GB2320081A

GB2320081A - Indexing valve

Info

Publication number: GB2320081A
Application number: GB9722912A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Julian David Parry
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1996-12-05
Filing date: 1997-10-31
Publication date: 1998-06-10
Also published as: GB9722912D0

Abstract

An indexing valve suitable for use with soil/refuse decontamination apparatus (in which apparatus a resource is supplied along a fluid line and via a lance to soil/refuse to be treated) sequentially switches the resource to a plurality of outlets in turn. The valve may utilise the energy of the resource to mechanically drive the indexing mechanism or may comprise a stepping motor. A signal which initiates a change in the destination of the resource may be an interruption in the supply of that resource or may be an electrical signal. The electrical signal passed between the apparatus and the valve may be transmitted along reinforcement wires in the fluid line.

Description

THE INDEXING MANIFOLD The present application is concerned with a device designed to assist the distribution of fluid resources used in the treatment of contaminated land and the products, minerals, waste and refuse, arising from municipal / industrial / commercial and agricultural sources, in solid or semi-solid/liquid form, including in situ or excavated soils, using physical and/or chemical and/or micro biological processes to diminish the physical volume and / or to isolate, diminish or remove, metabolise change or otherwise modify, noxious chemical and microbial species contaminating or contained within the mass of such materials.

The present invention arises out of a development of the SBS Close Lance System described in Patent number 22808035 which is particularly, but not exclusively concerned with the bio-remediation of soil, in which micro-organisms are used to degrade contaminants in soil. .

There are number of known ways of removing contaminants from some soils, each of which is called a migratory pathway and these include:direct suction, (direct pumping of free flowing fluid contaminants and contaminated ground water) leaching (infusing another innocuous fluid to displace a contaminant and make it available for extraction by forced ejection, direct pumping or other means).

solubilisation (dissolution of the contaminant in ground water or another fluid infused for the purpose of leaching) volatilisation (removing volatile fractions of a contaminant by drawing air through the soil) bio-remediation (removing contaminants by micro-biological means in which soil resident microbial populations of fungi, bacteria and yeasts are encouraged devour or 'metabolise' the contaminants to obtain energy for their own life functions. In so doing the contaminants are changed to new chemical forms which are generally innocuous.

The SBS system as described in Patent No 2280835 exploits all of these pathways using a piped network including soil penetrating lances through which pass fluids at sufficient volume and pressure to impinge up on a series of overlapping volumes of soil. The system already caters for the selective distribution of defined quantities of key resources necessary to exploit the migratory pathways on a direct basis by means of a central control unit defined on page 4 of the specification of Patent No. 2280835 as an SBS Unit (22) The term SBS Unit will be used hereinafter to define the central control unit within the piped network.

For the sake of simplicity a hose linking an SBS unit or any other external resource to the present invention will hereinafter be referred to solely as a supply hose.

The term key resources will be used hereinafter to refer to the multiplicity of resources required for the promotion of the soil decontamination process.

In its originally patented form the SBS Close Lance System can be infinitely extended by having more outlets provided on the SBS Unit each output being controlled in similar manner. However such a solution has economic limitations in its ability to address very large volumes of soil. This limit is to some extent engendered by the complexity of the internal design and the sheer number of hoses needed to transport key resources between individual SBS Units and associated lances or groups of lances.

It is obvious that this limitation may be partially overcome by grouping more than one soil penetrating lance to a single hose by means of a simple open tube manifold and increasing the compressor output to cater for the increased physical requirements of the system. However such a solution can only be used to a relatively minor extent since each additional lances connected to such an open manifold system adds to the inaccuracy of the system. This detracts from one of the principal functions of the system which is being the able to accurately dispense key resources in a predictable manner.

The inventor has appreciated that the economic effectiveness of the SBS Close Lance system described in Patent Number 2280835 is capable of being extended by enlarging the network without increasing the complexity of the SBS unit (22) itself by linking a plurality of soil penetrating lances to a manifold which has the ability to sequentially divert the key resources passing through the supply hose to each of those lances in turn.

Such a manifold is herein after termed an indexing manifold.

The Inventor has also appreciated that whilst indexing manifolds may be embodied in any number of physical forms they require three basic attributes to enable the diversion of any of the key resources passing through any supply hose or supply hoses to any individual lance connection port.

Those attributes are, (i) the ability to take in resources from one or more supply hose (ii) the ability to close off or interrupt any piped connection between the supply hose or supply hoses and selected lance connection ports on the manifold (iii) the ability to activate such interruptions described (in ii) above in response to instructions generated externally to the indexing manifold by another device, including but not exclusively an SBS Unit.

