AU2008101130B4

AU2008101130B4 - Nozzle

Info

Publication number: AU2008101130B4
Application number: AU2008101130A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Ian Garden
Original assignee: Optima Solutions UK Ltd
Current assignee: Optima Solutions UK Ltd
Priority date: 2008-03-06
Filing date: 2008-11-21
Publication date: 2010-03-04
Anticipated expiration: 2016-11-21
Also published as: AU2008101133A4; AU2009220958B2; WO2009109790A3; GB0821311D0; AU2008101130A4; WO2009109790A2; AU2008101133B4; GB2457997A; GB0804135D0; AU2009220958A1; GB2457997B

Description

AUSTRALIA PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR AN INNOVATION PATENT Name and Rigcool Limited Address of Birchmoss Plant & Storage Depot Applicant: Echt, Westhill Aberdeen AB32 6XL United Kingdom Actual Ian GARDEN Inventor(s): Address for McCarthy Port Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys Service: Suite 6 Level 1 447 Hay Street Perth WA 6000 Invention Title: NOZZLE The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: AG1316-3-AUPA 1 Nozzle Field of the Invention 5 This invention relates to a nozzle for a hose or pipe installed in an off-shore environment, and more particularly to a nozzle for use in providing a water curtain in an offshore environment. Background to the Invention 10 In oil and gas production, refining and storage, there is a periodic need to vent and burn off unwanted hydrocarbons as a flare. Flares generate a great deal of heat and it is not always practicable for flares to be positioned a sufficient distance from other operations for those operations not to be prone to damage from the heat of the flare. 15 Therefore, water curtains are routinely employed to protect operations from damage cause by the heat from a flare. The provision of a water curtain permits operations behind a water curtain to continue and personnel may continue to utilise work areas which are separated from a flare by a water curtain. 20 Water curtains are also used to protect buildings and equipment from other sources of heat, in particular where it is not required or where it is not practicable to extinguish the source of heat. For example, water may be most effectively used to protect buildings and equipment from bush fires, until said fires have passed. Alternatively, it 25 may be required to disperse water over a wide area in order to soak that area and prevent combustion within that area. Water curtains are typically formed by passing pressurised water through a deflecting nozzle. Nozzles commonly in use comprise a body with a through channel, opening 30 onto a deflector positioned at or close to the outlet of the channel. Typically, the large quantities of water required are drawn from locally available natural water sources, such as sea water, or water from rivers, lakes or aquifers. Such water sources typically contain debris such as silt, mud, rocks and the like and it 35 is a known problem in the use of deflecting nozzles for the nozzles to become blocked by such debris.

2 Nozzles of the prior art, for example nozzle type D42 produced by Spraying Systems Co. (Carol Stream, Illinois, USA), are required to be disassembled in order to clear blockages. This requires that the water supply must be discontinued, which can result in costly or potentially dangerous suspension of operations. 5 International Patent Application No. PCT/GB2005/000758 (Optima Solutions UK Limited) describes an electromechanical "self-cleaning" mechanism operable to automatically adjust the area of the nozzle outlet and clear blockages. However, no embodiments of the mechanism are described and it is difficult to envisage how a 10 suitable mechanism compatible with the nozzle designs therein disclosed might be implemented with sufficient reliability to be used in either off-shore or fire fighting applications. Therefore, there remains a need for a nozzle which is less prone to blockage than 15 nozzles of the prior art and which can be cleared of blockages which do occur without the requirement for the supply of water to be shut off. Accordingly, some aspects of the present invention are directed to means for preventing blockages from occurring in nozzles, and some aspects of the present 20 invention are directed towards the removal of blockages. Summary of the Invention According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a nozzle for a 25 hose or pipe, the nozzle comprising a body, a fluid channel extending through the body, deflecting means arranged at or near the downstream end of the channel for deflecting a flow of fluid leaving the nozzle, and debris fragmenting means positioned within the channel upstream of the deflecting means for breaking up debris within fluid passing through the nozzle, in use. 30 In one form, the body may be tubular and the deflecting means may comprise a deflector secured to a mounting member positioned within the channel and connected to the body by one or more buttresses.

