JP2547349B2 - Counter for cleaning medium for heat exchanger thin tubes - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a cleaning medium for cleaning the inner peripheral surface of a thin tube of a heat exchanger, specifically, a sponge rubber ball (hereinafter referred to as a sponge ball). More particularly, the present invention relates to a sponge ball counting device that cleans the inner peripheral surface of a condenser thin tube of a power plant.

(Prior Art) Generally, in a condenser of a power generation plant, since seawater is used as a cooling medium, slime contained in seawater adheres to the inner peripheral surface of the cooling thin tube. As a result, the thermal conductivity of the cooling capillaries is reduced, and the condensing performance of the condenser is reduced. In order to prevent this, in many power plants, the inner peripheral surface of the cooling thin tube is rubbed and cleaned with the outer surface of the sponge ball to remove slime and the like. The number of sponge balls used for such cleaning is several hundred to one thousand and several hundred, and the work of counting all the sponge balls is also laborious.

Therefore, in recent years, a counting device for automatically performing the above counting work has been provided. 5 and 6 show one of the counting devices according to the conventional example. In the figure, reference numeral 100 indicates a sponge ball, and this counting device is
, A disk-shaped ball detection unit main body 110 having a passage 111 through which passages can be made, ball detection sensors 112, 112, ..., 112 provided in the respective passages 111, 111, 111 ,. . Each passage 111, ..., 111
As shown in FIG. 7, one is provided at the center of the ball detection unit main body 110, and 6 balls are arranged at regular intervals on a predetermined concentric center line.
One is provided. Further, each ball detection sensor 112, ..., 112 provided in each passage 111, ..., 111 is an emitting / receiving infrared sensor (or a sensor in which the sensor main part is embedded facing each other). The light reflected by the inner wall of the passage is received. The sensor 112 is always operating, and when the sponge ball 110 passes through the passage, the infrared light is blocked during that time and the sensor 112 is turned off (or turned on). The operating state of the sensor is input to the ball counting calculator. The number of sponge balls that have passed through one passage 111 can be detected by detecting this state change with the ball counting calculator and adding the number of times. The counting device counts the total number of balls that have passed through the detection unit main body 110 by adding the number of balls detected in all the passages 111, ... In general, the ball detection unit main body 110 is disposed on the inlet side of the recovery device that recovers the sponge balls 100, so that the number of sponge balls recovered by the recovery device can be counted.

The number of the passages 111 is substantially determined by the correlation between the number of balls to be collected and the required collection time. That is, in a plant in which hundreds to thousands of balls are collected in a short time, for example, several minutes, if the number of the passages 111 is one, not only will the balls become stagnant or clogged, but also the ball counting accuracy will decrease. Will be invited. Therefore, as in the conventional example, a ball counting device having seven passages is provided.

On the other hand, there is also provided a ball counting device that counts balls with a pair of ball detection sensors, that is, a sensor in which a light emitting section and a light receiving section are independent, without reducing the ball counting accuracy. FIG. 8 shows a ball counting device of this type. In the figure, the ball detection unit main body 210
Is inserted in the conveyance lines 220a and 220b of the sponge ball 200, and a pair of ball detection sensors 212 are attached to the detection unit main body 210.
a and 212b are provided so as to be orthogonal to and face the axis of the ball transfer line. Further, the detection unit main body 210 and the main body 2
A sponge ball guide member 213 is interposed between the upstream joint line 220a and the flange joint 10. The guide member 213 includes a guide port 213 for guiding the sponge ball so that the sponge ball traverses the infrared light flux from the light emitting side sensor 212a. As described in the above-mentioned conventional example, the guide port 213a has a predetermined size so that the ball is not clogged here. The operation state of the pair of detection sensors 212a and 212b is detected by the counting calculator 214. Then, the counting calculator 214 displays the total number of counts by adding the number of operations, in other words, the number of sponge balls, by the built-in counter mechanism in response to the change in the sensor operating state.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) Among the conventional ball counting devices described in the related art, a large number of passages for detecting sponge balls are provided so that a large number of sponge balls can be accurately counted. On the other hand, as the number of ball detection sensors increases, the counting means of the counting calculator also increases in proportion thereto, and the detection unit body also increases in size. As a result, the device cost increases.

