KR20030025218A - Device for remotely decontaminating equipment contaminated with radioactive materials - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An apparatus for decontaminating remotely equipment contaminated with radioactive material is provided to remove pollutants by using dry ice pellets with high speed and high pressure and eliminate the remaining dry ice by using compressed air. CONSTITUTION: A plurality of air pressure actuators(30) are installed at a dry ice pellet supply portion and a compressed air transferring portion. An end of the dry ice pellet supply portion and an end of compressed air transferring portion are connected to an injection head. A dry ice pellet injection process, a dry ice pellet supply process, and a dry ice removal process are performed by open-and-shut actions of plural valves due to by the mutual combination of the air pressure actuators(30). The compressed air transferring portion is formed with a main valve(22), a filter(23), a regulator(24), a transferring tube(26), a check valve, and a ball valve. The dry ice pellet supply portion is formed with hopper, a vibrator(12), and a dry ice transferring tube(14). The air pressure actuators(30) are formed with the first to the fourth actuators(31-34). A rubber pad(60) is installed between the vibrator(12) and a body(50). The dry ice supply portion and the compressed air transferring portion are installed within the body(50). A control portion(70) controls the dry ice supply portion and the compressed air transferring portion.

Description

Device for remotely decontaminating equipment contaminated with radioactive materials

The present invention relates to a device for remote decontamination of equipment contaminated with radioactive material, and to dry the surface of a device, tool, or equipment in a hot cell contaminated with spent fuel granules, dust or radioactive dust, dust waste, etc. The present invention relates to a remote decontamination apparatus for equipment contaminated with radioactive material that can be decontaminated by high speed and high pressure injection of ice pellets and can remove dry ice remaining in the dry ice supply, transportation and injection system by compressed air. .

Remote decontamination equipment of equipment contaminated with radioactive materials is installed in hot cell, a special test facility that handles high radioactive materials, and used to produce DUPIC fuel powder, pellets and fuel rods using spent nuclear fuel as a raw material. It is used to remove high radioactive contaminants that are scattered and stuck to the equipment, tools and tools. The DUPIC innovative fuel manufacturing / processing equipment, equipment, and tools are mainly contaminated with spent fuel granules and dust, radiation dust and fine dust waste, and due to the high radioactivity of the contaminants, they can be removed by direct contact with workers. No, all decontamination work is done remotely.

Currently, the decontamination method used in high radioactive material handling facilities cannot directly decontaminate because of the high radioactive environment. Therefore, the decontamination solution and decontamination agent (paper, cotton, cloth, etc.) must first be removed by remote means. After decontamination, decontamination is carried out by immersing the decontamination solution remotely using a master / slave manipulator or a remote handling tool. Only when the radioactive level falls below the worker's access level after remote decontamination, the worker wearing a special protective suit is put in, and the decontamination work is carried out by directly cleaning the manufacturing / processing equipment, equipment, tools or floors by applying decontamination solution to the decontamination agent. To complete. However, such a decontamination method uses a large amount of decontamination solution and decontamination agent, thereby causing a large number of technical and economic problems in generating a large amount of secondary radioactive waste and re-handling and treating such waste. In addition, the decontamination work by master / slave manipulator and remote handling tool takes a long time and the work efficiency is deteriorated due to the accumulated fatigue of the user operating the handling device. The safety of workers cannot be guaranteed because the risk of exposure to radiation is very high, and working time is delayed because workers cannot continue to work continuously according to the As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) rule.

Decontamination methods using dry ice as a spraying medium do not produce secondary wastes and are often used to remove contaminants in industrial sites. However, this decontamination method causes clogging at the inlet of the dry ice supply hopper, the dry ice spray hose, and the spray nozzle part due to the intrinsic nature of the dry ice when the dry ice is stored and sprayed. This phenomenon occurs when dry ice is combined with moisture or oil, which makes continuous operation of the decontamination apparatus impossible and frequently stops the decontamination operation. To remove this blockage, wait for the dry ice to sublimate naturally, or forcibly block the nozzle tip of the spray gun and spray the compressed air so that the compressed air flows back to remove the residual dry ice. This approach is time consuming, damages components of the decontamination apparatus, degrades the function of the apparatus and also reduces the efficiency and productivity of the decontamination operation. In particular, industrial decontamination apparatus has a problem that can not be directly used in the nuclear environment handling high radioactive material because the components are easily damaged by radioactivity.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its purpose is to connect and install a compressed air injection hose and a dry ice pellet injection hose by a plurality of pneumatic actuators to inject high speed dry ice pellets by compressed air, Simple operation removes residual dry ice in the flow system of dry ice pellets and immediately punctures the blockage of dry ice pellet feed hoppers, spray hoses and spray nozzles, enabling continuous operation, extending the life and decontaminating effect. It is to provide a remote decontamination device of equipment contaminated with radioactive material that can be maximized.

