Cleaning and separation in conduits
AssigneeThe University of Bristol
InventorGiuseppe L. Quarini
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A coherent body (B) of wet crushed ice is pumped along a pipe (5). The crushed ice body can be used as a means of cleaning the pipe wall, as a means of driving a product liquid out of the pipe for recovery, or as a barrier for preventing mixing of two different bodies of liquid (1,2) in the pipe to either side of it. Being coherent but flowable and non-tensile, the mass of crushed ice can negotiate internal constrictions, obstructions and junctions of the pipe readily, unlike conventional solid or gelled pigs.
Claims9
A method of clearing, cleaning or providing a movable plug in a fluid flow conduit (5) by causing a body (B) which spans the conduit interior to pass along inside the conduit, characterized in that the body (B) is a coherent, flowable agglomerate mass of solid particles mixed with a wetting liquid which comprises a melt derived from the solid particles.
A method according to any one of the preceding claims in which the wetting liquid contains a freezing point depressant.
A method according to any one of the preceding claims in which the body (B) is caused to pass along the conduit (5) as a barrier at one end of a body of other flowable material in the conduit, or between two bodies of other flowable material in the conduit.
A method according to any one of the preceding claims in which a process liquid is present in the conduit, and such process liquid is frozen and comminuted to provide the body (B) for passage in the conduit in contact with the process liquid.
A method according to any one of the preceding claims in which the fluid flow conduit has any one or more of the following features:
- greater than 20% change in cross-sectional area;
- internal local obstructions projecting into the conduit space;
- branching or merging of conduits, and the body (B) negotiates said feature(s).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.