EP0631103A2 - System for cleaning tubes with sponge balls - Google Patents

Abstract

In order to impregnate with water the sponge balls (1) intended for cleaning the tubes of a condenser, they are introduced into a tank (2) whose top part forms a chamber (10) separated from the remainder by a grid (9) through which the balls cannot pass, which chamber is connected to a jack (17) having a piston (19) and then, after the tank and the volumes communicating with it have been filled with water, all the valves giving access to this tank are closed, the piston is withdrawn from the jack, which expels the air from the balls in the chamber, and the whole is refilled with water so as to remove this air and to impregnate the balls with water. <IMAGE>

Description

It is known that permanent cleaning of the internal surface of the tubes of the condensers or heat exchangers can be carried out by a continuous circulation inside these tubes of a stream of water charged with elastic balls constituted by a spongy material.

These sponge balls must be impregnated with water before being put into service.

The purpose of this impregnation is to purge the air contained in the open cells of the spongy structure of the balls in order to give these balls an apparent density very close to that of water: if the air of the balls was not purged , the balls would be lighter than water and they would tend to float and clean only the upper part of the tubes, generally horizontal, of the condenser or the like.

The impregnation of the balls is most often done manually by kneading the balls under water before their injection into the closed cleaning circuit comprising the tubes to be cleaned.

This manual operation is long and tedious. It becomes difficult, even dangerous, when it comes to "abrasive" type balls containing particles having sharp edges.

An automatic impregnation process for the water balls has also been proposed which consists in introducing the balls to be impregnated into a reservoir connected to a vacuum pump through a grid whose meshes are too small to be able to be crossed by the balls, said pump having the role of evacuating the air contained in the balls and of impregnating them with water (see documents US-A-3,872,920 and US-A-4,420,038).

This solution is difficult to implement due in particular to the need to provide means for separating the air and the water sucked in simultaneously and the frequent presence of debris in the water surrounding the balls, debris which clog or damage some small section components of the vacuum system.

The invention relates very generally to the above-described tube cleaning installations and more particularly, but not exclusively, the methods and devices for impregnating the cleaning balls used with water with these installations.

It aims, above all, to make these latter processes and devices such that they remedy the drawbacks indicated above by proposing a solution that is both efficient and robust, which lends itself to automation with a high degree of security, which which reduces the maintenance and monitoring costs and care required by the corresponding cleaning installations accordingly.

To this end, the balls impregnation devices of the type in question according to the invention also comprise a reservoir interposed between a first and a second valve associated respectively with a water intake pipe and with a water discharge pipe. water, a fitting fitted with a third valve connecting the top of the tank to a source of new cleaning balls, a mesh grid too small to let the balls go inside the tank so as to reserve at the top of the tank -a chamber inaccessible to the balls, a pipe equipped with a fourth valve connecting said chamber to an evacuation and a device capable of generating a vacuum in this chamber, and they are essentially characterized in that the vacuum generating device is constituted by a piston cylinder or the like of which one of the two compartments separated by the piston or the like communicates with the chamber in such a way that each reciprocation of the piston successively generates an increase of a well-defined quantity of the volume defined by the interior of the tank and by the spaces which communicate with this interior, when the four valves above tank service are closed, then a cancellation of this increase.

As for the impregnation methods using the above devices, they are essentially characterized according to the invention by the following steps: the first two valves being closed and the other two open, are introduced into the tank a charge of new balls through the third valve; then, the second and third valves being closed and the other two open, water is admitted to the tank until it is completely filled with water; then, all the four valves being closed, the piston or the like is actuated in the direction which corresponds to an increase in the volume in communication with the interior of the tank, which subjects this volume to a vacuum by emptying at least partially the balls of the air they contain, air which is collected in the upper chamber of the tank and the capacity which communicates with this chamber; after which the first and fourth valves are opened so as to fill again with water all of the volumes considered, which impregnates the balls at least partially emptied of air and the piston or the like is actuated in the opposite direction to the previous one to return it to its initial position, the cycle of the two above-defined steps which use the piston or the like back and forth which can be renewed one or more times.

