US2717608A - Drum-washing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 19, 1954 Sept. 13, 1955 D. G. BALDWIN DRUM-WASHING APPARATUS s Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 19,

Sept. 13, 1955 Filed Jan. 19, 1954 D. G. BALDWIN DRUM-WASHING APPARATUS 24 25 6 85 Z F/G 4 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 United States Patent DRUM-WASHING APPARATUS Donald G. Baldwin, Los Angeles, Calif, assignor, by mesne assignments, to Socony Mobil Oil Company, Inc., a corporation of New York Application January 19, 1954, Serial No; 404,915

1 Claim. (Cl. 134-81) This invention relates to apparatus for cleaning the metallic drums or barrels used as containers for petroleum products and various other liquids.

In the petroleum industry it is customary, when empty drums are returned to the refiner or jobber, to cleanse them thoroughly, both inside and out, to inspect them for rust and other damage, and to repaint the outer surfaces before refilling them with a liquid product. A number of machines for cleaning the drums have been devised in the past, but few of them have been capable of washing the interior and exterior surfaces in a single operation and those few have been complex and costly and have not included provision for keeping the exterior washing solution separate from the interior washing solution.

Cleaning the insides of the drums consists principally in removing adhering oil together with such dirt as may have been introduced into the empty drums. Cleaning the outsides is mainly a matter of removing the old paint. Hot solutions of caustic soda are excellent for both purposes, but a stronger solution is preferred for the outsides of the drums. Furthermore, even when the two solutions are originally the same, it is desirable to keep them separate because they are recirculated and used repeatedly, and it is preferable that the exterior washing solution, contaminated with paint, not be used inside the drums.

It is an object of this invention to provide a relatively simple and effective apparatus for cleaning the inside and outside surfaces of drums in a single operation.

It is a further object of the invention to provide means for keeping the interior washing solution separate from the exterior washing solution.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a drum-washing machine which requires comparatively little effort on the part of the operating personnel.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and from the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the interior of the machine, certain part sbeing represented in section along the line 1-1 of Fig. 3;

Figure 2 is a sectional view of the lower part of the machine, taken on the line 2-2 of Figs. 3 and 4;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the lefthand side of the machine, taken on the line 3-3 of Figs. 1 and 2, in which repeated elements are omitted from the background for purposes of clarity; and

Fig. 4 is a vertical section of a portion of the righthand side of the machine, taken on the line 4-4 of Figs. 1 and 2.

Referring to the drawings, the machine is enclosed by a housing consisting of a circular wall having an opening 11 (Fig. 1) wide enough to expose two of the drum stations hereinafter described, and a roof 12, the housing being supported by framework members 13-13. At the center of the roof is flue 14 within which is on the foundation of the machine.

"ice

mounted spider 15 which serves as the upper support for central column 16.

The central column is composed of heavy pipe and fittings, including upper swivel joint 17 and lower swivel joint 18. The portion between the swivel joints, which is free to rotate, is welded to hub 19 and to bevel gear 20. The latter engages with bevel pinion 21 which is rotated by shaft 22 having belt pulley 23 on its outer end.

A rotating framework is composed of a number of radial beams 24-24 equal to the number of drum stations (fourteen in the illustrated machine). The inner ends of the radial beams are mounted in hub 19, and the outer ends are aflixed to ring-plate 25 which rides on rollers 26-26. A pair of bearings 27-27 is mounted on the outer end of each radial beam. These support axles 28-28 of drum carriages 29-29.

Each drum carriage is composed of four parallel rails 30-30 atfixed to axle 28. The four rails are tied together at their outer ends by rod 31, attached beneath the carriage, and 'are tied together at their inner ends by arcuate angle iron 32, attached above the carriage. The latter serves as a stop, engaging the lower chime of a drum 33. The carriages are mounted upon their axles in an unbalanced manner; so that they tend to fall inward by their own weight and that of the drums. Bars 34-34, afiixed to radial beams 24-24, are placed to support the inner ends of the drum carriages and to hold the carriages at a slight angle, as illustrated in Fig. 3.

An arm 35, carrying a roller 36 is affixed to the axle of each drum carriage. A plate 37, having upturned ends 38-38, is mounted at doorway 11 at a height which causes it to engage rollers 36-36 and to tip the drum carriages to the position illustrated in Fig. 4.

Each drum station has a drainage conduit 39 for interior washing solution. As shown in Fig. 3, the upper end of each conduit is situated immediately beneath the position occupied by the bunghole of a drum which is in place to be washed; so that it receives substantially all of the liquid flowing out of the drum. The other end of each drainage conduit discharges into arcuate collecting trough 40, which is a stationary element mounted- A circular rotating cover 41 is placed over stationary trough 40.