The Inventor has appreciated that it will be necessary to provide a corporeal means by which such an indexing manifold may select each separate connection between a supply hose and a hose connected between the manifold and a lance or group of lances.

Additionally the inventor has appreciated that it will be necessary to provide a corporeal means of providing energy to facilitate the selection of alternate connections to be actuated by a mechanism within the indexing manifold. That energy may be electrical, pneumatic or be provided by the energy contained within the resource flowing through the indexing manifold at any given point in time.

Furthermore it will be necessary to provide a corporeal means of initiating and controlling the release of the energy required to actuate any mechanism within the indexing manifold. This could be done in a number of ways to facilitate the transmission of a signal generated in another place and transmitted to the manifold by pre-deternuined means.

All of the forgoing may be contrived in alternative ways leading to a variety of corporeal embodiments of the indexing manifold. Those corporeal means of catering for the ability to select a supply hose or lance connection may take a number of forms including, but not exclusively, a rotary selection valve, a sliding valve, a rotating disk or even a rotatable and displaceable disk with a number of stoppers designed to fit to a number of orifices (described in detail in Patent 2280835). In the alternative the manifold could be created as a complex series of electrically operated or pneumatically operated interconnected valves.

In terms of the third attribute, iii above, the present invention differs significantly from an SBS Unit in the sense that an indexing manifold does not have an on-board means of making any decision related to the opening and closing of any valve. It must take its instructions by means of a control signal from elsewhere.

The control signal described in (iii) above could imparted in a number of ways including, but not exclusively, changes in the pressure or direction of the resource being passed through the manifold, or by means of electrical impulses. Such electrical impulses could be passed either by direct cable or by utilising the conductive properties of reinforcement wires incorporated into the outer casing of the supply hose.

It is axiomatic that in normal circumstances the control inputs to indexing manifolds would be provided by the SBS unit to which it is linked but it need not necessarily be so. It is conceivable that a series of indexing manifolds could be linked in the form of an interconnected network orchestrated by a central control system not itself concerned with diverting resources within its own mechanism as would an SBS Unit.

It is also conceivable that such signals could be transmitted by electromagnetic waves including, but not exclusively, electromagnetic waves in the infra red spectra, visible spectra, ultra violet or radio wavebands.

It is also conceivable that such electromagnetic waves could be transmitted over an area of land via a radio aerial and in the alternative such a transmission could be sent via a laser Moreover any of those transmissions could be directed in all or any respect under computer control.

The response of the indexing manifold to such control inputs could be enabled either by energy passed from an external source to the indexing manifold as a signal to which the manifold responds or by utilising its own internal resources including motive power provided by the key resource being transmitted through that part of the piped network..

In more sophisticated form indexing manifolds could also be provided with the ability to take in key resources independently of the SBS Unit described in Patent 2280835.

According to the present invention there is provided a system for extending the capability of the SBS Close Lance System, described in Patent 2280835, by providing a means of causing key resources, passing through the piped network of the SBS Close Lance System to be selectively and individually directed thorough a plurality of connections sited upon a manifold acting in response to signals generated by the SBS system.

According to the present invention there is provided a method for extending the capability of the SBS Close Lance System, described in Patent 2280835, by providing a means of causing key resources, passing through the piped network of the SBS Close Lance System to be selectively and individually directed through a plurality of connections sited upon a manifold acting in response to signals generated by the SBS system.

The first aspect of the present invention is that it is an additional part of a resource delivery mechanism contrived as a system for soil decontamination incorporating a plurality of soil penetrating lances as described in UK. Patent No. 2280835 and called the SBS Close Lance System.

The second aspect of the present invention is that it is capable of selectively controlling and manipulating the delivery of key resources within the piped network described in Patent 2280835 but outside the confines of the SBS Unit (22).

The third aspect of the present invention is that it is capable of diverting key resources towards or away from a plurality of soil penetrating lances irrespective of the direction of flow of those resources be it into or out of a plurality of supply hoses connected to the SBS Unit described in Patent 2280835 or other source of those resources.

The fourth aspect of the present invention recognises that actions within the SBS Unit can be used to initiate corporeal action within the indexing manifold contrived to divert key resources towards or away from a single lance connection port or group of lance connection ports mounted on the indexing manifold.