• si l'on appelle V le volume de la cylindrée du vérin et v le volume, à la pression atmosphérique, de l'air contenu dans les cellules de la charge de boules introduites dans le réservoir, on donne à V une valeur supérieure à 4v,
• le vérin est constitué par une pompe à membrane dont l'organe mobile constitue le fond du réservoir,
• la chambre haute intérieure au réservoir est traversée par un couloir vertical délimité latéralement par une grille, couloir prolongeant vers le bas le raccord du réservoir à la troisième vanne et un flotteur est disposé au-dessous de ce couloir de façon à empêcher les boules contenues dans le réservoir de remonter dans ledit couloir,
• le dispositif comprenant le réservoir, le vérin et les tuyauteries et vannes de desserte, est monté en dérivation sur la tuyauterie de recyclage des boules de nettoyage des tubes d'un condenseur ou analogue, tuyauterie qui s'étend de la sortie à l'entrée de ce condenseur,
• dans une installation selon l'alinéa précédent, le dispositif comprenant le réservoir, le vérin et les tuyauteries et vannes de desserte est associé à un compteur de boules et à un trieur de boules conforme aux enseignements du document US-A-4 974 662 de façon telle que toute extraction, hors de l'installation, d'une charge de boules usées soit compensée par l'introduction dans cette installation d'une charge équivalente de boules neuves imprégnées d'eau, et le fonctionnement de l'ensemble est automatisé.

In advantageous embodiments, use is also made of one and / or the other of the following arrangements:

• if we call V the volume of the displacement of the cylinder and v the volume, at atmospheric pressure, of the air contained in the cells of the charge of balls introduced into the tank, V is given a value greater than 4v,
• the jack is constituted by a diaphragm pump whose movable member constitutes the bottom of the tank,
• the upper chamber inside the tank is crossed by a vertical corridor delimited laterally by a grid, corridor extending downwards the connection of the tank to the third valve and a float is arranged below this corridor so as to prevent the balls contained in the reservoir to rise in said corridor,
• the device comprising the reservoir, the actuator and the serving pipes and valves, is mounted in bypass on the recycling pipe for cleaning balls for cleaning the tubes of a condenser or the like, piping extending from the outlet to the inlet of this condenser,
• in an installation according to the preceding paragraph, the device comprising the reservoir, the cylinder and the pipes and serving valves is associated with a ball counter and a ball sorter in accordance with the teachings of document US-A-4,974,662 of in such a way that any extraction, out of the installation, of a load of used balls is compensated by the introduction into this installation of an equivalent load of new balls impregnated with water, and the operation of the assembly is automated .

The invention includes, apart from these main provisions, certain other provisions which are preferably used at the same time and which will be more explicitly discussed below.

In the following, some preferred embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in a manner which is of course not limiting.

Figures 1 to 3 of these drawings schematically show a device, established in accordance with the invention, for impregnating cleaning balls with water, this device being mounted in respectively three different operating phases.

Figure 4 shows schematically a ball cleaning installation equipped with such a device.

FIG. 5 schematically shows, on the one hand, a preferred construction method proposed in accordance with the invention for the impregnation device and, on the other hand, the preferred association of this device with other accessories known per se .

The balls 1 to be impregnated with water are spongy rubber balls with open porosity.

The device shown in Figures 1 to 3 comprises a reservoir 2 served in the vicinity of its base by a water inlet pipe 3 equipped with a first valve 4 and, near its top, by an outlet pipe d water 5 equipped with a second valve 6.

The top of the tank 2 is connected, through a third valve 7, to a hopper 8 for receiving new balls 1.

The upper portion of the reservoir 2 is crossed by a horizontal grid 9 which delimits above it an enclosure 10.

This enclosure is itself crossed by a vertical corridor delimited laterally by a cylindrical grid 11 communicating the connection of the hopper 8, equipped with the valve 7 with the inside of the tank 2.

