EA005338B1 - De-coking tool - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a tool for breaking up coke, comprising a housing which is fixed to a drilling rod in the operating state and in or on which at least one jet for cutting and one jet for drilling of coke is arranged and at least one valve for opening and closing the jets. The tool is embodied for two different operating states. The at least one valve closes the cutting nozzle in the drilling operating state, whilst in the cutting operating state the drilling nozzles are closed by the at least one valve. The housing, valve and nozzles are embodied such that an unhindered flow of water from the drilling rod through the housing and the valve and the nozzles which are not sealed by the valve is guaranteed, characterised in that the nozzles for sealing, depending on the selected operating condition, are sealed by the balls of a ball valve. The invention further relates to a tool in which the arrangement for operating the valve is arranged above the nozzles.

Description

The invention relates to a tool for grinding coke.

At refineries, the last, not used for any other purpose, fraction of crude oil is converted into coke. The transformation occurs by introducing this fraction into the drums, which are filled with coke as the production time increases. When the maximum fill level of the drums is reached, the coke is cut out of the drums.

This so-called "decoking" is usually carried out with high-pressure water jets, which grind the coke and wash it out of the drums. The tool for creating these high-pressure water jets is introduced from above into the drum through the drill rods. Deoxidation is carried out in two stages. First, a hole is drilled from top to bottom with a tool in the drum, then the tool is directed again to the upper end of the drum and the coke is crushed by means of high-pressure water jets formed by cutting nozzles at approximately right angles to the axis of the hole.

The tool is, therefore, designed for two modes: first, for drilling a hole necessary for moving the tool and then removing the crushed coke, and secondly, for cutting coke over the section of the drum. Accordingly, the drill nozzles emit high-pressure water jets, essentially parallel to or at an acute angle to the axis formed by the drill stem and the hole created during the drilling. The cutting nozzles, on the other hand, create high-pressure water jets, oriented essentially under a straight or flat angle to the axis formed by the drill rod and the hole in the drum.

Switching between “drilling” and “cutting” should be quick and easy. The nozzles used in the tool are subject to, due to high water pressure, wear and must be replaced regularly. Accordingly, the tool must be made with the possibility of fast and reliable replacement nozzles.

The objective of the invention is to create a tool for grinding coke, especially simple and reliable in use and maintenance.

The problem is solved by means of a tool with distinctive features of claim 1 of the formula. Tools for grinding coke with a housing that is mounted in working condition on the drill rod and on or in which at least one nozzle is positioned to cut and drill coke and at least one valve to close and open the nozzles are known from the level of technology. These tools are designed for two different modes. At least one valve closes the cutting nozzles in the “drilling” mode, while in the “cutting” mode, the drilling nozzles are closed by at least one valve. The body, valve and nozzles are designed for these instruments with the possibility of ensuring the smooth passage of water from the drill rod through the body and valve, as well as the nozzles that are not closed by the valve.

The design of such a tool is greatly simplified due to the fact that the nozzles that are to be closed, depending on the mode selected, are closed by ball valves. Combinations of a ball valve for opening and closing drill nozzles and other means for opening and closing the cutting nozzles are known, require, however, the use of many parts and lead to a tool of complex construction.

The present invention has the advantage that the number of parts is reduced and fully guaranteed that with the appropriate mode each time only one nozzle or group of nozzles is closed, and accordingly the other nozzle or group of nozzles is open.

An integral part of the tool is a valve with a holder, which is in contact with the balls for closing the nozzles. Next, the valve is provided with means for guiding the balls and, if necessary, positioning devices with which the balls are held in predetermined positions. A valve is also provided with a device for actuating it. The valve is located in the tool body and during operation it is washed by the water used to remove the coke.

Balls of the ball valve are directed to the valve holder with appropriate means for guiding the balls, or means for guiding are provided on the valve holder. These can be, for example, hemispheres, or guide grooves, or grooves, or guide nozzles that are in contact with the balls. As an alternative, however, it is also possible to design in which the balls attached to the valve holder are positioned by means of springs in the position corresponding to this mode. Means for referral can, therefore, be molded on the valve holder, or executed independently of it. The latter form of implementation then interacts with the balls and the valve holder for guiding the balls. The directional means may also be made of several parts, for example, a recess or groove in the valve holder, which cooperates with a spring device in order to guide the balls.

Balls can be made in the form of fully spherical bodies. However, it is quite possible to make balls spherical in certain areas, only where they are in working condition to close access to the nozzle. The spherical implementation of this surface area ensures that access to the correspondingly closed nozzle is reliably sealed against the ingress of liquid. A circular washer, one side of which is spherically convex, would fully respond, for example,

-1005338 nozzle closing requirements. Accordingly, the incompletely spherical bodies are also called “balls” in the sense of the invention.