The fifth aspect of the present invention recognises that control of the flow of key resources along supply hoses connected between either the SBS Unit, or any independent source of those key resources, and the indexing manifold may be manipulated by actions within the SBS Control Unit.

The sixth aspect of the present invention recognises that control of the indexing manifold may be occasioned by changes in the pressure of or interruption of the supply of key resources being passed into or out of any supply hose connecting the indexing manifold to a source of key resources.

The seventh aspect of the present invention recognises that changes in the pressure or rate of flow of resources within a supply hose connected to the present invention can be occasioned by manipulation of the supply provided by any source under the control of or through the internal piped network of the SBS Unit (22) described in Patent 2280835.

The eighth aspect of the present invention recognises that in an alternative embodiment of the indexing manifold control of the indexing manifold may be manipulated by electrical signals generated within or under the control of the SBS Unit described in Patent 2280835.

The ninth aspect of the present invention recognises that electrical signals generated in accordance with the eighth aspect may be transmitted to the indexing manifold by means of electrical conductors connected between the indexing manifold and the SBS Unit described in Patent 2280835.

The tenth aspect of the present invention proposes that an electrical circuit in accordance with the ninth aspect may be completed in whole or in part by using the reinforcement wire used to support the outer casing of the hose connected between the indexing manifold and the lance connection port of the same control unit described in Patent 2280835.

The eleventh aspect of the present invention recognises that electrical signals generated in accordance with the eighth aspect may be transmitted to the indexing manifold by means of electromagnetic waves transmitted between the SBS Unit described in Patent 2280835 and the indexing manifold The twelfth aspect of the present invention recognises that electrical signals generated in accordance with the eighth aspect may be transmitted to the source of any key resource within the supply hoses connected to the present invention by means of electromagnetic waves transmitted between the SBS Unit described in Patent 2280835 and the source of those resources.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail, by way of example, with reference to the drawings in which are listed in the following Table 1.

Fig No. Description or title I 1 Vertical section through a mechanically activated version of the indexing manifold 2 ~ Horizontal section through the distribution chamber of the indexing manifold.

3 Detail of the Crown wheel 10 shown in drawing 1 4 Vertical section through an electrically activated version of the indexing manifold An embodiment of a mechanically operated indexing manifold for use in the SBS system of soil treatment system shown in Fig 1 Fig 2 and Fig. 3 will now be described in detail.

The manifold is contained within a tubular outer body 1, typically but not exclusively made of metal or plastic. The diameter of the tube will vary with the number of connection ports 23 which are inserted into the circumference of the body 1.

In vertical section the outer body 1 is horizontally divided internally into four separate compartments.

The compartments, enumerated from the lowest level to the to the highest level are the Plinth space 27, the distribution chamber 21, the speed/control chamber 6 and the sensor compartment 2.

The plinth space 27 is separated from the distribution chamber by a sealed base plate 30 The distribution chamber 21 is separated from the speed control chamber by a sealed floor plate 13.

The speed control chamber is separated from the sensor chamber by a, plate usually of metal, 5 The sealed separating plates 5 and 13 are secured to an inner body 16 usually made from metal or plastic.

The outer diameter of the inner body 16 is manufactured to fit closely to the inner diameter of the outer body 1. The outer body 1 is secured to the inner body 16 by metal screws passing through the outer body into the inner body 16.

The base plate 30 is secured to an inner plinth ring 25. The inner plinth ring 25 is usually of metal or plastic manufactured to fit closely to the inner diameter of the outer body 1. The outer body 1 is secured to the inner plinth ring by metal screws passing through the outer body 1 into the inner plinth ring 25.

The sensor chamber 2 is protected by an acrylic or similar transparent plastic plate secured to the top of the outer body 1 A base plate may also be fitted to the bottom end o the outer body 1 to protect services within the plinth space.

A service hose or a plurality of services hoses are connected to an industry standard compressed air hose connection 29 and piped through a pipe within the body of the manifold 24 through the main body 1 at the level of the plinth space to connect into the distribution chamber 21 through an orifice 20 in the centre of a sealed floor plate 30.

Where there are more than one supply hoses 29 connected to the distribution chamber 21 in this manner then all supply hoses interconnect before connecting to the orifice 20 Within the distribution chamber 21 is an impeller 19 sited immediately above the orifice 20. This is configured such that fluids (liquid or gas) passing through the orifice will impinge upon and impart rotational a force to the impeller 20.