The meshes of the mesh elements 9 and 11 are small enough not to be able to be crossed by the balls 1 and large enough so that no only negligible pressure drop is suffered by the water during its passage through these meshes.

A float 12, constituted for example by a hollow ball filled with air, is arranged, in a structure light guide 13 constituted in particular by metal rods, just below the lower mouth of the screened passage 11 so as to be able to release this mouth for its normal rest position illustrated in FIG. 1 and on the contrary close this mouth for its high position shown in Figures 2 and 3.

This closure prevents any rise of balls in the corridor 11 during the water impregnation process, balls whose water impregnation could then be compromised.

The enclosure 10 is connectable to the atmosphere, or more precisely to an evacuation pipe, by a pipe 14 equipped with a fourth valve 15.

A jack 17 comprising here a cylinder 18 and a piston 19 with rod 20 is placed in communication with the reservoir 2 as follows: one A of the two chambers A and B, of the cylinder 18, separated by the piston 19, is directly connected to the portion of the pipe 14 which is located between the tank 2 and the valve 15.

The portion of the pipe 14 which is located downstream of the valve 15 is here directly connected to the discharge pipe 5, which opens out below a receiving basket 21.

• une conduite de purge 22 raccordée à la base du réservoir 2 et équipée d'une vanne 23,
• entre la vanne 7 et la base de la trémie 8, deux mécanismes à tiroir 24 et 25 propres à délimiter entre eux, lorsqu'ils se trouvent en position de fermeture, un espace 26 de volume bien déterminé, ce qui peut servir au dosage précis des charges de boules introduites dans le réservoir 2,
• une poignée 27 terminant la tige de piston 20 du vérin 17 et permettant les manoeuvres de cette tige à la main.

We still see in Figure 1:

• a purge line 22 connected to the base of the tank 2 and equipped with a valve 23,
• between the valve 7 and the base of the hopper 8, two slide mechanisms 24 and 25 capable of delimiting between them, when they are in the closed position, a space 26 of well determined volume, which can be used for precise dosing loads of balls introduced into the tank 2,
• a handle 27 terminating the piston rod 20 of the jack 17 and allowing the maneuvers of this rod by hand.

The operation of the device thus described is as follows.

Initially, the tank 2 is empty in the sense that it contains neither water nor ball, and the valves 4, 6 and 23 are closed.

Then introduced into the tank 2, through the open valve 7 and the passage 11, the charge of balls 1 to be impregnated with water.

The upper level of the charge of balls thus introduced must not exceed, inside the tank 2, that of the base of the float 12.

The valve 7 is then closed and the two valves 4 and 15 are opened.

The water is then introduced into the tank 12 and the level of this water rises in the said tank, the air content of which escapes through the pipe 14, the valve 15 open and the pipe 5.

When the water level rises in the tank, the float 12 rises gradually at the same time as the balls and closes the base of the passage 11.

When the entire volume inside the tank 2, including that of the upper enclosure 10 as well as that of the pipe 14 up to the level of the valve 15, is filled with water, as can be seen in FIG. 2, we close the two valves 4 and 15, which delimits a totally closed capacity and filled with water in which are embedded balls 1 still charged with air.

The handle 27 is then pulled so as to create a certain depression in the capacity defined above, which causes part of the air contained in the balls to be evacuated, as visible in FIG. 3.

This air rises to the upper part of the tank 2 and collects in the enclosure 10 and in the corridor 11, enclosure and corridor in which the balls are not admitted.

After sufficient time has passed to ensure this evacuation of the air contained in the balls towards the enclosure 10, the valve 4 is opened, which admits a new volume of water inside the tank 2 , volume which impregnates the balls 1 at least partially emptied of their initial air.

At the same time as this opening of the valve 4 or shortly thereafter, the valve 15 is opened to expel the air from the circuit and make it possible to completely refill the water capacities.

Then, using the handle 27, the piston 19 is pushed back to its initial position, the excess water being discharged through the valve 15.

