U.S. patent number 3,835,817 [Application Number 05/282,053] was granted by the patent office on 1974-09-17 for apparatus for outside cleaning of boiler tubes.
This patent grant is currently assigned to A. Ahlstrom Osakeyhtio. Invention is credited to Jorma Aarne Kullervo Tuomaala.
United States Patent |
3,835,817 |
Tuomaala |
September 17, 1974 |
APPARATUS FOR OUTSIDE CLEANING OF BOILER TUBES
Abstract
There is provided a device for outside cleaning of boiler tubes
and similar, wherein the tubes are imparted to mechanical impulses
or vibration within the frequency range of 200 - 2,000 Hz, suitable
at about 1,000 Hz. The mechanical impulse is directed at the tubes
or a part thereof immediately connected to the tubes. Such
mechanical vibration may be created with the help of a striking
hammer provided with a suitable spring system to give the desired
frequency or with the help of, e.g., a periodically working
thyristor-guided magnetic vibrator.
Inventors: |
Tuomaala; Jorma Aarne Kullervo
(Karhula, SF) |
Assignee: |
A. Ahlstrom Osakeyhtio
(Noormarkku, SF)
|
Family
ID: |
8506934 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/282,053 |
Filed: |
August 21, 1972 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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Aug 19, 1971 [SF] |
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2316/71 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
122/379; 165/84;
173/99; 173/126; 15/104.07; 165/95; 173/118 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F28G
7/00 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
F28G
7/00 (20060101); F28g 007/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;122/379 ;165/84,95
;173/99,118,126 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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789,927 |
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Jul 1968 |
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CA |
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592,612 |
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May 1925 |
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FR |
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1,045,678 |
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Jul 1953 |
|
FR |
|
Primary Examiner: Davis, Jr.; Albert W.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Cushman, Darby and Cushman
Claims
I claim:
1. A device for outside cleaning of boiler tubes by means of tube
vibration obtained with an impulse, said device comprising: a
rotating plate indirectly driven by a throughgoing driving shaft,
hammer means attached with bearings to said rotating plate, said
hammer means having a pair of disk springs resiliently attached to
the striking end thereof, and mounted in relationship to the tubes
to exert a mechanical impulse thereon by striking the desired point
of impulse exertion always with the same force and at the same
rate, the frequency of said impulse being in the range of 200-2,000
Hz, preferably about 1,000 Hz.
2. A device according to claim 1, wherein said hammer means is
arranged to exert the mechanical impulse on a part immediately
connected with the tubes outside the furnace of the boiler.
3. A device according to claim 2, wherein said part upon which the
impulse is exerted is the division block of the boiler.
4. A device according to claim 2, wherein said part upon which the
impulse is exerted is a connecting block constructed at the bends
of the tube loops.
5. A device according to claim 1, wherein the rotating plate is
provided with a lifting pin for lifting the hammer means to
striking position from which it falls by its own weight and strikes
said desired point.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to boilers and more particularly to
the outside cleaning of boiler tubes or similar. The invention
provides a device for cleaning such tubes by imparting them to
mechanical impulses or vibration.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Boiler tubes have usually been cleaned by striking the tube loops
against each other. The limited back-and-forth movement of tube
elements required for this has been obtained with the help of a
working cylinder, a wabbler, or the like. One such device has been
introduced in Finnish Pat. No. 44,027.
The disadvantage of such device is the excessive length of the
stroke, which is also harmful when the apparatus has not been in
operation and ashes have accumulated between the shock plates. In
such a case the ashes cushion the shock and may even prevent the
entire movement and stop the apparatus.
The method of cleaning the tubes by striking them against each
other has been known for a long time. Another known method is to
conduct a shock to the tubes with striking bars extending through
the boiler wall. The shock creates the greatest acceleration at
comparatively high frequencies, about 400 Hz. However, if the
temperature of the tubes is raised, as in a boiler, the
acceleration obtained at high frequencies falls sharply. This is
most probably due to the fact that material yields close to the
static yield point even with a short-time load effect.
The objective is the highest possible acceleration on the tube
surface. A low-frequency vibration of a few tens of Hz can be
easily obtained even in hot tubes. If an attempt is made to create
sufficient acceleration with the help of this, the amplitude grows
too much and the deformation load of the tubes surpasses the
mechanical tolerance of the tubes.
The frequency of some 1,000 Hz is very practical. Sufficient
acceleration values can be obtained with it without overloading the
tubes, and it will not be reduced too much even in hot tubes.
However, it is difficult to create this frequency, for the
frequency is too high for an ordinary vibrator and cannot be
obtained in hot tubes by striking them with an ordinary hammer.
The purpose of the present invention is to eliminate the above
disadvantage and provide a device with which vibration of the
desired frequency can be obtained.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention there is provided a device of
the character once described, which comprises means for directing a
mechanical impulse, the frequency of which is 200 - 2,000 Hz, most
suitably about 1,000 Hz, at the tubes or a part immediately
connected with them outside the furnace of the boiler.
Such mechanical impulses may be created, e.g., with the help of a
hammer provided with a spring such as a spring disk with such a
stiffness that the mass of the hammer supported by it forms a
vibration system with a frequency of about 1,000 Hz, an apparatus
is obtained the stroke of which creates an effective impulse
producing a frequency of 1,000 Hz. The created impulse is really
effective, for its shape is correct (sine-shaped), and the hammer
bounces back. When a hot tube is struck with a stiff hammer, the
impulse is similar to that created when struck with a lead
hammer.
Thus, the invention consists of a impulse-giving device producing a
frequency of about 1,000 Hz (200 - 2,000 Hz). It can comprise a
springed hammer, but also a periodically working thyristor-guided
magnetic vibrator. It is characterized by the shortness of the
impulse; this prevents the formation of resonance vibrations in the
tubes and thereby prevents resonance damage. It can be applied to
the block connecting the tube loops, the division block, and
thereby through the ceiling to the tubes, vibration of the tube
cover and also vibration of the walls.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows schematically an apparatus according to the invention
in which the stroke is directed at the end of the division block
situated outside the boiler, and
FIG. 2 shows that end of the block connecting the tube group at
which the stroke is directed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In the drawings, 1 refers to the ceiling of the furnace of the
boiler through which tubes 2 run. The division block from which
tubes 2 start is indicated by 3. The division block 3 is surrounded
by an insulation 4, and the end 5 of the division block extends
outside the insulation. Driving force is transmitted from a driving
shaft 6, which runs through the boiler wall, by a coupler
transmission 7 to a wheel 8. A plate 9 rotates with the wheel 8 in
the direction shown by the arrow. A hammer 10 has been attached to
the plate 9 with bearings at point 11. In the plate 9 there is also
a lifting pin 12 for the hammer. When the plate rotates, the pin
lifts the hammer 10, a disk spring pair 13 having been attached to
its end, to the striking position from which it swings down by its
own weight and strikes the end of the division block, at which time
high vibrations are created the acceleration of which is sufficient
to shake the scoria from the tubes in the furnace.
The high-frequency vibration is absorbed very quickly, but on the
other hand it proceeds along the tube very effectively, even
through the ceiling.
In FIG. 2, the block connecting the tubes is indicated by 14, and
the stroke is directed at point 15 of the block.
The strokes of the hammer 10 can be most suitably arranged so that
they occur at about 2 - 10 times/minute.
The invention is not limited to the solution described above and
illustrated in the figures; it can be varied in many ways within
the following claims.
* * * * *