The impeller 20 is connected to a central shaft 7, usually of metal or plastic, which passes through a sealed bearing 14 in the separating plate 13 to provide the energy required for moving the valve from one outlet to another.

Within the distribution chamber 21 the shaft 7 is also connected to a circular rotatable metal plate 17 which is set at a distance below the separating plaster 13 sufficient not to impinge upon the bearing 14.

The perimeter of the rotatable plate 17 is fixed to an inner rotating body 26.

The rotatable plate 17 is usually of metal or plastic manufactured to fit closely to the inner diameter of the outer body 1 yet provide sufficient clearance to allow it to rotate freely. A tolerance between the rotating body 26 and the outer body 1 would typically be 0.2 mm or less.

A section or sections of the rotating body 26 is cut away to form an outlet or outlets 22 which outlets allow fluids to pass through the outer body 1 via connection ports 23 to industry standard lance hose connections 28.

A vent hole 18 is drilled through the rotating plate 17 to allow the pressure within the distribution chamber 21 to be sensed elsewhere within the manifold.

The shaft 7 rises through a bearing 14 to cross the speed control chamber to be supported on another bearing 8 which is fitted to the centre of the separating plate 5.

Within the speed control chamber 6 the shaft is secured to a Crown wheel 10 which is of metal or plastic construction The crown wheel is manufactured to have a central tubular core through which passes the shaft 7.

Spokes from this core support a perimeter ring which is sculpted to the profile of a Crown having a series of evenly rising and falling faces on the underside of perimeter ring when the wheel is mounted with the shaft oriented in the vertical plane.

The number of high points on the crown wheel equals the number of connection ports 23 entering the distribution chamber 21. There are an equal number of low points.

At a point partly off set from each high point a tongue of metal or plastic is made to protrude out from the perimeter ring for the full depth of the perimeter ring at the point of attachment. Each of these teeth is configured to be equidistantly placed around the perimeter ring. The overall diameter of the crown wheel including the teeth is a little less than the inner diameter of the inner body 16.

Metal or plastic latches 15 are pivoted on attachments to the inner face of the inner body 16. The latches 15 are aligned such that they hang clear of the teeth on the outer perimeter of the crown wheel 10. but can engage with the teeth on the crown wheel 10 when activated by a pneumatic cylinder 9.

The pneumatic cylinder 9 is rigidly mounted upon a bracket connected to a support tube around the shaft 10 The support tube forms part of the upper shaft bearing 8 and is fixed in position such that it will not rotate.

The pneumatic cylinder 9 is a double acting cylinder with the piston set centrally in the cylinder when the pressure on each side of the piston is equal at ambient air pressure. The piston is moved to this central position by opposing springs of equal strength mounted internally within the cylinder.

One of the two pneumatic input ports to the cylinder 9 is connected to ambient air pressure taken from the sensor chamber. The sensor chamber is vented to the outside air.

The other air input port to the pneumatic cylinder is vented into the distribution chamber through the separating plate 13 in order that it may sense the internal pressure within the distribution chamber.

In this manner when there is no service being passed through the manifold the latches hang clear of the crown wheel. When a negative or positive pressure is passed through the manifold one or other of the latches will impinge upon the locus of the teeth projecting from the crown wheel.

The action of the crown wheel 10 is also influenced by the pressure wheel 11. The pressure wheel 11 is aligned such that it is directly under one point on the sculpted surface of the crown wheel 10. The pressure wheel is maintained against the Crown wheel 10 by a spring 12 which in this embodiment takes the form of a tempered steel bow spring spanning across the speed control chamber six and recessed into the inner face of the inner body 16 at each end in an alignment tangential to the sculpted surface of the Crown wheel 10 The shaft 7 passes through the separating plate 5 to be completed by a rotating plastic or metal disc 3 painted in segments to display its position visually to inspection through the acrylic cover to the sensor chamber 2 The underside of the rotating disc 3 is marked to facilitate electronic sensing by a photoelectric position sensor of already known design.

The signals from the sensor are connected to a cable or the supply hose reinforcement to facilitate transmission of the signal to the SBS Control Unit described in Patent 2280835.

INTENTIONALLY BLANK There now follows a description of the mode of operation of the present invention.

The supply of a key resource being a fluid at either negative or positive pressure is passed from an SBS Unit 22 according to Patent no. 2280835 and the supply of that resource to the manifold is entirely under the control of that SBS unit. Which direction is taken by the resource and whether it is at positive or negative pressure is not material to the operation of the manifold as the present invention is contrived to operate irrespective of the negative or positive nature of the pressure or the direction of the flow. However resources flowing at positive and negative pressure will cause the manifold the operate in opposite directions but that is immaterial in terms of the effectiveness of the overall system.