The present invention relates to a remote decontamination apparatus of equipment contaminated with radioactive material spraying dry ice pellets at high speed; The remote decontamination apparatus of the equipment contaminated with the radioactive material is connected to the intermediate portion of the dry ice pellet supply means and the compressed air transfer means, one end of which is connected to the injection head, the connecting portion and the dry ice pellet supply means and compression By installing a plurality of pneumatic actuators operated by a control panel in the air conveying means to spray dry ice pellets according to the opening or closing of valves by mutual combination of pneumatic actuators, A remote decontamination apparatus for equipment contaminated with removable radioactive material is provided.

1 is a perspective view showing a configuration according to the present invention

Figure 2 is a side view showing a configuration according to the present invention

Figure 3 is an exemplary view showing a valve configuration state of the present invention

4 is an exemplary configuration diagram of a spray head according to the present invention.

5 is an exemplary view of a control unit according to the present invention.

* Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings

(10): dry ice pellet supply means (11): hopper

(12): pneumatic vibrator

(13): spray head direction dry ice pellet transfer hose

(14): dry ice pellet conveying piping (20): compressed air conveying means

(21): Dryer direction compressed air transfer hose (22): Main valve

23: filter 24: regulator

(25): Compressed air transfer hose for spray head

(26): compressed air conveying piping (261): first conveying piping

262: second conveying piping (27): check valve

(28): ball valve (30): pneumatic actuator

(31): First Actuator (32): Second Actuator

(33): third actuator (34): fourth actuator

40: spray head 41 nozzle

50: body 60: rubber pad

70: control panel 71: first switch

(72): compressed air pressure gauge (73): feed rate valve

(74): working air pressure valve (75): second switch

(76): Indicator 77: third switch

1 is a perspective view showing a configuration according to the invention, Figure 2 is a side view showing a configuration according to the invention, Figure 3 is an exemplary view showing a valve configuration of the present invention, Figure 4 is a present invention 5 shows an exemplary configuration of the spray head according to the present invention, and FIG. 5 shows an exemplary view of a control unit according to the present invention. The present invention provides a plurality of pneumatic actuators (10) to a dry ice pellet supply means (10) and a compressed air transfer means (20). 30) and connecting the ends of the dry ice pellet supply means 10 and the compressed air conveying means 20 to the injection head 40, respectively, so that the valves by the mutual combination of the plurality of pneumatic actuators 30 Dry ice pellets are injected by compressed air according to the opening and closing, or dry ice remaining in the dry ice pellet supply, transfer and injection system is removed.

The compressed air transfer means 20 is to transfer the air compressed by the compressor to the injection head 40, the amount of purified compressed air supplied to the compressed air transfer hose 21 supplied from the dryer (not shown) The main valve 22 to adjust the, the filter 23 for purifying the compressed air transferred through the main valve 22, and the regulator connected to the filter 23 to regulate the pressure of the compressed air ( 24) and the compressed air transfer, the one end is connected to the regulator 24, the other end is connected to the compressed air transfer hose 25 in the direction of the injection head 40, the middle portion is connected to the dry ice supply means (10) It consists of the piping 26, the check valve 27 and the ball valve 28 provided in the said conveying piping 26. As shown in FIG.

That is, the air amount of the compressed air conveying means 20 is adjusted through the main valve 22, the compressed air conveying pipe 26 is the first conveying pipe connected to the conveying hose 25 on the injection head (40) ( 261 and a second conveying pipe 262 connected to the dry ice pellet supply means 10.

The check valve 27 and the ball valve 28 are to prevent the contaminated material from flowing out of the hot cell through the dry ice pellet transfer hose 13 and the compressed air hose 25, and is resistant to radiation. Made of stainless steel.

The dry ice pellet supply means 10 is a hopper 11 in which dry ice pellets are stored, a pneumatic vibrator 12 attached to a body so as to be positioned below the hopper 11, and one side below the hopper 11. A stage is connected and the other end is connected to the dry ice pellet transfer hose 13 in the spray head 40 direction, the middle portion is composed of a dry ice pellet transfer pipe 14 connected to the compressed air transfer pipe (26).

That is, the dry ice pellet conveying pipe 14 is connected to the second conveying pipe 262 of the compressed air conveying pipe 26.

