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US 2022/0178844 A1Published application
Delayed Petroleum Coking Vessel Inspection Device and Method
AssigneeCustom Industrial Automation Inc.
InventorsRichard D. Clark, Daryl K. Rutt, John David Stratton
Life of this patent
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Abstract
This invention comprises a system and a method for inspecting the inside of delayed petroleum coking vessels to identify deformations, detect and determine the severity of other defects, and visually observe the inside of the inspected vessel.
Claims24
A vessel inspection system for inspecting the interior surface of a vessel to identify defects and dimensional changes in the vessel, the system comprising:
- a frame;
- a support for supporting the frame for movement within the vessel along a vertical axis;
- a rotary positioner adapted to position the frame rotationally with respect to a vertical axis;
- a video camera supported on the frame and operably connected to at least one of a monitor and a recording means for providing video scanning of the interior surface of the vessel;
- a camera positioner supported on the frame and operable to position the video camera for viewing by the video camera, the camera positioner being operable to position the video camera about a second axis perpendicular to the rotary positioner;
- a floodlight supported on the frame for illuminating the interior surface of the vessel for viewing by the video camera;
- a support on the vessel for clamping the support in a predetermined lateral and vertical position with respect to the vertical axis of the vessel during operation of the system;
- a crawler positioned on an arm extension from at least one of the support and the frame for positioning the crawler proximate to all or selected portions of the interior of the vessel to be tested;
- an Eddy Current Array (“ECA”) probe mounted on the crawler for testing all or selected portions of the interior of the vessel, wherein the ECA probe includes a plurality of coils of one or more sizes, wherein the coils are sized for desired resolution and depth of cracks to be detected;
- a laser mounted on the crawler for generating a sheet of laser light along a weld for aligning the ECA probe to the weld;
- a crawler positioner for positioning the crawler and ECA probe in selected locations;
- and
- a recorder coupled to the ECA probe for recording signals indicative of the ECA probe position and the data from the selected locations.
10 more elements
A method for inspecting the interior surface of a vessel, the method comprising:
- positioning via a crawler a camera and a camera light in the vessel, the camera being positionable at a predetermined camera location relative to a longitudinal axis of the vessel to record a video of the predetermined location;
- recording a plurality of videos at a plurality of predetermined camera locations and using the plurality of videos to provide a composite video of the interior surface of the vessel relative to the longitudinal axis;
- positioning via the crawler an ECA probe at a predetermined ECA probe point on the interior surface of the vessel relative to the longitudinal axis and determining the presence and severity of cracks at the predetermined ECA probe point, wherein the ECA probe includes a plurality of coils of one or more sizes, wherein the coils are sized for desired resolution and depth of cracks to be detected;
- and
- determining the presence and severity of cracks at a plurality of predetermined ECA probe locations in a selected ECA probe tested portion of the interior surface of the vessel and using the plurality of determinations to produce a planar development of the location of cracks and the severity of cracks in the ECA probe selected portion of the interior surface of the vessel.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.