The flow of the those resource along the supply hose causes the resource to pass one way or the other through the impeller 19. This imparts a rotational force to the shaft 7 which rotates the Crown wheel 10.

Movement of the crown wheel causes its sculpted face to impinge upon the pressure wheel 11.

At rest, that is to say that without the influence of the latches 15, the pressure wheel 11 would normally take up a position in a trough within the sculpted surface of the crown wheel 10 The pressure wheel 11 would take up a natural position between the "points of the crown" of the sculpted surface. This happens because of the pressure of the spring 12 added to the fact that the pressure wheel and crown wheels can both rotate freely about their supporting axis.

The rotational movement of the shaft 7 rotates the Crown wheel 10. The rotation of the crown wheel 10 moves sculptured face of its perimeter ring. The next" point of the crown" contrived in the sculptured face of the crown wheel 10 now forces the pressure wheel 11 downwards away from its natural point of rest. In turn this movement is transferred to the spring 12 which is and deformed and stressed. The stress induced in the spring 12 stores kinetic energy.

The positions of the pressure wheel 11 and the crown wheel 10 are so arranged about the axis of shaft 7 that when the latches 15 are engaged in the teeth on the crown wheel 10 the shaft can rotate just far enough for the pressure wheel to pass over the crest of the next "Point of the crown" in the sculpted surface of the crown wheel 10 until the latches 15 conflict with the next tooth on the crown wheel 10 causing further movement to be arrested.

Simultaneously the pressure applied in the distribution chamber 21, by the resource passing through that chamber, cause the pneumatic cylinder 9 to be activated in one direction or the other. The pneumatic cylinder 9 responds to the either positive or negative pressure of the resource by movement of the piston with consequent movement of the piston rod. The piston rods are connected to the latches in parallel.

Accordingly when activated the piston moves both latches and one of them is extended to conflict with the locus of the nearest tooth on the crown wheel.

As soon as the tooth and the latch engage the rotation of the crown wheel is halted and stays in that position in equilibrium with the kinetic energy of the pressure wheel being counterbalanced by the physical intervention of the latch 15. This situation prevails until such time as the supply is interrupted by the action of the extemal device controlling the supply of that resource to the manifold. For this purpose the programme in the SBS Unit, according to Patent number 2280835, would interrupt the supply to force a response from the indexing manifold to move to allow resources to now flow through the next lance connection port and thus to another lance in the array of lances described in Patent No. 2280835.

As the whole system is open vented to ambient air in the sub soil environment the pressure balance with ambient air pressure above ground is soon established by virtue of other free air being injected close by the same system but through another set of lances.. This balancing of the air pressures allows the pneumatic cylinder 9 to centralise under the influence of the two integral and opposing springs. This action restores both latches 15 to their natural resting state, clear of the teeth on the crown wheel; thus allowing the crown wheel to continue to rotate under the influence of the spring 12 forcing the pressure wheel 11 upwards and against it when resting just passed a peak in the sculpted surface..

The pressure wheel now rotates the Crown wheel 10 as the pressure wheel seeks to use the kinetic energy in the spring 12 to take up its next natural resting position.

In the process the shaft 7 has rotated the distributor body 26 and the orifice 22 now aligns with the next lance connection 23.

The system is now set to take a new pulse of resources through the supply hose to start the whole process over again.

However the resource is now directed through the next port 23 and so to the next lance in the array as described in patent 2280835.

The indexing manifold has achieved its purpose.

INTENTIONALLY BLANK An alternative embodiment of an electrically operated indexing manifold for use in the SBS system of soil treatment system will now be described in detail as shown in Fig. 4 In this alternative embodiment of the same device the functions of the pneumatic cylinder 9 the crown wheel 10, the pressure wheel 11, and the spring 12 are replaced by a stepper motor and gear box acting upon electrical and electromagnetic signals transmitted from an SBS Unit 22 according to Patent 2280835 or some other central device providing the necessary organisation and instruction.

The speed control chamber is separated from the sensor chamber by a, plate usually of metal, 5 The sealed separating plates 5 and 13 are secured to an inner body 16 usually made from metal or plastic. The outer diameter of the inner body 16 is manufactured to fit closely to the inner diameter of the outer body 1. The outer body 1 is secured to the inner body 16 by metal screws passing through the outer body 1 into the inner body 16.