On the other hand, the latter ball counting device has a pair of ball detection sensors to be used, and the built-in counter mechanism can be simplified, so that it can be constructed at low cost. However, there is a limit to the ball counting accuracy, and it is difficult to desire high counting accuracy. This is because the sponge balls are concentrated on the guide port and a plurality of balls block the infrared light flux at the same time, or a plurality of balls are connected to each other and pass therethrough at a high degree.

As described above, the conventional ball counting device has its advantages and disadvantages. As a ball counting device,
An ideal counter is one that eliminates both problems and preserves the merits of both. The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and the purpose thereof is to
An object of the present invention is to provide a ball counting device having a simplified ball detection / counting mechanism without lowering ball counting accuracy.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is configured as follows.

That is, the cleaning medium counting device for heat exchanger thin tubes of the present invention counts the cleaning medium in response to the output of the cleaning medium detecting means, the cleaning medium guiding means for guiding the spherical cleaning medium to the detecting device, and the detecting means. And counting means for performing. Moreover, in order to guide the cleaning medium circulating in the pipe together with the cooling medium to the cleaning medium detecting means, the cleaning medium guiding means is composed of a plurality of adjacent guide passages which are partitioned from each other and have a polygonal cross section corresponding to the cleaning medium. It is configured to include a passage group and a guide body provided at a predetermined position on the inlet side front side of the passage group to guide the cleaning medium to any one guide passage of the passage group.

In addition, it is desirable that the passage group is configured to have at least three guide passages, preferably four guide passages.

Further, it is preferable that each of the guide passages has a square cross section corresponding to the shape of the spherical cleaning medium. When the cleaning medium has a reduced thickness and a reduced diameter, each of the guide passages has an octagonal cross section. Is more preferable. Further, the guide body is preferably a spherical body, and may be a rod-shaped body, a conical body having a spherical tip, or a hemispherical body.

(Operation) According to the above configuration, when the cleaning medium in the cooling medium moving in the central portion of the pipe flows into the cleaning medium guide means together with the cooling medium, the guide body pushes the cleaning medium outward in the radial direction of the pipe. This is because the streamline of the cooling medium is deflected radially outward by the guide body and the cooling medium moves along the streamline. Further, it is possible to prevent the cleaning medium from flowing into the same guide passage at the same time due to a temporary stagnation caused by the collision of the cleaning medium with the guide body. Therefore, even if the cleaning medium moves non-uniformly along the radial direction of the pipe, it is located near the inner wall surface of the pipe at the position near the front of the passage group. In other words, the guide body allows the cleaning medium to be aligned in the pipe in a specific distribution pattern. As in the present invention, if the cleaning medium is pushed toward the inner peripheral wall surface side, the circulation of the cleaning medium will not be obstructed even if the guide passage is provided only along the circumferential direction. Therefore, if each of the guide passages is provided with a washing medium detecting means, it is possible to detect the washing medium passing through the passage and count the washing medium passing through all the passages. That is, by providing the guide body in front of the guide passage, the frequency of sponge balls flowing into the same guide passage in a contiguous manner is reduced, and as a result, the inter-ball distance that the sensor can detect as individual balls is secured. It will be possible.

Further, the cleaning medium is appropriately dispersed and circulates, and even if the cleaning media are moving close to each other, their centers are different from each other in the radial direction. Also, the number of cleaning media that pass through different guide passages due to collision with the guide body or the like and that pass through one guide passage in a connected state becomes extremely small.
Incidentally, by forming the guide body in a spherical shape, such a tendency becomes more remarkable in a spherical cleaning medium.

By the way, if the guide passage is formed into a square or octagonal shape having a size corresponding to the diameter of the cleaning medium, displacement of the spherical cleaning medium in the passage with respect to the central axis of the guide passage can be prevented, and the detection position can be accurately detected. Can be guided to. Further, since the passage cross-sectional area is larger than that of the passage having a circular cross section, the flow velocity in the passage can be suppressed to be low, so that the cleaning medium detection time becomes relatively long and the cleaning body can be detected reliably.