At the end of this cycle, the impregnation of the water balls is incomplete if the cylinder capacity, that is to say the volume of air or water displaceable in the chamber A during each back-and-forth comes complete from the piston 19, is insufficient, relative to the volume of water with which it is desired to impregnate the balls.

The impregnation of these balls is then completed by carrying out a second cycle of operations identical to the first after having closed the two valves 4 and 15.

If the volume of water that it is desired to introduce into the balls is large relative to the cylinder capacity of the jack 17, the impregnation of these balls may require more than two successive cycles.

The number of cycles required can be determined as follows.

If v is the volume at atmospheric pressure of the air contained in the cells of the charge of balls to be impregnated and if V is the displacement of the jack 17, the pressure P, expressed in absolute bars, which prevails in the tank 2 after the recoil of the piston 19 corresponding to FIG. 3 is given by the formula $$\text{P (V + v) = 1.v}$$

In practice, we see that the pressure P is less than 0.2 bar so that the balls are sufficiently impregnated, that is to say so that their apparent density is sufficiently close to that of water.

It is deduced therefrom that the complete impregnation of the balls can be carried out during a single cycle of operations if the load of the admitted balls is such that the pressure P after the first "recoil" of the piston is less than 0.2 bar , i.e. if the volume V is greater than 4v.

formule dans laquelle v' est le volume, à la pression atmosphérique, de l'air restant dans les cellules de la charge de boules à la fin du dernier cycle effectué.Otherwise, at least a second cycle of operations must be carried out during which the pressure P 'obtained in the reservoir after the piston 19 recedes again to its position illustrated in FIG. 3 is given by the formula $$\text{P '(V + v') = 1.v '}$$

formula in which v 'is the volume, at atmospheric pressure, of the air remaining in the cells of the charge of balls at the end of the last cycle carried out.

   on peut déduire de la formule (2) ci-dessus la valeur de P' en fonction de V et v.As the quantity v 'can be calculated by the formula $$\text{(v-v ') (v + V) = vV}$$

we can deduce from formula (2) above the value of P 'as a function of V and v.

If this value is still greater than 0.2 bar, a third cycle must be provided, and so on.

It appears from the above that the balls introduced into the tank 2 are only properly impregnated with water if the volume of the air they initially contain is less than or equal to the maximum calculated volume acceptable as a function of the displacement V of the cylinder and the number of cycles provided for it.

In order not to risk exceeding this threshold, it is recommended to precisely dose each load of new balls introduced into the tank for their impregnation: this is the role assigned to drawers 24 and 25 defining the airlock 26 of well defined volume, as described above.

Of course, agitator means can be provided in the hopper 8 or on it to ensure that the balls descend by simple gravity into the airlock 26 as soon as the upper drawer 24 is opened, which opening can be slaved to a closure lower drawer 25.

When the charge of balls 1 introduced into the tank 2 is sufficiently impregnated with water, this charge is removed, by a stream of water, through the open valve 6 and the pipe 5 and it is collected in the basket 21.

Figure 5 shows in its right part another construction of the impregnating device described above.

In this other construction, the elements identical or analogous to those previously described are given the same references as previously.

• ici, le vérin est constitué par une pompe à membrane 28 et la membrane déformable 29 de cette pompe constitue elle-même le fond du réservoir 2,
• une chambre 30 disposée au-dessous de cette membrane 29 est mise à l'air libre en 31,
• la membrane 29 est reliée par une tige 32 qui traverse de manière étanche le fond de la chambre 30 à une seconde membrane souple 33 identique qui divise un boîtier 34 inférieur en deux compartiments C et D susceptibles d'être reliés isolément et alternativement à une source d'air comprimé et à l'atmosphère, respectivement à travers deux raccords 35 et 36.

The main differences between said other construction and the previous one are as follows:

• here, the jack is constituted by a membrane pump 28 and the deformable membrane 29 of this pump itself constitutes the bottom of the tank 2,
• a chamber 30 arranged below this membrane 29 is vented to the open air at 31,
• the membrane 29 is connected by a rod 32 which sealingly crosses the bottom of the chamber 30 to a second identical flexible membrane 33 which divides a lower housing 34 into two compartments C and D capable of being connected in isolation and alternately to a source compressed air and to the atmosphere, respectively through two connections 35 and 36.