The sensor chamber 2 is protected by an acrylic or similar transparent plastic plate secured to the top of the outer body 1 A base plate may also be fitted to the bottom end Within the distribution chamber 21 there is a shaft 7 connected to a circular rotatable metal plate 17 which is set at a distance below the separating plate 13 sufficient not to impinge upon the bearing 14.

The perimeter ofthe rotatable plate 17 is fixed to an inner rotating body 26.

The rotatable plate 17 is usually of metal or plastic manufactured to fit closely to the inner diameter of the outer body 1 yet provide sufficient clearance to allow it to rotate freely . A tolerance between the rotating body 26 and the outer body 1 would typically be 0.2 mm or less.

A hole 18 is drilled through the rotating plate 17 to allow the pressure within the distribution chamber 21 to be sensed elsewhere within the manifold.

Within the speed control chamber 6 the shaft is connected through a gearbox 10 driven by a stepper motor 9.

The stepper motor is controlled by power supplied to it by separate electrical cables between the indexing manifold and the control unit or along the reinforcement wires of the hoses connected to the ports 29 and 23 on the body of the indexing manifold.

The operation of the stepper motor may also be controlled in whole or in part by signals generated in the pressure sensor 11 which is connected by tube to the distribution chamber 21 and to the sensor chamber 2 The sensor chamber 2 is vented to the outside air.

The shaft 7 passes through the separating plate 5 to be completed by a rotating plastic or metal disc 3 painted in segments to display its position visually to inspection through the acrylic cover to the sensor chamber 2 The underside of the rotating disc 3 is marked to facilitate electronic sensing by a photoelectric position sensor of already known design. The signals from the sensor are connected to a cable or the supply hose reinforcement to facilitate transmission of the signal to the SBS Control Unit described in Patent 2280835 or any other suitable device.

The manifold in electrical or mechanical format may also be provided with electrical contacts 31 fitted, in this present electrical embodiment shown on drawing 3, to the indicator plate 4 to enable any electrical signal passed to the plate from the signal card 12 or other device may be passed through a series of contacts 32 to a series of electrical concentric sockets 33 or similar devices so that individual lance hoses may be used selectively to transmit or receive signals or electrical power from lances or other manifolds connected in series across the remediation area.

Claims

1.A system for extending the capability of the SBS Close Lance System,

described in Patent 2280835, by providing a means of causing fluid resources, required for the process, passing through the piped network of the SBS Close Lance System to be selectively directed through constant number of connections but at sequentially changing locations chosen from a plurality of connections sited upon a mechanically or electrically operable manifold valve acting in response to signals generated by an SBS system described in Patent 2280835.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein the energy required to enable the system to change the destination of any resource passing through the manifold is obtained from the energy of the resource passing through the system.

3. A system according to claim 2 wherein the signal required to initiate a change in the destination of any resource passing through the valve is an interruption of the supply of that resource.

4. A system according to claim 2 wherein the signal required to initiate a change in the destination of any resource passing through the manifold is an electronic signal passed through electrical connections between the present invention and an SBS unit.

5. A system according to claim 4 wherein the signal required to initiate a change in the destination of any resource passing through the manifold is an electronic signal passed through electrical connections between the present invention and an SBS unit said electrical connections being provided by the reinforcement wires in pressure resistant hoses passing between the SBS unit and the present invention.

6. A method of extending the capability of the SBS Close Lance System, described in Patent 2280835, the method comprises the steps of causing fluid resources, required for the process, passing through the piped network of the SBS Close Lance System to be selectively directed through a constant number of connections but at sequentially changing locations chosen from a plurality of connections sited upon a mechanically or electrically operable manifold valve acting in response to signals generated by an SBS systemdescribed in Patent 2280835

7. A method according to claim 6, wherein the energy required to enable the system to change the destination of any resource passing through the system is obtained from the energy of the resource passing through the system.

8. A method according to claim 7 wherein the signal required to initiate a change in the destination of any resource passing through the valve is an interruption of the supply of that resource.

9. A method according to claim 7 wherein the signal required to initiate a change in the destination of any resource passing through the valve is an electronic signal passed through electrical connections between the present invention and an SBS unit.

10. A method according to claim 9 wherein the signal required to initiate a change in the destination of any resource passing through the manifold is an electronic signal passed through electrical connections between the present invention and an SBS unit said electrical connections being provided by the reinforcement wires in pressure resistant hoses passing between the SBS unit and the present invention.