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US 9,097,375 B2Granted
Rotary joint seal for a decoking tool
AssigneeFlowserve Management Company
InventorsLloyd D. Hanson, William B. Jones, Jr.
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A rotary joint for a decoking tool. The rotary joint includes a seal assembly that has one or more primary seals and one or more secondary seals. The secondary seals become operative upon the presence of a leak in the primary seals such that the rotary joint can continue to be used until a scheduled maintenance outage. A selective vent is used to route leaking fluid so that one or the other of the primary and secondary seals can be activated.
Claims13
A decoking tool assembly comprising:
- a water supply;
- a conduit cooperative with said water supply to deliver a recycled flow of at least a two thousand gallons per minute of water that is pressurized to between three thousand and five thousand pounds per square inch;
- at least one fluid dispensing nozzle in fluid communication with said conduit such that upon delivery of said water to said at least one fluid dispensing nozzle, said at least one fluid dispensing nozzle rotates relative to said conduit such that said water being dispensed therefrom impacts solidified coke and retains at least a portion therein;
- and
- a rotary joint coupled between said conduit and said at least one fluid dispensing nozzle to facilitate rotational movement therebetween, said rotary joint comprising:
- a rotatable flowpath;
- a non-rotatable flowpath in fluid communication with said rotatable flowpath;
- and
- a seal assembly disposed along a longitudinal dimension of said rotary joint formed by said rotatable and non-rotatable flowpaths, said seal assembly comprising:
- a primary seal configured to limit leakage in a region defined between said rotatable and non-rotatable flowpaths;
- a secondary seal disposed longitudinally relative to said primary seal such that said primary seal and said secondary seal define a space between them that is in selective venting communication with the ambient atmosphere;
- and
- a device to effect said selective venting communication between said space and the ambient atmosphere such that during normal operation of said rotary joint, said space is vented to the ambient atmosphere to keep said secondary seal inactive by having a relatively balanced atmospheric pressure across said secondary seal, while during operation of said rotary joint where leakage past said primary seal is present, said space is substantially decoupled from the ambient atmosphere such that a pressure differential across said secondary seal is formed by said leakage and the ambient atmosphere, said device configured such that establishment of said active secondary seal takes place under said normal operation.
10 more elements
A method of operating a decoking tool, said method comprising:
- fluidly coupling said tool to a water supply;
- configuring a rotary joint in said tool to comprise a seal assembly comprising at least one primary seal and at least one secondary seal along a longitudinal dimension of said rotary joint with a selectively operated venting region disposed fluidly between them such that upon attainment of a leakage level that exceeds a predetermined threshold past said primary seal, said selectively operated venting region can be manipulated such that secondary seal substantially contains said leakage;
- flowing a decoking fluid from said water supply through said rotary joint to deliver a recycled decoking fluid flow of at least a two thousand gallons per minute that is pressurized to between three thousand and five thousand pounds per square inch;
- checking for leakage of said fluid around said at least one primary seal such that during operation of said rotary joint where substantially no leakage past said primary seal is detected, said selectively operated venting region is vented to the ambient atmosphere to keep said secondary seal inactive by having a relatively balanced atmospheric pressure thereacross, while during operation of said rotary joint where leakage past said primary seal is detected, said selectively operated venting region is substantially decoupled from the ambient atmosphere such that a pressure differential across said secondary seal is formed by said leakage and the ambient atmosphere, said selective operation of said venting region is configured to take place under normal operation of said decoking tool;
- and
- venting said region until said leakage past said primary seal is detected.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.