The structure 13 for supporting and guiding the float 12 is here supported by a grid 16 which passes through the interior of the tank 2 a little above the membrane 29.

This grid 16, like the grid 9, is arranged so that it cannot be crossed by the balls.

Finally, there is no capacity here comparable to compartment A of the jack 17 above on the pipe section 14 between the chamber 10 and the discharge pipe 5.

The operation of this embodiment is exactly the same as the previous one, the manual controls of the handle 27 being here replaced by the vertical displacements of the membrane 29, themselves controlled by alternative communication between each of the two compartments C and D with a source of compressed air, each of these ports one of the two compartments being synchronized with a port of the other compartment to the outside atmosphere.

As indicated above, it is particularly advantageous, according to the invention, to mount the ball impregnation assembly described above on the ball recycling piping 37 fitted to a tube cleaning installation 38 constituting a condenser or exchanger heat, as seen in Figure 4.

The tubes 38 in question, which form a horizontal bundle, are supplied with cold water from a line 39 and the heated water which leaves these tubes is discharged through a line 40.

This pipe 40 is equipped with a grid device 41 for recovering the cleaning balls and the recycling piping 37 is itself equipped with a circulation pump 42, an airlock 43 used to collect the balls when wishes to stop their circulation, then, at its downstream end, of an injection nozzle 44 of the balls opening into the intake pipe 39.

We find in this figure 4 the valve 4 above for admitting water into the impregnating device as well as the pipe 5 for output from this device and its loading hopper 8 associated with the corresponding valve 7.

In this case, the impregnated balls which exit from the reservoir through the pipe 5 are directly injected into the recycling tube 37 instead of being collected in the basket 21.

According to preferred embodiments, the above impregnating device is also associated with a ball sorter of the type which is the subject of document US-A-4,974,662 as well as a ball counter of the kind of those currently known.

The assembly thus formed makes it possible to ensure fully automatic operation of the cleaning installation in question.

It will be recalled here that the continuous cleaning of the tubes 38 is only effective if the diameter of the balls is greater than that of the internal diameter of the tubes to be cleaned and if the number of balls in circulation is sufficient for the time separating on average two consecutive ball passes in the same tube is not too high.

The sorter which is the subject of the above patent makes it possible to permanently remove worn balls whose diameter has become too small from the circuit.

As for the ball counter, it permanently measures the number of balls remaining in circulation: when this number of balls becomes insufficient to ensure effective cleaning, that is to say when the number of missing balls reaches a pre-established threshold, said counter sends a signal indicating that a load of new balls must be reinjected into the cleaning circuit.

The impregnation device described above is sized according to the desired size for this charge of new balls and it allows this charge to be reinjected into the circuit as soon as the counter gives it the signal.

The assembly considered is represented in FIG. 5.

The ball counter mounted on the recycling line 37 is designated by the reference 45.

The sorter 46 is mounted on the same pipe just downstream from the counter 45.

The used balls whose diameter has become too small are deflected by a line 47 towards a used ball collector 48 whose base, in the form of a truncated cone or the like, communicates with a valve 49 for emptying the used balls.

The manifold 48 is connected to the water intake pipe 3 above, equipped with the valve 4.

A grid 50 mounted in this collector prevents worn balls from having access to this pipe 3.

A gate valve 51 mounted on said pipe 3 makes it possible to fine-tune the selection made by the sorter 46.

In fact, by adjusting with this valve 51 the water flow which circulates in the assembly of the two pipes 47 and 3, the degree of the suction exerted through the sorter on the worn balls is adjusted: more this suction effect is powerful and the higher the threshold value which must be reached by decreasing by the diameter of the worn balls to justify their replacement by new balls.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment of FIG. 5, the previous drain valve 23 is no longer found, the tank 2 being able to be drained here through the valve 4, the manifold 48 and the valve 49.

