tube as. the cleaner removes deposits from the Wall thereof. Y

. A'further object ofthe inventionis the provision of a cleaner in which the water supplied thereto also functions to yieldably maintain the blades of the 'cleaner in contact; with the tube wall. Y

With these and other objects in view, as well as other advantagesthat may be incident to the appended claims. Y K

In order togmake the invention more clearly understood, there are shown-iny the accompanying drawing, means'for carrying the invention use, vwithout limiting the improveuseful application to the particular constructions,`which, for the purpose of extration. i

planation, have been made the/subject `of illusand erosion resisting its inletend. This protector is formed with a pointed out, this the cleaner through a separate pipe extending parallel to the cleaner driveshaft;

Fig-5 is a longitudinal sectional View illustratlng a cleaner head provided with straight cleaning blades having tube contacting edges of rubber, plastic or other material softer than the condenser tube and in which the blades are held in contact with the tube wall by centrifugal action;

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectionalview taken on line 5-6 of Fig. 5; and 1 Fig. '1 isa transverse se tional View similar to Fig. 6, illustrating a construction in which held in contact With the of the water supplied to the cleaning blades are tube wall bythe force the cleaner.

ReferringY to the drawing, and particularly to Fig. 1 thereof, a condenser tube cleaner embodying the present invention is shown as comprising a body portion I provided with a plurality of spiral blades I I of rubber or other suitable flexible material vulcanized thereto or molded integrally therewith. The body rII) mayv also be constructed of rubber but `it may be of metallic or plastic construction, if so desired. The ilexible blades II of the cleaner contact rmly with the inner wall of a condenser tube I2` which is shown as being mounted in a header plate I3 of a surface condenser and as having a corrosion protector I4 mounted at restricted throat portion I5 for insuring the desired waterY flow characteristics, as explained in my Reissue PatentV No. 272,027. As previously throat portion of the protector has formed an obstruction for the passage of v cleaning devices previously employed but the flexible rubber blades II ofthe present cleaner fold back as 4the cleaner is inserted in the protector and 'pass therethroughwith little or no resistance.

The body I0 ofthe cleaner is shownas being vulcanized to a metallic nipple I6 Vwhich is threaded onto a male connecting memberl I1 secured to the end'of a exible driveshaft I8. This driveshaft may be rotated by any suitable means of commercial design such as an electric motor located ata remote point or a small hydraulically driven motor located adjacent to the cleaner head and passing through the condenser tube together with the cleaner.

Water is supplied to the cleaner through' a flexible pipe I9 which Vsurrounds the driveshaft I8 in spaced, relation thereto and which terminates a short distance back 'of the cleaner head. Adisk 20 of rubber or other flexible material is. mounted on the end of the pipe I9 and defines a water supply and distributing chamber 2l at the rear of the cleaner from which water ilows forwardly between the spiraljbla'de's II of the cleaner. Thisdisk 20 insures that the water delivered to the cleaner will flow forwardly through the tube Vand will not flow rearwardly therethrough around the pipe I9. Thedisk 20 operation performed by the blades `cleaner may be rotated ina direction in which lof the invention the forms a snug nt with the wall .of the condenser tube I2 but is suiciently flexible to yield when passing through the restricted throat I5 of the protector VI4 when the cleaner is either inserted or withdrawn from the condenser tube. The disk also exerts a scouring action on the condenser tube wall following the major cleaning II.V The the spiral blades I I will tend to screw themselves forwardly into the slimy deposit on the tube wall or in an opposite direction in Whichthey will force the dislodged deposit forwardly, thus auginenting the action of the flushing water. In either case the cleaner is rotated rapidly enough to remove the .deposit from the condenser tube.

In Figs. 2 and 3 there is illustrated a construc- -tion in which ilushing water s supplied through a tubular` "driveshaft 22 which communicates, through anaxial passage 23 in the nipple I6, the connector and body I0withradial passages 24 formed in Ythe :body I0 of the cleaner between the'blades rI I.

In Fig. 4 another construction is shown,wherein flushing water yis supplied to the water 4distributing chamber 2I through ,aseparate pipe 25 paralleling the piperaIS exteriorly thereto.