(Embodiment) An embodiment of the cleaning medium counting apparatus according to the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

1 to 5 show the counting device of this embodiment. FIG. 1 is a device system diagram when the present counting device is provided in a condenser cleaning device for cleaning condenser thin tubes of a power plant. The condenser cleaning device removes slime and the like adhering to the inner surface of the thin tube by supplying a large number of sponge balls, which are spherical cleaning media, together with seawater, which is a cooling medium, into the cooling capillaries. Is. The counting device is a device for counting the sponge balls.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 30 indicates a condenser, and the condenser 30
Includes thousands of cooling thin tubes (not shown). Condenser 30
The circulating water pump 20 supplies the seawater to the water, passes through the cooling thin tube, and is discharged to the open sea. The sponge ball 8 is supplied into the seawater on the inlet side of the condenser 30 and is supplied to the condenser 30 together with the seawater. Further, this sponge ball 8 is separated and recovered from seawater together with a part of the seawater by a sponge ball separating device 40 provided on the outlet side of the condenser 30 for reuse. The sponge balls 8 collected from two places in the separating device 40 are collected by a collecting device 50 and sent into the seawater on the inlet side of the condenser by the recirculation pump 60. Further, on the downstream side of the recirculation pump 60, there is provided a ball collector 80 configured so that the sponge balls 8 can be taken out of the circulation system. The ball detection unit body 10 in the counting apparatus of this embodiment is arranged between the recirculation pump 60 and the collector 80. The ball detection unit main body 10 is provided with a ball detection sensor described later, and an output signal of the sensor is input to a calculation device 11 described later.

By the way, when counting the sponge balls 8 collected in the collecting device 80, the timing of starting the counting operation becomes important. This is because the sponge balls 8 are constantly circulated, and thus there is a possibility that a plurality of sponge balls 8 will remain in the collector 80. Therefore, if the collecting and counting operation is started in such a state, the sponge balls 8 staying will not be counted, and an error will occur between the number counted by the counting device and the number of collected balls. In order to avoid this, a circulation path branching device 70 is provided between the recirculation pump 60 and the ball detection unit main body 10, and a bypass path is provided to bypass the ball detection unit main body 10 and the collector 80. By operating the branching device 70, it is possible to guide the sponge ball 8 only to the collector side or to bypass the collector 80. By doing so, it becomes possible to count from the first sponge ball 8 collected by the counting device.

FIG. 2 shows the ball detection unit body 10 of the present counting device.
As shown in the figure, the detection unit main body 10 has a trumpet-shaped inlet portion 1a connected to the upstream ball circulation pipe, a guide passage portion 1b that follows it, and a trumpet-shaped outlet portion 1c that follows this. Further, the inlet portion 1a is provided with a sphere 2 located on the axis center line of the detection portion main body 10. The guide passage 1b has four guide passages A, B, C, which are adjacent to each other and are partitioned from each other.
It is composed of a guide passage group consisting of D, and as shown in FIG.
Each of the guide passages A, B, C, D has a square cross section. The cross-sectional size of each guide passage A, B, C, D corresponds to the diameter of the sponge ball used. The spherical body 2 is held at a position apart from the end face by a support rod 3 projecting into the inlet portion 1a at the center of the upstream end face of the guide passage group.
This sphere 2 deflects the fluid streamline 9 in the vicinity of the inlet of the guide passage group, moves the sponge ball 8 moving in the center of the pipe radially outward, and smoothly moves to each guide passage A, B, C, D. It is a guide for guiding. Therefore, the sphere size is determined in consideration of the shape and size of the inlet portion 1a. Also, sphere 2
The mounting position of is similarly determined. The detection unit body 10 has four pairs of infrared sensors 4a, 4b; 5 for detecting the sponge balls 8 passing through the respective guide passages A, B, C, D.
a, 5b; 6a, 6b; 7a, 7b are provided. Each pair of sensors includes a transmitter and a receiver and are arranged to face each other, and the transmitter / receiver is designed by a known technique.
In the present counting device, since the guide passages A, B, C, D of the detection unit main body 10 are arranged as shown in FIG. 3, the two pairs of sensors 4a, 4b; 5a, 5b are arranged in the vertical direction. The sponge ball 8 is detected, and the two pairs of sensors 6a, 6b; 7a, 7b detect the sponge ball 8 in the horizontal direction. The former and the latter have different positions along the axial direction so as not to interfere with each other.
Also, a window is formed in the corresponding wall of each guide passage so that infrared rays can cross the guide passage.