The operation of this assembly, which essentially uses openings and closings of valves and drawers and which can therefore be very easily is the following.

• fermeture des vannes 52, 6 et 15 et ouverture des vannes 49 et 7, ce qui évacue les boules usées recueillies dans le collecteur 48, à travers la vanne 49, en même temps que l'eau qui était contenue dans ledit collecteur 48 et dans le réservoir 2,
• fermeture du tiroir supérieur 24 et ouverture du tiroir inférieur 25, ce qui déverse dans le réservoir 2 la charge de boules contenues dans le sas 26, puis fermeture des vannes 7, 49 et du tiroir inférieur 25,
• ouverture des vannes 52 et 15 pour laisser le collecteur 48 et le réservoir 2 se remplir d'eau,
• fermeture des vannes 4 et 15, puis injection d'air comprimé dans la chambre C pour faire descendre la membrane 29 afin de créer un vide dans le réservoir 2 et d'extraire l'air des boules,
• ouverture de la vanne 4 pour admettre l'eau dans le réservoir 2 et imprégner ainsi d'eau les boules, puis ouverture de la vanne 15 pour évacuer l'air accumulé dans l'enceinte 10,
• injection d'air comprimé dans la chambre D et mise à l'air libre de la chambre C pour ramener la membrane 29 en sa position haute,
• répétition éventuelle au moins une fois du cycle d'imprégnation mettant en oeuvre le va-et-vient de la membrane 29,
• ouverture de la vanne 6 pour injecter les boules ainsi imprégnées d'eau dans le circuit 37,
• ouverture du tiroir supérieur 24 et actionnement de l'agitateur des boules contenues dans la trémie 8 pour remplir à nouveau de boules le sas 26.

When the ball counter 45 indicates that the number of balls in circulation is insufficient to ensure effective cleaning of the tubes 38, that is to say when the number of missing balls reaches the alarm threshold, it triggers the cycle d successive operations below:

• closing of the valves 52, 6 and 15 and opening of the valves 49 and 7, which evacuates the used balls collected in the collector 48, through the valve 49, at the same time as the water which was contained in said collector 48 and in the tank 2,
• closing of the upper drawer 24 and opening of the lower drawer 25, which pours into the tank 2 the load of balls contained in the airlock 26, then closure of the valves 7, 49 and of the lower drawer 25,
• opening of the valves 52 and 15 to let the manifold 48 and the tank 2 fill with water,
• closing of the valves 4 and 15, then injection of compressed air into the chamber C to bring the membrane 29 down in order to create a vacuum in the tank 2 and extract the air from the balls,
• opening of the valve 4 to admit water into the tank 2 and thus impregnate the balls with water, then opening of the valve 15 to evacuate the air accumulated in the enclosure 10,
• injection of compressed air into chamber D and venting of chamber C to bring the membrane 29 back to its high position,
• possible repetition at least once of the impregnation cycle implementing the back and forth of the membrane 29,
• opening of the valve 6 to inject the balls thus impregnated with water into the circuit 37,
• opening of the upper drawer 24 and actuation of the agitator of the balls contained in the hopper 8 to fill the airlock 26 again with balls.

The assembly is then ready to accomplish again the continuation of the above operations which automatically make it possible to remove a given load of used balls and to introduce an equivalent load of new balls after having impregnated them with water.

As a result of this, and whatever the embodiment adopted, a device is finally obtained which makes it possible to impregnate the balls of a cleaning installation with water, a device whose constitution and implementation result sufficiently from this who is before.

This device has significant advantages over those previously known and in particular the following.

It is extremely rustic and robust, the meshes of the grids which it comprises having relatively large dimensions, which eliminates the risks of clogging or of deterioration of these grids by the various debris likely to be in the water entraining the balls.

It lends itself to very advanced automation, in particular when it is associated with the counting and sorting device forming the subject of the embodiment described with reference to FIG. 5, which makes it possible to considerably reduce the costs relating to the monitoring of the cleaning system as a whole.