3 Alternatively or additionally, the upstream end of the mounting member may be provided with a conical tip and, in use, the conical tip may smooth fluid flow in the nozzle and function as debris fragmenting means. 5 Alternatively or additionally, the upstream edges of each said buttress may be provided with a sharp profile and wherein, in use, the sharp upstream edge smoothes fluid flow in the nozzle and functions as debris fragmenting means. Alternatively or additionally, the size of an outlet between the end of the body and the 10 deflector may be adjustable. An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying figures in which: 15 Fig 1 is a perspective view of a nozzle according to one aspect of the present invention; Fig 2 is an end elevation of the nozzle of Fig 1; 20 Fig 3 is a cross-section on the line A-A of Fig 2; Fig 4 is a perspective view of the body of the nozzle of Fig 1; Fig 5 is an end elevation of the body of Fig 4; 25 Fig 6 is a section on the line A-A of Fig 5; Fig 7 is a perspective view of the deflector of the nozzle of Fig 1; 30 Fig 8 is an end elevation of the deflector of Fig 7; Fig 9 is a section on the line A-A of Fig 8; Fig 10 is a perspective view of a cap of the nozzle of Fig 1; 35 Fig 11 is an end elevation of the cap of Fig 10; 4 Fig 12 is a cross section on the line A-A of Fig 11; Fig 13 is a perspective view of a spacer of the nozzle of Fig 1; and 5 Fig 14 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of a nozzle according to the present invention, showing a cross sectional view through the body. Turning now to Figure 3, there is shown a nozzle 1 for a hose or pipe comprising a 10 body 3 which is provided with a threaded portion 4 at the upstream end, adapted to be mounted on a hose or pipe. A fluid channel 5 is provided through the body. A mounting member 9 is positioned in the channel and is attached to the body by buttresses 11. A spindle 7 is attached to the mounting member and extends from the end of the body. This can be more clearly seen in Figure 6. The spindle may be 15 integral with the mounting member (which itself may be integral with the body), or the spindle may be threadably secured to the mounting member. The upstream end of the mounting member has a sharp conical tip 13. The sharp upstream edges 43 of buttresses 11 are also provided with a sharp profile, along line 20 A marked on Figure 5. The downstream end of the spindle has a reduced diameter threaded region 15 adapted to receive a cap 17. 25 Referring now to Figure 12, the cap is provided with an internally threaded inner bore 19 which is adapted to receive the threaded portion 15 of the spindle 7. The cap is also provided with an outer bore 21 with a larger diameter than the inner bore. An annular shoulder 23 is formed between the inner and outer bores. 30 A deflector 27, for deflecting flow of a fluid passing through the body and out of the end of the fluid channel, is slideably mounted on the spindle. As shown in Figures 7 and 8, the deflector comprises a conical upstream surface 33 to deflect fluid passing through the nozzle. The deflector comprises an inner bore 35, having an inner diameter corresponding to the outer diameter of the spindle, and a larger outer bore 35 37. An annular shoulder 39 is formed between the inner and outer bores.

5 A fluid outlet 29 is defined between the end of the body and the deflector. A spacer 41 may be provided between the end of the body and the deflector to vary the size of the fluid outlet. 5 A resilient member, which in the embodiment shown is a spring 31, is mounted on the spindle between the defector and the cap. The spring extends into outer bores 21 and 37, and abuts annular shoulders 23 and 39. In use, fluid flows through the channel 5, and is deflected by the deflector 27 through 10 the outlet 29. Conical tip 13 and sharp upstream edges 43 smooth the flow of fluid past mounting member 9 and buttresses 11. In the event that debris is carried in the fluid stream to the outlet of the nozzle, the nozzle may become blocked. Large clumps of debris (for example soil) may impinge 15 the conical tip and/or sharp upstream edges 43 and the sharpened profiles of these features act to break the debris into smaller pieces. These sharpened features thus function as debris fragmenting means and increase the probability that debris within the fluid is broken into fragments sufficiently small to pass through the fluid outlet. 20 However, the fluid outlet may still become partially or completely blocked by debris within the fluid. If fluid pressure in the nozzle is increased so as to overcome the pre-load of the spring, the deflector will move downstream against the bias of the spring, thereby 25 increasing the size of the outlet and allowing trapped debris to exit the nozzle. The fluid pressure may then be return to the standard operating pressure, and the spring will return the deflector to the normal operating position. The pre-load of the spring may be selected to suit the fluid pressure to be used with 30 the nozzle. Use of a spring having insufficient pre-load may result in inconsistent operation of the nozzle. Advantageously therefore, the nozzle can be disassembled in order to install a spring having a pre-load which is suitable for a given application. It is envisaged that the nozzle may be formed of light weight materials such as marine 35 grade aluminium. This is particularly useful in providing a nozzle for a hose or pipe in which a fluid curtain is required around an object at a very high temperature such as 6 is experienced in an offshore application on oil rigs or other floating platforms. Lightweight materials are particularly advantageous in applications of the nozzle requiring that the nozzle be manually handled, for example in bush fire fighting operations. 5 Figure 14 shows an alternative embodiment of a nozzle 100 according to the present invention, comprising opposing conical deflectors 45 and 47, and wherein the mounting member 49 is attached to the body 51 by four buttresses 53. The width of upstream conical deflector 45 is equal to or greater than the width of the body and is 10 greater than the width of downstream conical deflector 47, which is equal to or less than the width of the body. Opposing conical deflectors 45, 47 define a conical fluid outlet. Each buttress is provided with a sharp upstream edge 55 and the mounting member is provided with a conical tip 57. 15 It will be clearly understood that, although a number of prior art publications or systems are referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that any of these documents or systems forms part of the common general knowledge in the art, in Australia or in any other country. In the statement of invention and description of the invention which follow, except where the context requires otherwise 20 due to express language or necessary implication, the word "comprise" or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising" is used in an inclusive sense, i.e. to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude the presence or addition of further features in various embodiments of the invention.

Claims

1. A nozzle for a hose or pipe, the nozzle comprising a body, a fluid channel extending through the body, deflecting means arranged at or near the 5 downstream end of the channel for deflecting a flow of fluid leaving the nozzle, and debris fragmenting means positioned within the channel upstream of the deflecting means for breaking up debris within fluid passing through the nozzle, in use. 10

2. A nozzle according to claim 1, wherein the body is tubular and the deflecting means comprise a deflector secured to a mounting member positioned within the channel and connected to the body by one or more buttresses.

3. A nozzle according to claim 2, wherein the upstream end of the mounting 15 member is provided with a conical tip and, in use, the conical tip smoothes fluid flow in the nozzle and functions as debris fragmenting means.

4. A nozzle according to claims 2 or 3, wherein the upstream edges of each said buttress is provided with a sharp profile and wherein, in use, the sharp 20 upstream edge smoothes fluid flow in the nozzle and functions as debris fragmenting means.

5. A nozzle according to any one preceding claim, wherein the size of an outlet between the end of the body and the deflector is adjustable. 25