The pneumatic vibrator 12 is to be installed in the body 50, the hopper 11 is attached to the upper side when the vibrator 12 is operated, the hopper 11 is stored shaking at the same frequency as the vibrator 12 Dry ice pellets are sent to the dry ice pellets conveying pipe (14). In addition, the lower end of the vibrator 12 and the body 50 is connected to the rubber pad 60 to minimize the vibration transmitted to the body during vibration, to prevent damage to the parts and to reduce the noise.

As described above, the amount of dry ice pellets supplied from the hopper 11 to the dry ice dry ice pellet conveying pipe 14 is controlled by controlling the intensity (frequency) of the vibration of the pneumatic vibrator 12 using the feed rate valve 73. Adjusted.

The dry ice pellets conveying pipe 14 is connected to one side vertically to the lower end of the hopper 11, insulated in order to prevent dry ice pellet particles from being damaged by combining with the ambient air during the transfer of dry ice pellets in the cryogenic state Wrapped in zero At this time, the dry ice pellets conveying pipe 14 is not to be in contact with the body 50, that is, only the hopper 11 is to be connected to the bottom of the dry ice pellets flow smoothly by continuous shaking.

The pneumatic actuator 30 is installed in the compressed air conveying pipe 26 and the dry ice pellet conveying pipe 14 to control the moving direction of the compressed air and the moving direction of the dry ice pellets, compressed air conveying pipe 26 The first pneumatic actuator 31 is installed in the first transfer pipe 261 past the intersection of the first transfer pipe 261 and the second transfer pipe 262, the second pneumatic pressure in the second transfer pipe 262 An actuator 32 is provided, and a third pneumatic actuator 33 is placed in the dry ice pellet conveying pipe 14 in the hopper direction at the intersection with the second conveying pipe 262, and the dry ice pellet in the spray head direction. Fourth pneumatic actuators 34 are provided in the conveying piping 14, respectively.

The spray head 40 whose distance from the hot cell space to the decontamination object is adjusted by a slave manipulator (not shown) installed inside the hot cell is sprayed through the nozzle 41 by mixing dry ice pellets and compressed air. The dry ice pellet transfer hose 13 is connected to the injection head 40 in a straight line in the direction of about 45 degrees and the compressed air transfer hose 25 is in a straight line. That is, the compressed air sucks the dry ice pellets while going straight inside the injection head 40 at high speed so that the compressed air is injected into the compressed air.

The dry ice supply means 10 and the compressed air transfer means 20 are both installed in the body 50 and controlled by the control panel 70.

The control panel 70 controls the injection speed and the injection amount of the dry ice pellets ultimately injected through the nozzle 41 of the injection head 40 by adjusting the supply amount, the compressed air supply speed and the supply amount of the dry ice pellets, To control the pneumatic mechanism for supplying, transporting, and purging the dry ice pellets, and a first switch 71 for selecting start / stop and a compressed air pressure supplied through a dryer (not shown). Compressed air pressure gauge (72), the feed rate valve 73 for adjusting the amount of dry ice pellets supplied from the hopper 11 to the dry ice pellet conveying pipe 14, and the injection head 40 is injected A used air pressure valve 74 for controlling the strength and amount of compressed air to be compressed, a second switch 75 for switching the injection of dry ice pellets to manual and automatic modes, and dry ice pellet injection Indicator 76 for indicating the operating state of the time, and the third switch 77 for selecting a mode for spraying dry ice pellets and a mode for removing the dry ice remaining in the dry ice pellet flow system in a desired direction have.

The third switch 77 is divided into three stages. The first stage is a mode in which dry ice pellets are normally sprayed through the injection head 40 to remove contaminants. The second stage is dry ice in the hopper direction. Mode of removing dry ice remaining in the inlet of the hopper 11 for supplying the pellets and the dry ice pellet conveying pipe 14, the third step is the dry ice pellet conveying pipe 14, the transfer hose 13 in the spray head direction ) And the dry ice remaining in the nozzle 41 are set.

That is, the opening / closing of the pneumatic actuator 30 installed in the compressed air conveying pipe 26 and the dry ice pellet conveying pipe 14 is determined according to each step of the third switch 77.

Referring to the present invention configured as described above in detail according to the operation of the control panel as follows.

In order to remove contaminants that are scattered and stuck to equipment, devices, and tools used for producing DUPIC fuel powders, pellets, and fuel rods, first, the third switch is switched to the first stage, and the first switch is operated to operate the present invention. After operating the air pressure valve and the feed rate valve, the air pressure and the amount of dry ice pellets supplied are adjusted. At this time, when the third switch is positioned in the first step, the second pneumatic actuator is closed, and the first, third and fourth pneumatic actuators are opened so that the compressed air and the dry ice pellets are opened to the compressed air conveying pipe and the dry ice pellet conveying pipe. After being transferred to the spray head, it is sprayed through the nozzle toward the surface of the contaminant, which is removed by the strong impact energy of the dry ice pellets.