Indeed, the only intervention required by the entire installation for cleaning the condenser or the like is then limited in all and for all to filling the hopper 8 with new balls when this hopper no longer contains a sufficient number of balls.

The capacity of this hopper can be significant, its filling into balls requires in practice only two or three interventions per year, which represents a significant saving in labor compared to current installations for which the impregnation of the balls to be injected must be carried out manually several times a month.

In addition, the possible automation of the entire installation makes it possible to give the cleaning of the condenser or the like a high degree of security since, with this installation, it is ensured that the balls in circulation ensuring the cleaning are at all times on the one hand, in sufficient number, and on the other hand, in a state of low wear for which the cleaning efficiency is high.

As goes without saying, and as it already follows from the above, the invention is in no way limited to those of its modes of application and embodiments which have been more especially envisaged; on the contrary, it embraces all its variants.

Claims (7)

Device for impregnating sponge balls intended for cleaning the tubes of a condenser or the like, comprising a reservoir (2) interposed between a first (4) and a second (6) valves associated respectively with a water intake pipe ( 3) and to a water evacuation pipe (5), a fitting provided with a third valve (7) connecting the top of the tank to a source (8) of new cleaning balls (1), a grid ( 9) with meshes too small to allow the balls arranged inside the tank to pass so as to reserve at the top of the latter a chamber (10) inaccessible to the balls, a pipe fitted with a fourth valve (15) connecting said chamber for evacuation and a device capable of generating a vacuum in this chamber, characterized in that the vacuum generating device consists of a piston cylinder or the like, one of the two compartments of which is separated by the piston (19,29) or the like nique with the chamber (10), so that each back and forth of the piston successively generates an increase of a well-defined amount of the volume defined by the interior of the tank and by the spaces which communicate with this interior, when the above four tank service valves are closed, then a cancellation of this increase. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the actuator is constituted by a membrane pump, the movable member (29) of which constitutes the bottom of the reservoir (2). Device according to either of Claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the upper chamber (10) inside the tank (2) is traversed by a vertical passage delimited laterally by a grid (11), passage extending downwards the connection from the tank to the third valve (7) and in that a float (12) is arranged below this corridor so as to prevent the balls contained in the tank from going up in said corridor. Installation for cleaning the tubes of a condenser or the like using balls, characterized in that it comprises the device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, comprising the reservoir (2), the jack (17, 29) and their pipes and service valves, mounted as a bypass on the recycling pipe (37) of the balls, pipe which extends from the outlet to the inlet of the condenser. Cleaning installation according to claim 4, characterized in that the device comprising the tank (2), the jack (17,28) and their pipes and serving valves is associated with a ball counter (45) and a sorter of balls (46) in such a way that any extraction, out of the installation, of a load of used balls is compensated by the introduction into this installation of an equivalent load of new balls impregnated with water, and in that the operation of the assembly is automated. Impregnation process using the device according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized by the following steps: the first two valves (4,6) being closed and the other two (7,15) open, a load of new balls (1) is introduced into the tank (2) through the third valve (7); then, the second (6) and the third (7) valves being closed and the other two (4.15) open, water is admitted into the tank until it is completely filled with water; then, all the four valves being closed, the piston or the like (19, 29) is actuated in the direction which corresponds to an increase in the volume in communication with the interior of the tank, which subjects this volume to a vacuum in at least partially emptying the balls of air they contain, air which is collected in the upper chamber of the tank and the capacity which communicates with this chamber; after which the first (4) and the fourth valves (15) are opened so as to fill again with water all of the volumes considered, which impregnates the balls at least partially emptied of air and the piston or the like is actuated in the opposite direction to the previous one to return it to its initial position, the cycle of the two above-defined steps which use the piston or the like coming and going can be renewed one or more times. Impregnation method according to claim 6, characterized in that, if V is called the volume of the cylinder displacement and v the volume, at atmospheric pressure, of the air contained in the cells of the ball load introduced into the tank, V is given a value greater than 4v.

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