According to the above configuration, the sponge balls 8 that are non-uniformly distributed in the fluid and flow into the ball detection unit body 1 flow into any of the guide passages A, B, C, and D along the streamline. However,
If the sphere 2 does not exist, the sponge ball 8 moving in the central portion of the pipe may be pressed by the central portion O ₁ of the guide passage group and may not be guided to any of the guide passages A, B, C and D. However, this is prevented by providing the sphere 2 in front of the central portion O ₁ . Furthermore, as described above, the sponge balls 8 move in a non-uniform distribution state. Therefore, there are also sponge balls 8 that move closer to each other or continuously in the flow direction. However, even the sponge balls 8 that move in such a state are displaced in position along the radial direction. Therefore, the plurality of sponge balls 8,8, ...
It is prevented that the same guide passage is connected to and passes through.

When the sponge ball 8 passing through the guide passages A, B, C, D passes between the pair of sensors described above, infrared rays are shielded for a time corresponding to the diameter of the sponge ball 8. The sponge balls 8 can be counted by inputting the sensor output signal in the light-shielded state into a counting calculation device described later.

FIG. 4 shows a modification of this embodiment. In this modification,
As can be seen, the guide passage has an octagonal cross section with a pair of wall surfaces parallel to the sensor optical axis and a pair of wall surfaces orthogonal to the optical axis. If such a cross-sectional shape is adopted, not only the positional deviation of the sponge ball with respect to the sensor optical axis can be restricted to the minimum, but also the two sponge balls can be prevented from overlapping in the sensor optical axis direction. This minimizes the possibility that the above-mentioned overlap or positional deviation occurs and causes miscounting or insufficient counting when the diameter of the sponge ball is smaller than the cross-sectional dimension of the guide passage.

Next, the counting operation device 11 of the present counting device will be described.
Since the counting calculation can be configured by combining known techniques, its description can be made for the main part.

FIG. 5 shows a main part of the counting operation device, and the adder 12a, 12b, 12c, corresponding to the output signal from each of the pair of sensors 4a, 4b; 5a, 5b; 6a, 6b; 7a, 7b described above. Entered in 12d. Each adder detects a change in the output signal and adds "1" to the built-in memory each time. Then, each adder stores the number of sponge balls 8 passing through the corresponding guide passages, while the CPU unit 13 sequentially adds each of the adders 12a, 12b, 12
The number information in the memory of c and 12d is taken out, and the information is added and the number of sponge balls at that time is output to the remote display device 15. The display 15 converts the information into numbers and displays the numbers. Reference numeral 16 indicates a calculation start command means for instructing the CPU 13 to start the ball counting calculation, and an on / off switch or the like is used. Reference numeral 14 indicates a data setter, which is used to input data necessary for ball counting to the CPU 13. The setting device 14 is provided with an input setting means 14b including a key switch for inputting the above data and a display device 14a similar to the display device 15 described above. The indicator 14a is
It is stored in a storage box together with the CPU 13 and the like, and is arranged near the ball detection unit body. The above data is, for example, the number of circulating sponge balls, the number lower limit alarm setting value, the UP key,
Use the DOWN key to set the value and the ENTER key to input it to the CPU13. The number of sponge balls detected is calculated as follows. That is, the CPU 13 always
2a, 12b, 12c, 12d are being monitored. And the first adder
After obtaining the number information stored in 12a, it is obtained in the second adder 12b, and the third and fourth adders 1 are sequentially obtained.
The same operation is performed for 2c and 12d. After one round,
The operation of obtaining the number information of the first adder 12a is started. At this time, if information different from the first time information is detected, it means that the first adder 12a has further detected the sponge ball 8 after the time when the first time information was obtained. The number difference from this time is calculated and added to the accumulated ball number data in the CPU 13. Further, the same operation is performed in the second adder 12b. In this way, the first
From the fourth adder 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d, the number information is obtained and accumulated, and the total number of sponge balls is calculated. The number of balls is displayed in real time on each of the indicators 14 and 15 described above.

