US1647492A

US1647492A - Flue-sheet cleaner

Info

Publication number: US1647492A
Application number: US493857A
Authority: US
Inventors: Wood Walter Dongan
Original assignee: Fuller Lehigh Co
Current assignee: Fuller Lehigh Co
Priority date: 1921-08-20
Filing date: 1921-08-20
Publication date: 1927-11-01
Anticipated expiration: 1944-11-01

Description

Nov. 1, 1927.

' INVENTOR w D W0 0!) FLim swam CLEANER Filed Aug. 20 1921 A TTOR'NEYS 7 Patented Nov. 1, 1927.

. WALTER \DONGAN woon, or LLEnTovvis, Pn'NNsYLvANie,nssreribn,BY MEsN-n es- SIG-NMENTS, o FULLER EHIGPr COMPANY, A oonrona'r on' or. DELAWARE,

BLUE-SHEET CLEANER,-

. Application filed August so, 1921. Serial No; 493,857.

This invention relates to an apparatus for cleaning the flue sheet of aboiler, and in particular involves the provision of an apparatus of-this Character utilizing high pressure or live steam for removing or preventing1the accumulation of fused ash, known as honeycomb,'or other substances which adhereto the flue sheet particularly in boilers using pulverized fuel. -10 In practice it is found that the tendency ,for honeycomb to form on theflue'sheet of a boiler firedby pulverized fuel is quite a marked, especially where the boiler is op-' erated athigh rates of evaporation as is ]5.usual for instance in locomotives in which,

in additionto severe working conditions involving large fuel consumption, the'fire box is necessarily small so that the particles of fused ash reach the flue sheet before they can be solidified by cooling and so, bein in the molten condition, adhere to thesurface of the flue sheet. The honeycomb formation resulting from this deposit of moltenslag buildsv up more rapidly in the vicinity of 1 the boiler tubes, the particles settlingat the junction betweenthe flue sheet-and the boiler tubes and building up in the inlet openings, of the tubes so0n clogging or completely] blockingithem' to the passage [of the furnace-l gases, thus decidedly lowering the efliciency of theboiler. This trouble is widely eX- perienced in pulverized fuel boiler practice both in stationary and locomotive boilers, and the present practice is to remove the accumulations of slag or honeycomb by meansof a long bar or a hand operated steam lance after the honeycomb has. accumulated 'toan amount where boilertubes are badly clogged or stopped up and attention must v 10 be given to the removal of the (honeycomb because of lowered boilerj'efficiency.

The lnvention provides apparatus niovlng a deposit of honeycomb byutilizing high pressure or. live steam from the boiler or othersource which is directed, preferably? in the form of jets, against the honeycomb deposit onthe surface of the flue sheet as, 1often'as may be required-,andwhile' the.

' boiler is in full operation. j i r In, the preferredform'of embodiment of v a the invention, the apparatus includes meansfor admitting steamto oneof the fines-of .the. boiler, in which flue; there is mounted 5 a device having a movable partwhich :is.

the flue and, preventing dust and gasesfrom cnte'rlng the flue, thus preventing accumulations of solid materialwhich would prevent forv conducting steam through certain of the t v fiues or boiler:tubes 1Q to the flue sheet 19' forinot only preventing the accumulation but also reflues so as to cause the end-of. each of the elements to projectoutsidethe end of the forced out of tlie flueby steam "p essure; This-gmovable part is provided with;

steam orifices through which thesteam ajd- 1 mitted to the flue escapes in the: form, of ets directed against the fluefsheet.= Preferably this movable part takes the form of .a'hollow plunger provided with means by which the plunger is normally held within the flue spaced from the-end thereof, and the plunger is exposed to the pressure of the steamadmitted to the flue and "forced out of the flue to a position in which the orifices permit the 'escapeof the steam; In addition, the mechanismincludes means lying within the operation of the plunger, and the device also includesgmeans within theflue which close the orificesw'hen the plunger is in re-' tracted position, thus preventing the escape ofthe steam should the steam' not be entirely. cutofli. ;i' 1' ,,For' a'better understanding of the'iinvention, reference will be had to 'thefaccompanying drawings, in which: I