In addition, after removing the contaminants, if you want to remove the dry ice remaining in the inlet of the hopper for supplying dry ice pellets in the hopper direction and the dry ice pellet conveying pipe, if the third switch is switched to the second step, the second, 3 The pneumatic actuator is opened, the first and fourth pneumatic actuators are closed, and the compressed air, which is delivered through the compressed air conveying pipe, flows into the dry ice pellet conveying pipe through the second conveying pipe, which causes the dry ice pellet conveying pipe and the hopper. The residual dry ice in the inlet is forced and transferred to the hopper direction. That is, the residual dry ice in the dry ice pellet feed pipe and the hopper inlet in the hopper direction is removed.

In addition, when the residual dry ice pellets are to be removed in the spray head direction after removing the contaminants, when the third switch is switched to the third stage, the second and fourth pneumatic actuators are opened, and the first and third pneumatic actuators are closed. Compressed air transferred through the compressed air conveying pipe flows into the dry ice pellet conveying pipe through the second conveying pipe, thereby forcing the dry dry ice in the spray head direction to the outside of the dry ice pellet conveying pipe, the transfer hose and the nozzle to the outside. · Transfer. That is, since the residual dry ice is injected through the nozzle of the injection head, the residual dry ice in the injection head direction delivery pipe and the transfer hose is removed.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described specific preferred embodiments, and various modifications can be made by any person having ordinary skill in the art without departing from the gist of the present invention claimed in the claims. Of course, such changes will fall within the scope of the claims.

As such, the present invention has a compressed air transfer means and a dry ice pellet transfer means are connected to each other by a plurality of pneumatic actuators so that the structure is simple and easy to assemble. In addition, by selecting the desired control mode, it is possible to remove contaminants by spraying dry ice pellets depending on whether the valves are opened or closed by mutual combinations of pneumatic actuators, and dry ice remaining in the flow system of the dry ice pellets in the hopper direction. Or it can be removed in both directions such as spray head direction. Therefore, the blockage of the dry ice pellet supply hopper inlet can be eliminated, and the reduction of the efficiency of the device due to moisture generation and blockage inside the dry ice pellet supplying, conveying, and spray nozzles can be prevented, thereby continuing the decontamination apparatus. There are many effects such as enabling operation, extending the life, maximizing the decontamination effect.

Claims (4)

In the remote decontamination apparatus of the equipment contaminated with radioactive material is installed in the hot cell to spray the dry ice pellets to remove contaminants; The remote decontamination apparatus of the equipment contaminated with the radioactive material is connected to the intermediate portion of the dry ice pellet supply means and the compressed air transfer means, one end of which is connected to the injection head, the connecting portion and the dry ice pellet supply means and compression By installing a plurality of pneumatic actuators operated by a control panel in the air conveying means to inject dry ice pellets according to the opening or closing of the valve by mutual combination of pneumatic actuators, or dry ice remaining in the dry ice pellet supply, conveyance and injection system Remote decontamination apparatus of equipment contaminated with radioactive material, characterized in that to remove. The method of claim 1; The compressed air transfer means is installed in the compressed air transfer hose to control the amount of compressed air supplied from the dryer, a filter for purifying the compressed air transferred through the main valve, and the compressed and connected to the filter A regulator for regulating the pressure of air, the compressed air transfer pipe is connected to one end of the regulator and the other end is connected to the compressed air transfer hose in the spray head direction, the middle portion is connected to the dry ice supply means, and the transfer pipe Remote decontamination apparatus of equipment contaminated with radioactive material, characterized in that consisting of a check valve and a ball valve is installed. The method of claim 1; The dry ice pellet supply means is a hopper in which dry ice pellets are stored, a pneumatic vibrator attached to the body so as to be positioned below the hopper, and one end is connected to the bottom of the hopper, and the other end is transferred to dry ice pellets in the spray head direction. Remote decontamination apparatus of the equipment contaminated with radioactive material, characterized in that the intermediate portion is composed of a dry ice pellet conveying pipe connected to the compressed air conveying pipe. The method of claim 1; The pneumatic actuator is a first pneumatic actuator installed in the first transfer pipe passing through the intersection of the first transfer pipe and the second transfer pipe of the compressed air transfer pipe, the second pneumatic actuator installed in the second transfer pipe, and the second A radioactive device comprising: a third pneumatic actuator provided in a dry ice pellet conveying pipe in a hopper direction at a point of intersection with a conveying pipe; and a fourth pneumatic actuator provided in a dry ice pellet conveying pipe in a spray head direction Remote decontamination apparatus for equipment contaminated with substances.