(Effects of the Invention) As is apparent from the above description, if the sponge ball can be smoothly guided to the ball detection sensor without stagnation, the number of guide paths, that is, the number of guide passages should be reduced. If so, the number of sensors for detecting sponge balls is also reduced. The counting device according to the invention makes this possible. That is, the frequency with which the sponge balls continuously flow into the same guide passage is reduced, and the distance between the balls that can be detected by the sensor as individual balls is secured, so the detection accuracy of the sponge balls is improved. Further, although it is related to the density of sponge balls in the circulation system, in other words, the number of sponge balls, it is possible to reduce the number of guide passages by providing the guide body, and as a result, the number of ball detection sensors is also reduced. It is also possible to let. For example, in the conventional example illustrated in the conventional technique, seven guide passages are provided to improve counting accuracy. However, in the above embodiment, 4
It is possible to obtain the same accuracy with one guide passage.

As described above, the present invention makes it possible to provide a counting device that enables highly accurate counting with a minimum number of guide passages. Further, if the number of guide passages is reduced, the cost of the device is reduced. Further, if the cross-sectional shape of the guide passage is octagonal, high counting accuracy is maintained even if the outer diameter of the spherical cleaning medium is slightly reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view of a ball detection unit body of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 3 in a modified example of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a counting arithmetic unit, FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a ball detection unit main body according to a conventional example, and FIG. FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in the figure, and FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing a ball counting device according to another conventional example. 1a ... inlet, 1b ... guide passage 1c ... outlet, 2 ... sphere (guide) 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b ... infrared sensor (detection means) 8 ...... Sponge balls (cleaning media) A, B, C, D …… Guide passage PA …… Passage group 10 …… Detector body 11 …… Counter 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d …… Adder

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A counting device for counting a spherical cleaning medium (8) for cleaning the inner peripheral surface of a thin tube of a heat exchanger, wherein the cleaning medium (8) circulating in the tube together with a cooling medium is detected. The cleaning medium (8) is arranged at a predetermined position of the circulation system.
Cleaning medium guiding means (1) for guiding the cleaning medium to the detection position, and detection means (4a, 4b; 5a, 5b; for detecting the cleaning medium (8) provided in the guiding means (1) and guided to the detection position. 6a, 6b; 7
a, 7b), and a counting means (12) for counting the cleaning medium (8) in response to the output of the detection means, wherein the cleaning medium for a heat exchanger capillary tube comprises: The guide means (1) includes a passage group (PA) including a plurality of guide passages (A, B, C, D) which are adjacent to each other and have a polygonal cross section corresponding to the cleaning medium (8). A guide provided at a predetermined position on the inlet side of the passage group (PA) to guide the medium (8) to any one guide passage (A, B, C, D) of the passage group (PA). 2) An apparatus for counting a cleaning medium for a heat exchanger thin tube, comprising: 2. The counting device for a cleaning medium for heat exchanger thin tubes according to claim 1, wherein the guide body (2) is a spherical body arranged on the central axis of the passage group (PA). . 3. A counting device for a cleaning medium for heat exchanger thin tubes according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said passage group (PA) comprises at least three guide passages. 4. The heat exchanger thin tube cleaning as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the guide passages (A, B, C, D) has a square cross section. Media counting device. 5. The cleaning for heat exchanger thin tubes according to claim 1, wherein each of the guide passages (A, B, C, D) has an octagonal cross section. Media counting device. 6. The guide body (2) is a sphere, a hemisphere, or a conical body having a spherical tip.
5. The heat exchanger capillary cleaning medium counting device according to any one of 5 above.