- Fig. 1 is a sectionalrview of the apparatus,

Fig. 2.,isa view on the line 22 thereof,

one, form'of Figs, Sand 4 are views ofmodified forms of the apparatus. 1

Other features of th invention, f j .I ticularly specific features ofconstructionin the preferredembodiments of the invention will appear from a description of these em-, I bodiments given hereinafter 'in connection 7 with thedrawings. j,

In the apparatus illustrated the elements are actuated by the pressure, of the steamto move them rearwardly' or outwardly inthe flue in position to permit' steam to issue therefromand sweep along the surface, of thefiue sheet jto effect the'cleansing action.

tube in which, is a threaded opening 38 :for

receiving 11b8, threaded end of v the pipe 9. A Mounted,,within thetubeis,asleeve"39 seoured therein byj means of welding as at 0 40. The sleeve :39 is of two diameters providing a shoulder 41, and has a screw threaded connection with a plug 42 fitted i hin the ub Moun e Within the sleeve is a plunger 3. aring a .fliingee between which and the shoulder 41 of the sleeve is a coil spring 45 surrounding the outside of the plunger. The rear end 46 of the plunger is open and aligns with an opening 47 in the plug 42, while the outer end 48 of the plunger is closed. Adjacent its closed 1ld48 the plunger is provided with oircu-inferentially disposed orifices 50 which are inclined to the I 1 axis of the plunger and rearwardly thereof, as well as beinginc'lined to the surface ofthe plunger. -When the fireman desires to clean the flue sheet, heop'ensa valve controlling the flow of steam through the line 9. The steam passes through theopening 47 in the plug 42 into the plunger 43 and the pressure of the steamgforces the plunger rearwardly or to the left in Fig.1, compressing the spring 45until the end of'thep'lunger and particularly the orifices therein project outside the tube to permit the escape of steam the plunger is protected against burning out by prolonged subjection to the direct action of the heat of the fire box. Moreover, the plunger 43 and its flange 44 closely fit the cylinder Walls 49 of the sleeve 39 sot'hat the hot furnace gases are excluded from those of the boiler tubes employed for the cleaning apparatus through which the gases would otherwise pass, and so the parts of the apparatus contained within the tubes are protected against burning out by the action of the furnace gases, From the foregoing'de- 'scription of the operation it will be seen that the action of the apparatus after the opening or closing of the valve 29 is entirely automatic.

-The modified forms of construction of parts of the cleaning apparatus illustrated in '3 and 4, correspond to those in Fig. 1 and are identical in operation with the latter. Instead, however, of connecting the pipe 9 directly with-a cap at the end of the boiler tube, in the form of construction illustrated in Fig. 3 an extra piece of piping 51 is provided which is threaded at one end into the plug 42 and is supported near its opposite end by means of a retaining collar 52 which is welded to the piping 51 as {Li/'53.

.The pipes 51 and 9 are joined by means of a coupling'54 and the retaining collar 52 is secured to the'fropt tube sheet'55 by means of a screw and nut 56. In this construction both the sleeve 39 and the plug 42 are loosely mounted within the tube, although closely fitting the latter, the sleeve and plug belng adjusted to position within the tube and repair from the forward end of the tube simply by disconnecting the pipes 51 and 9, and loosening the nut-and screw 56 holding the retaining collar to the front tubesheet 55.

In Fig. 4, the construction and assembly of the parts are such that the plunger 43 and spring 45 may be removed for inspection and repair from the rear end ofthe tube 10, that is the end adj accnt the fluesheet. The sleeve 39 made in two pieces, arear piece 39 and a front piece 39 having screw threaded connection as at '57. The outer end of the piece 39 is provided with notches 58 for receiving a wrench which may be inserted in the end of the tube for disconnecting the

pieces

39 and 39 The inner end of the iece 39 rovides a shoulder 59 a ainst which one end of the spring 45 abuts, so that when this piece is removed the spring which holds the plunger 43 within the sleeve 89 is released and the plunger and spring may,

therefore, be takenoutr Here the pipe 9 is threaded directly into the threaded front end of the piece 39 the pipe being adjust-ably supported by a retaining collar 52 as in the I constructionillustrated in Fig- 3. I

