Hybrid descaling system with acid injection
AssigneeSaudi Arabian Oil Company
InventorSameeh Issa Batarseh
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system includes a pipe for transporting one or more fluids, the pipe including a scale deposit formed on an inner circumferential surface thereof and defining a reduced diameter flow area within the pipe, and a hybrid descaling tool sized to be received within the pipe. The hybrid descaling tool includes a laser head comprising a hollow cylindrical body with an internal, ring-shaped laser path, the laser head operable to emit a ring-shaped laser beam through the ring-shaped laser path, and an acid nozzle protruding forward from the hollow cylindrical body of the laser head and into the reduced diameter flow area, the acid nozzle including one or more acid outlets within the reduced diameter flow area.
Claims20
A system, comprising:
- a pipe for transporting one or more fluids, the pipe including a scale deposit formed on an inner circumferential surface thereof and defining a reduced diameter flow area within the pipe;
- and
- a hybrid descaling tool sized to be received within the pipe, the hybrid descaling tool including:
- a laser head comprising a hollow cylindrical body with an internal, ring-shaped laser path, the laser head operable to emit a ring-shaped laser beam in a direction axially forward of the hollow cylindrical body and through the ring-shaped laser path;
- and
- an acid nozzle protruding forward from the hollow cylindrical body of the laser head and into the reduced diameter flow area, the acid nozzle including one or more acid outlets positionable within the reduced diameter flow area.
A method for descaling a pipe, comprising:
- advancing a hybrid descaling tool towards a scale deposit formed within the pipe and defining a reduced diameter flow area, and thereby positioning an acid nozzle of the hybrid descaling tool within the reduced diameter flow area;
- generating a ring-shaped laser beam in a hollow cylindrical laser head of the hybrid descaling tool and aimed in a direction axially forward of the hollow cylindrical laser head and towards the scale deposit;
- melting the scale deposit at or near an inner circumferential wall of the pipe via the ring-shaped laser beam;
- spraying an acid from the acid nozzle of the hybrid descaling tool towards an interior circumferential surface of the reduced diameter flow area;
- and
- dissolving the interior circumferential surface of the reduced diameter flow area defined by the scale deposit with the acid.
A hybrid descaling tool, comprising:
- a laser head including a hollow cylindrical body and a laser path for receiving a ring-shaped laser beam;
- a nozzle body extending forward and through a center of the hollow cylindrical body of the laser head, the nozzle body including an acid nozzle at a forward end thereof, the acid nozzle including one or more acid outlets;
- a vacuum radially interposing the hollow cylindrical body and the nozzle body and operable to extract debris through an evacuation flowpath within the hollow cylindrical body;
- and
- one or more purging nozzles at or near the laser path of the laser head and expelling a purging fluid forward of the laser path of the laser head.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.