Preferably, the balls are made in the form of symmetrical bodies having at least two spherical surface areas. As a rule, these spherical surface areas are opposite to each other, for example, in the form of spherical segments, which border each other with their maximum circumference. These symmetrical balls have the advantage that, due to symmetry, they can be easily guided by means of guiding the balls in the valve holder. Secondly, they have the advantage that if there are, for example, signs of wear on the first spherical surface area, symmetric balls can be simply turned upside down. Then, another spherical segment with the second spherical surface area can be used to seal the nozzle. Fully spherical balls in most cases should prefer symmetrical balls, since, in particular, when tools must be designed with a small diameter, symmetric balls have a smaller thickness with respect to the tool diameter than fully spherical balls.

According to the first embodiment, the valve holder is integrated in the housing in such a way that it is part of the outer wall of the tool. According to the second embodiment, the valve holder is located inside the housing. The means for guiding the balls and, if necessary, the valve holder are located in the tool body, but, as a rule, do not completely fill it. Accordingly, between the means for guiding the balls and the valve holder, as well as the housing, there are free spaces. According to one preferred improvement of the invention, these free spaces communicate with the internal space of the tool, so that the liquid flowing through the tool can also flow through these free spaces. The advantage of this arrangement is that there is no pressure drop between the interior of the instrument and the free spaces between the housing and the valve holder. Accordingly, the valve holder can be designed with material savings, since it is not necessary to pick up differential pressures with appropriate compressive and tensile forces. In addition, the elimination of pressure differences ensures the frictionless functioning of the ball valves.

In one particularly preferred form of execution of the tool according to the invention has a valve holder, in which the nozzles for cutting are located one above the other in two or more rows. At the expense of it productivity of the tool significantly increases. The nozzles are located with preferably offset in different rows.

Switching from the operating mode "drilling" to another working mode "cutting" occurs in most of the known tools manually. After the first operation, the tool is removed from the drum and a device located inside the tool is activated, which, upon completion of drilling, closes the downward-directed drilling nozzles and opens the cutting nozzles.

This device for closing one or several nozzles is driven by means that, on the one hand, are in contact with the device for closing, and, on the other hand, contain a control element that is activated from the outside. This control of the known tools for decoking is always placed under the tool. Devices for switching tools for decoking this design are, however, stable and tested in operation. However, they have one particularly serious disadvantage that the tool has to be completely removed from the drum, and when switching from “drilling” to “cutting” the cutting nozzles are located at the height of the operator. This may cause an increased danger to the operator, which may occur in case of failure of the control mechanism.

As a first way to eliminate this drawback, an attempt was made to develop automatic devices for switching tools for de-coking. However, this is hampered by the fact that relatively sensitive control mechanisms are difficult to place on the tool, which is used in very difficult conditions with strong mechanical and thermal loads.

According to the invention, the arrangement of means for actuating a device for closing one or several nozzles embedded in a tool for de-coking, so that the control element is placed between the nozzles and the upper end of the tool, already ensures that accidents can be avoided when manually actuated for switch. This device should be considered as an independent, new and inventive step solution for creating a simple and reliable tool for grinding coke.

With this preferred device, the tool, when switching from the first mode to the second mode or vice versa, can remain in the empty drum until the cutting nozzles emitting high-pressure water jets remain closed by the drum. Even in the event that the control devices of the decoking unit fail and (incorrectly) signal that the tool can be switched, although it is in fact still under high pressure, the operator can approach the tool without putting himself in danger of water injury. high pressure jets.

-2005338

Devices for closing one or more nozzles are made differently. Some tools are equipped with ball valves, other tools have hollow cylinders with cutouts for opening nozzles. Depending on the position of the hollow cylinder, which, if necessary, is connected to a cut-out support plate, a high-pressure water jet emerges or the corresponding nozzle is closed by a hollow cylinder or support plate, respectively. In this case, the hollow cylinder closes the cutting nozzles or opens them, while the base plate opens the drilling nozzles or closes them.

For almost any of the known devices, it is possible to provide a device for switching the tool for de-coking, in which the control element is placed above the nozzles and under the upper end of the tool.

As a particularly preferred option, it should be considered that even the existing one and, since we are talking about a device for closing one or more nozzles, the proven technique can be equipped with a device according to the invention.

The preferred form of the invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the drawing, which depicts:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section of the embodiment of the tool according to the invention in the “drilling” mode;

FIG. 2 - the second longitudinal section of an identical form of execution of the tool according to the invention in the “drilling” mode, made at an angle to the section in FIG. one;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal section of the embodiment of the tool according to the invention in the “cutting” mode;

FIG. 4 shows a second longitudinal section of an identical form of execution of the tool according to the invention in the “cutting” mode, made at an angle to the section according to FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 - section of the tool in the second form of execution.