In the operation of the steam conducting elements illustrated in Figs. 1-4, when the plunger 43 is forced rearwardly or outwardly untilthe orifices 5O clear the end of the flue, steam issues from these orifices and is directed backwardly against the flue sheet 19 due to the backward inclination of the orifices. In addition to this inclination, the orifices 50 are also inclined to the surface ofthe plunger, as illustrated in Fig. .2, and so when the plunger is advanced by the steam pressure to its operative position outside the fine, and before it reaches this position the fit'between the plunger and, the forward cylf instance the direction of rotation being counter clockwise as will be evident from Fig. 2. Thisslight rotating movement is given to the plunger each time it advances to operative positionjand, thus the jets'of steam will gradually be rotated through complete circles covering the entire surface of the flue sheet within the zone of action of the a steam jets. These jets issuing from the variousplungers distributed at different points in the bank of boiler tubes,and having rota tive movement imparted thereto, will intersect or combine to cover the entire surface of the flue sheet and effectively cut and remove therefrom any deposit of honeycomb.

I claim: I 1. In a boiler having a flue sheet and a plurality of flues, the combination of a device mounted movably in a flue and normally lying within the flue at a distance from the position when the steam pressure is off.

2. Inca boiler having a flue sheetand a plurality of flues, the combination of a de vice mounted movably in a flue and normally lying within the flue at a distance from the endthereof, a plurality of orifices formed near the end of the device, means in the flue for. closing the orifices when the device is in Its normal inner posltion, the sald means cooperating with the device to prevent the passage of gases fromthe furnace through the flue, and means for introducing steam under pressure into the device, the steam serving to move the device in theflue to a,

position in whichthe orifices lie beyond the flue sheet.

3. In a boiler havi'ng'aflue sheet and a I plurality of flues, the combination of means for conducting steam to a flue of the boiler, a device permanently mounted -within the flue and adapted to conduct steam therethrough to the flue sheet, the device being movable out of the flue under the action of the steam, orifices near the end of the device lying beyond the flue sheet when the device v 7 is in its exposed position and providing outlets for the passageof steam which is directed thereby against the flue sheet, means within the flue for closing the orifices when the devices lies in its normal inner position," the said means cooperating with the device to prevent the passage of gases from the furnace through the flue, and means within the flue for restoring the deviceto its normal retracted position within the flue. 4. In a boiler having a flue sheet and a plurality of flues, the combination of means i 7 hold the plunger in the sleeve spaced infor admitting steam from the boiler to one i wardly from the end .ofthe flue, the plunger I having its forward end closed and, being 'provided with a plurality of orifices for the escape of steam formed in the side walls adjacent thisend, these orifices being closed by thesleeve when the plunger lies'in normal position within the flue. a a ,5. In' a boiler having a flue sheet and a plurality of flues, the combination of a v sleeve mounted in one of the boiler flues, a plunger'movably mounted in the sleeve and having a closed end,'avplurality of apertures disposed in the side wall of the plunger and normally closed by the sleeve, and a pipe for admitting steam to l-the interiors of the plunger to move the latter to a position in which'said apertures are exposed beyond the endof the sleeve. 3 V

6.7 In a boiler having a flue sheet and a plurality of flues, the combination of a sleeve mounted in one of theboiler flues, a plunger movably mountedin'the sleeve, a plurality of apertures formed in the side wall of the plunger and normallyv closed bythe sleeve, means for admittingsteam to the interior of the plunger to move the latterto a position in which said apertures are exposed beyond the end of the sleeve, and means within the sleeve. and tending to restore the plunger to normal position. a

' 7. In a'boiler having a flue sheet and a plurality'of flues, the combination of a sleeve mounted 'in one of the boiler flues, a hollowplunger freely mounted within the sleeve and having'ai closed end, a plurality of apertures in the side wall of the plunger adja cent said closed end, these apertures being normally closed by the sleeve and/having the plunger, and means or admitting steam to the plunger to movef the latter through In testimony whereof I affixmysignature.

WALTER DONGAN wool). I

an inclination with res ect to the axis of