Method and apparatus for repairing glass-lined equipment by sol-gel process

Abstract

A method of repairing a damaged portion of a glass layer of glass-lined steel equipment by repeated steps of applying a repair agent to a damaged area of the glass layer and then heating the repair agent for solidification and adherence to the glass by the use of a sol-gel process, until a thickness of a repair glass layer becomes almost equal to the existing glass layer adjacent thereto without generating cracks or exfoliations in the glass. Also, an apparatus for heating the repair area of a layer of glass-lined steel equipment includes a flexible thermal insulation sheet body having a recess on a single side thereof; electric heater units provided in the recess for emitting far infrared rays; magnets provided adjacent to the recess for securing the sheet body on a wall of glass-lined equipment covering the damaged portion to be repaired; a silica glass cloth enclosing the body for maintaining configuration; a thermal sensor placed in the recess for locating adjacent to the damaged area; and a thermal controller coupled to the sensor and the heater units for automatically controlling the temperature of the heater units.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.