US 4,688,691 AGranted

Process for attaching clad components and pressure vessel formed thereby

AssigneeNooter Corporation

InventorRalph R. Christian

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Abstract

Segments of a clad pressure vessel are welded together along seams at which the cladding is removed to expose a steel backing, so that initially a groove opens out of the cladding toward the interior of the vessel at each seam. Batten strips cover the grooves, and each of those strips has a depressed center portion which fits into the groove for that strip to center the strip along its groove. The batten strip also has flanges which extend outwardly from the depressed portion to overlie the cladding, to which they are welded along their edges. Cover plates are welded over the ends of batten strips. Thus, the cladding, the batten strips and the cover plates totally isolate the steel backing of the pressure vessel from the interior of the vessel, so that the contents of the vessel will not corrode the backing.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A process for joining components each having a backing of one metal and a cladding of another metal, with the cladding being bonded securely in place over the backing, said process comprising:

removing the cladding from the backing adjacent to an edge of each of the components to expose the backing;
with the cladding of the two components facing generally in the same direction, placing the components together edge-to-edge along their edges at which the cladding has been removed, whereby a groove exists where the cladding has been removed;
thereafter welding the components together at their backings;
placing a batten strip having detached ends along the groove with the batten strip having a depressed portion that fits into the groove, the batten strip also having flanges along the sides of the depressed portion such that the flanges overlie the cladding;
welding the batten strip to the cladding along the side edges of the flanges;
at each end of the batten strip installing a closure that blocks the end of the strip;
and welding the closure to the batten strip and to the cladding to totally isolate the groove and the portion of the backing exposed in it from the region to which the cladding is exposed.

4 more elements

A pressure vessel comprising:

first and second components which are joined together along a first seam to form part of the wall of the pressure vessel, each component having a steel backing and a cladding located over the backing and being bonded securely to the backing so as to be presented inwardly toward the interior of the vessel, the backings on the two components being welded together at the seam, the claddings at the seam being removed to provide a groove;
a first batten strip located along the first groove and having ends, the batten strip having a depressed portion which fits into the groove and flanges projecting away from the depressed portion along its sides, the flanges overlying the cladding and being welded to the cladding along their edges, a closure at each end of the batten strip, the closure being welded to the batten strip and to the cladding to totally isolate the groove and the portion of the backing exposed in it from the interior of the pressure vessel.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.