Method and apparatus for cleaning columns by inducing vibrations in fouling material and the column
AssigneeAmerican International Corporation
InventorPatricia M. Garcia
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of cleaning in a pipe which has fouling material on the interior so that the bond with the fouling material is broken by first filling the pipe with liquid, applying pressure pulsations to the liquid to the extent that a standing wave is formed in the pipe and the incompressible liquid therein, and cavitation is initiated within the standing wave in the pipe so that the pipe is cleaned on the formation of induced shock waves occurring upon collapse of microscopic bubbles resulting from cavitation and subsequent collapse.
Claims16
A method for cleaning a fouled pipe comprising the steps of:
- (a) filling the pipe with an incompressible liquid;
- (b) releaseably connecting to the pipe a pressure source;
- (c) by means of cooperating valves, pulsating the pressure source to form a standing wave in the liquid in the pipe;
- (d) by means of said valves, adjusting said pulsations so that cavitation occurs in the liquid during pressure fluctuations within the standing wave;
- and
- (e) by means of said valves, adjusting the pressure of the pulsations such that said cavitation creates vibrations of differing frequencies transmitted through the liquid to the fouling material and to the pipe, wherein the fouling material and the pipe vibrate at different frequencies to break the fouling material free of the pipe.
A method of cleaning an interior of a fouled pipe comprising the steps of:
- (a) in a region of the pipe where the fouling occurs, isolating a portion of the pipe between an inlet end and an outlet end;
- (b) filling the pipe between the inlet end and outlet end with an incompressible liquid;
- and
- (c) forming microscopic bubbles within the liquid by generating standing waves in the liquid;
- (d) applying pressure variations to the liquid so that the bubbles in the liquid are momentarily compressed and released therefrom to thereby initiate collapse of the bubbles to generate vibrations in the liquid for breaking the bond holding the fouling material to the pipe, wherein
- (i) the vibrations are generated at multiple frequencies,
- (ii) the frequencies of the vibrations are controlled by the magnitude of the pressure variations, and
- (iii) the bond is broken by vibrating the fouling material and the pipe at different frequencies.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.