1 shows a tool 2 with a housing 4, two nozzles 6 for cutting coke and two others, only the nozzles 8 indicated here for drilling coke, and also a valve 10 for opening and closing nozzles 6, 8.

The tool 2 hangs in working condition on the drill rod (not shown in detail), and it is placed in a coke-filled drum. The terms “above” and “below” refer to the term shown in FIG. 1-4 tools to the axis A, which is coaxial with the drill rod (top) and the tool hole (bottom, not shown).

Case 4 is made of two parts. A valve 10 is located between the upper half 4a and the lower half 4b of the housing located on the drill rod (not shown). The upper half of the housing 4a is fixed to the drill rod by a flange 12. It extends from there in the form of a substantially cylindrical hollow body to the lower half of the housing. At the end of the upper housing half 4a, to which the valve 10 is attached, an annular support 14 is formed. On this support 14, the valve holder 16 is fixed to the bottom.

For a simpler and more precise orientation of the valve holder 16 on the support 14 on it and on the valve holder 16, interconnecting surfaces 18a, 18b, 20a, 20b are provided. In the zone of the thrust surfaces 20a, 20b, an annular seal 22 is provided.

Valve holder 16 is screwed with support 14 with screws 24, which are inserted into tapped holes (not shown) in support 14 and valve holder 16.

Valve holder 16 is a cylindrical hollow body in which intermediate bottom 26 is made, passing essentially at right angles to axis A. Two balls 28 of ball valve 10 roll around intermediate bottom 26. Balls 28 are positioned along the outer periphery of intermediate bottom 26 or respectively valve holder 16. In this position, they are held by positioning devices both in each of the “drilling” and “cutting” modes, and during switching from one mode to another. In this exemplary embodiment, the positioning device is made in the form of a spring 30 stretched between the two balls 28.

The position of the balls 28 on the intermediate bottom 26 is determined by the means for handling the balls. These means for guiding the balls 28 are made in this example in the form of hemispheres 32, which cover the upper half of the balls 28 and the spring 30. From the hemispheres 32, a guide 34 passes upwards.

The intermediate bottom 26 of the valve holder 16, as shown in FIG. 2 has holes 36, the number of which is equal to the number of balls 28. The valve holder 16 has holes 40 in its outer wall 38 into which cutting nozzles 6 are inserted.

Under the intermediate bottom 26 or on its underside, abutment surfaces 42a, 42b, 44a, 44b are provided. The stop surfaces 42a, 42b run parallel to the axis A, and the stop surfaces 44a, 44b are perpendicular to the axis A.

The lower half of the housing 4B abuts on these abutment surfaces 42a, 42b, 44a, 44b and is fixed to the valve holder 16 with screws 46, which are inserted into its threaded holes (not shown). In the area of the thrust surfaces 44a, 44b, an annular seal 48 is provided.

-3005338

The cavity 50 in the lower half of the housing 4 provides an unobstructed flow of fluid through the openings 36 to the drill nozzles 8 located in the lower half of the housing 4.

Drill nozzles 8 are schematically indicated here.

The tool 2 depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2 is in the “drilling” mode. In this mode, the balls 28 of the ball valve 10 close the openings 40 in the outer wall 38 of the valve holder 16. The diameter of the balls 28 is designed so that the holes 40 are closed securely and completely.

At the same time, as shown in FIG. 2, the openings 36 in the intermediate bottom 26 of the valve holder 16 are open. Water entering under high pressure from the drill rod into tool 2 flows through the tool’s internal space 52 above the intermediate bottom 26, through the holes 36, then passes through the cavity 50 in the lower half 4b of the housing and finally goes through the nozzles 8 into the drum filled with coke (not shown).

To switch from the “drilling” mode to the “cutting” mode, a tool 54 is provided for actuating the valve 10. The device 54 comprises a cylindrical hollow body 56 inserted into the upper half of the body 4a. The lower end of the hollow body 56 has recesses 58 which are in engagement with the guide 34 of the ball valve 10. The upper end 60 of the hollow body 56 is made in the form of a gear ring. With this upper, gear-ring-shaped end 60 of the hollow body 56, the gear wheel 62 is meshed. The gear wheel 62 is fixed to the axis 64, which has been passed through the upper half of the housing 4a. Axis 64 is moved by hand.

To switch from the “drilling” mode to the “cutting” mode by rotating the axis 64, the gear wheel 62 is actuated. The hollow body 56 which engages with the gear wheel 62 rotates the gear wheel 62 in the upper half 4a of the housing. Together with the hollow body 56, the guide 34 rotates and, thus, the balls 28 of the ball valve 10 also rotate. Due to the rotation of the balls 28 along the valve holder 16, openings 40 open in which the nozzles 6 (FIG. 3) were closed. The balls 28 move by turning the handle 64 along an arc of a circle until the holes 36 are completely closed (Fig. 4).

