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US 4,820,476 AGranted
System and method for plugging the core barrel of a nuclear reactor
AssigneeWestinghouse Electric Corp.
InventorCraig H. Popalis
Life of this patent
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AssigneeWestinghouse Electric Corp.
InventorCraig H. Popalis
Estimating the term…
An improved plugging system for plugging chamfered flow ports of small diameters in the core barrel of a pressurized water nuclear reactor is disclosed herein. The system is comprised of improved core barrel plugs that are telescopically contractible to facilitate installation, as well as a handling tool having a compact hydraulic ram and plug-holding cradle that is easily manipulable in the limited access space between the core barrel and thermal shield of the reactor for inserting and expanding the plugs into sealing engagement with the core barrel flow ports. The plugs of the system are formed from a generally cylindrical plug body that is radially expandible, and a retaining ring that is telescopically engaged around the plug body which allows it to be slid toward the middle of the plug prior to installation in order to minimize the overall length of the plug prior to the insertion operation. The retaining ring is also slidably installable around the plug body to allow different-sized retaining rings to be installed around plug bodies in order to accommodate different-size port chamfers. Finally, both the hydraulic ram and the plug-holding cradle of the installation tool are movable within the frame of the tool, and co-act by way of a pivoting linkage to insert the plug completely into a selected flowport prior to the expansion of the plug within the port by the ram.
A method for plugging a port in the wall of a vessel wherein access to said port is impeded by a wall that is spaced adjacent to the port a distance L by means of a plug having a plug body including a shell and a tapered mandrel disposed therein that is insertable within the port and expandible into sealing engagement therewith when said mandrel is moved along said shell, and a retaining ring that is telescopically connected to the plug body for engaging the outer surface of the vessel that surrounds the port and for limiting the extent to which the plug body is inserted into the port, comprising the steps of:
An improved plugging system for remotely plugging ports in the walls of a core barrel of a pressurized water nuclear reactor, each port including a chamfered portion that leads to the outside of the barrel, and a non-chamfered portion that leads into the inside of the barrel, wherein the diameters of the chamfered portions of different ports are different but the diameters of the non-chamfered portions are substantially the same, and wherein a thermal shield circumscribes the outside surface of the barrel, and impedes access to the ports, comprising:
An improved plugging system for remotely plugging ports in the wall of a vessel, wherein each port includes a chamfered portion that leads to the outer surface of the vessel, as well as a non-chamfered portion that leads to the interior of the vessel wherein said chamfered portions of at least two different ports are of different sizes, and wherein access is limited to the chamfered portions of said ports by an opposing wall, comprising:
An improved plugging system for remotely plugging ports in the wall of a vessel, wherein each port includes a chamfered portion that leads to the outer surface of the vessel, as well as a non-chamfered portion that leads to the interior of the vessel, and wherein access is limited to the chamfered portions of said ports by an opposing wall, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.