In Figs. `5 and 6 another Ifori-ri .of 'cleaner having collapsible blades is shown. .In thisform of the invention the cleaner comprises ametallic body'portion 26 which is threaded into a connector v21 which is in turn threaded onto a tubu- -lar driveshaft 28. Thebody portion 26 is formed with a plurality of circumierentially spaced longitudinally extendingslots 29 in whichcleaning blades 30 are .loosely mounted -for .radial movement into contact with the tube wall under centrifugal action. These blades are maintained against displacement from the slots 2'9 by means of caps 3l, one being permanently secured to the forward end of the body portionZS and the other being` removably secured thereto between thebody portion 26 and the 'connector 21. Thecaps 3| overhang extensions or :tongue portions 32 formed on opposite .ends of the blades .30 and prevent them from becoming displaced, but at the Sametime permit of the vnecessary amount of radial movement.

The blades may be fabricated entirely from a suitable non-marring plastic material or may have, ametallic Vbase portion 33 edged with a plastic tube-,engaging portion 34.' Flushing water is supplied to jthe cleaner between the blades from thetubular driveshaft 28 through anaxial passage 35 formed in theconnector 21 andbody portion 26 of lthevcleaner and radial passages 3S provided in the latter. In this form v blades of the cleaner are held in contact with the wall of the tube by centrifugal action generated by the rapidly rotating cleaner.

In Fig. 7 there is shown a construction in which centrifugal action tending to hold the blades of the cleaner in contact with the tube wall is augmented by the pressure of the water delivered to the cleaner. This is accomplished by arranging the radial passages so that they l will communicate'with theslots 29 beneath theblades 30, as indicated at 31. In this arrangement the Water delivered to the slots and tending to urge the blades outwardly, will spray outwardly around the blades into theY condenser tube for flushing purposes.

It will be understood that while the term "water has been employed in the foregoing descriptlon, the invention contemplates the use of any suitable uid such as air, steam or gas for dislodging and/or carrying away the foreign matter. Also, it will be understood that in all of the embodiments of the invention, the blade elements are vconstructed from a material that is softer than the condenser tube, such as rubber,

plastic or other suitable material, so as to insure against scraping, scratching or otherwise marring the tube Wall during the cleaning operation.

It will be understood that, as previously stated, the above description and accompanying drawing comprehend only the general and preferred embodiment of the invention and that various changes in construction, proportion and arrangement of the parts may be made within the scope of the appended claims without sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the paymentof any royalties thereon or therefor.

What I claim is:

1. A tube cleaner comprising a rotatable shaft, a body portion secured to the end of said shaft for passage through a tube to be cleaned, a p1urality of blades of compressible material carried by said body portion for contact with the wall of said tube with a squeegee action to remove deposits of foreign matter therefrom, a flexible tubular member surrounding said shaft, a flexible diaphragm fixed to the end of said tubular member at the rear of and in spaced relation to said cleaner and defining a fluid distributing chamber, said chamber being in fluid communication with a source of fluid under pressure for passage between said blades to augment the cleaning action thereof and for carrying away foreign matter dislodged from vthe wall of said tube by saidvblades.

2. A tube cleaner comprising a rotatable shaft, a body portion secured to the end of said shaft for passage through a tube to be cleaned, a plurality of blades of compressible material carried by said body portion for contact with the wall of said tube with a squeegee action to' remove deposits of foreign matter therefrom, a flexible tubular member surrounding said shaft, a flexible diaphragm fixed to the end of said tubular member at the rear of and in spaced relation to said cleaner and defining a uid distributing chamber, said chamber being in fluid communication through said tubularmember with a source of fluid under pressure for passage between said blades to augment the cleaning action thereof and for carrying away foreign matter dislodged from the Wall of said tube by said blades.

3. A tube cleaner comprising a rotatable tubu, lar shaft, a body portion secured to the end of A said shaft for passage through a tube to4 be cleaned, a plurality of blades of compressible .material carried by said body portion for contact with the wall of said tube with a squeegee action to remove deposits of foreign matter therefrom, a flexible tubular member surrounding said shaft, a flexible diaphragm fixed to the end of said tubular member at the rear of and in spaced relation to said'cleaner and defining a fluiddistributing chamber, said chamber being in uid communication through said tubular shaft with a source of fluid under pressure for passage between said blades to augment the cleaning action thereof and for carrying away foreign'matter dislodged from the wall `of said tube by said blades THOMAS J. BAY.

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