FIG. 3 and 4 tool 2 is shown in cutting mode. From the drill rod, high-pressure water flows into the inner space 2 of the upper half 4a of the housing and leaves the cutting nozzles 6 as the only possible outlets at approximately right angles to the axis A. The holes 36 are securely and completely closed by the balls located above them 28. Locking action of the balls 28 in this position, as when closing the openings 40, is further aided by the fact that an extremely high water pressure, well above 100 bar, presses the balls to the valve holder.

The exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-4 relates to a structural embodiment of the invention comprising two nozzles 6 for cutting and two nozzles 8 for drilling. The object of the invention are, of course, and the form of execution, containing three or more nozzles 6, 8. Similarly, it is not required that the number of nozzles 6, 8 be the same. In particular, for embodiments of the invention with three or more nozzles requiring more than two balls 28, a separate guide for each ball can serve as a positioning device. Springs 30 then not required.

Such an embodiment of a tool 2 with several nozzles is shown in FIG. 5 (identical parts are denoted by the same reference numerals). Tool 2 comprises body 4 and valve

10. Valve holder 16 is inserted into the housing. The cutting nozzles 6 of the embodiment of FIG. 5 arranged in two rows above each other. The nozzles 6A, 6B are shown in the drawing directly vertically above each other, but in reality - with an offset relative to each other at an angle of about 60 °. This is indicated by the corresponding hatching.

The balls 28, which, depending on the mode, open or close the nozzles 6 and the holes 36 supplying the drill nozzles 8, are placed in the directional means, which, in the form of a support 33 with the molded guide nozzles 35, fix the balls 28 in a predetermined position. Bearing 33 is placed on a cylindrical hollow body 56, which belongs to the device 54 for actuating the valve 10. The guide nozzles 35 cause reliable positioning of the balls 28, so that the springs are not required. Device 54 for actuating a valve otherwise corresponds to the one shown in FIGS. 1-4.

Between the housing 4, the valve holder 16 and the means 33 for guiding the balls 28 there are free spaces 66 hydraulically communicated with the inner space 52. Water flowing through the tool 2 in working condition flows, therefore, through both the inner space 52 and through the free space 66, which prevents any pressure difference.

Claims (13)

1. A tool for grinding coke, comprising a casing that is mounted in a working condition on a drill rod and on which or in which at least one nozzle is located both for cutting and for drilling coke and at least one valve for closing and opening for -4005338 holes, and the tool is designed for two different modes and at least one valve in the drilling mode closes the cutting nozzles, while in the cutting mode the drill nozzles are closed by at least one valve, and in which the housing, valve and nozzles are designed to provide unobstructed passage of water from the drill rod through the body and valve, as well as nozzles that are not closed by the valve, characterized in that the nozzles that are closed depending on the correspondingly selected mode are closed by balls of a ball valve . 2. The tool according to claim 1, characterized in that the balls (28), at least in some areas made spherical. 3. The tool according to claim 2, characterized in that the balls (28) have at least two spherical surface sections. 4. A tool according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the balls (28) are symmetrical. 5. The tool according to claim 1, characterized in that the balls (28) are held in position by a spring (30). 6. The tool according to claim 1, characterized in that the balls (28) of the ball valve (10) are in contact with means (32) for direction. 7. The tool according to claim 6, characterized in that the means for guiding the balls (28) of the ball valve (10) are made in the form of hemispheres (32), covering the balls (28). 8. The tool according to claim 1, characterized in that the valve (10) is in contact with means (54) for actuating the valve, in particular for switching from the first mode to the second mode. 9. The tool according to claim 8, characterized in that the means (32) for guiding the balls (28) comprise a guide (34) that is in contact with means (54) for actuating the valve (10). 10. The tool according to claim 1, characterized in that the valve holder (16) is located in the body (4), while there is free space (66) between the body (4) and the valve holder (16), and free space (66) hydraulically connected to the interior (52) of the tool. 11. The tool according to claim 1, characterized in that at least two nozzles (6) for cutting are inserted into the holes (40) and at least two holes (36) are made in the intermediate day (26) of the valve holder (16) ( 10), while the holes (36) are closed by balls (28) when the tool (2) is in cutting mode, and the holes (40) are closed by balls (28) when the tool (2) is in drilling mode. 12. The tool according to claim 11, characterized in that at least two nozzles (6A, 6B) are located one above the other. 13. The tool according to claim 1, characterized in that it contains means (54) for actuating the valve (10), and these means (54) are located between the nozzles (6, 8) and the upper end of the tool (2).