Two liquids are employed for cleaning the insides of the drums. A rinse liquid, preferably very hot water, is introduced by supply pipe 42 to the upper part of pipe column 16. It is walled off from the lower part of the column by blind union 43, and flows by way of radial pipe 44 to outer pipe ring 45. A wash liquid, preferably a hot. dilute solution of caustic soda, flows by supply pipe 46 to the lower part of central column 16 and thence by way of radial pipe 47 to inner pipe ring 48.

At eachof the fourteen drum stations a pair of small pipes 49 and 50, controlled by valves 51 and 52, are connected respectively with pipe rings and 48. Downstream from the valves, the two small pipes join in a single pipe 53, which passes through a portion of drainage conduit 39 and terminates in a nozzle 54 placed so that, with the drum in the position shown in Fig. 3, the nozzle protrudes into the inside of the drum through the bunghole, and with the drum in the position shown in Fig. 4 the nozzle is clear of the upper surface of the drum carriage.

Valves 51 and 52 and their actuating mechanisms 55 and 56 are supported by ring plate 57 which rests on radial beams 24-24. Mounted on the floor of the machine, beneath plate 57, is a stationary ring 58 which supports cam rails 59, 60, and 61 (Fig. 2.). The latter rails are arranged to lift the plungers of the valve-actuating mechanisms 5555 and 5656 and thereby to open the associated valves. When a particular valve actuator passes beyond the end of the cam rail which engages its plunger; the plunger is returned to its doWnWard position by a spring (not illustrated) and the associated valve is closed.

As regards the cleaning of the insides of the drums, the operation of the machine is as follows. The rotating framework and the parts mounted thereon are moved continuously and slowly; one revolution in six minutes is satisfactory. At the loading port, illustrated in Fig. 4, the operator slides a drum, bunghole down, from roller conveyor 62 onto the empty drum carrier and, observing the operation by means of mirror 63, rotates the drum until the bunghole is directly over nozzle 54. When the newly loaded carrier passes beyond plate 37, it drops into the position illustrated in Fig. 3, and after a brief interval the valve-actuating mechanism 55 associated with that drum carrier comes in contact with cam rail 59 and causes the corresponding valve 51 to open. This introduces a strong spray of hot water into the inside of the drum and washes out most of the oil and dirt within the drum, except that which is strongly adherent to the surface. The water with entrained oil and dirt flows out of the drum through the bunghole into drainage conduit 39 and thence into the first portion 64 of trough 40, which is separated from the main part of the trough by Wall 65. The mixed liquid is withdrawn by pipe 66 and flows to a sump from which the oil may be recovered by skimming.

This preliminary rinsing with water is of value for prolonging the effectiveness of the recirculated cleaning solution; however, it may be eliminated except in cases where the drums to be washed contain a high proportion of saponifiable oils, acid materials, or other substances capable of seriously contaminating the solution.

Valve 51 closes after it passes the end of cam rail 59, and for a brief period both valves remain closed while liquid drains out of the drum. Then valve-actuating mechanism 56 comes into contact with cam rail 60 and opens valve 52, introducing a spray of hot caustic-soda solution to the interior of the drum. Cam rail 60 extends around a little more than 180 of arc; so that the caustic solution is applied for about three minutes, sulficient to cleanse the inside of the drum very thoroughly. During this period the drainage flows into the main portion of trough 40, from which it is withdrawn by pipe 67, returned to a reserve tank, reheated, and pumped back into pipe 46. Beyond the end of cam rail 60 both valves remain closed for another brief drainage period, and then cam rail 61 acts to open valve 51. This introduces a spray of hot water into the drum, which serves to rinse out the caustic soda. Most of the drainage from this rinsing operation flows into basin 68. This water, which is withdrawn by pipe 69, is only slightly alkaline and may be discharged to a sewer, or may be used to partially replenish caustic solutions.

At the end of cam rail 61 the water is turned off, and shortly roller 36 engages plate 37 and tips the carriage and drum into the position illustrated in Fig. 4. Then bar 70 (Fig. 1) engages the medial portion of the drum and expels the drum from the machine onto a roller conveyor not shown. This leaves the drum carriage empty to receive another dirty drum at the loading port.

In the usual forms of drums, it is not possible that all of the liquid within drain out through the bunghole. The step of sucking out the small amount of water remaining in the discharged drums may conveniently be associated with the subsequent operations.

At the same time that the insides of the drums are being cleaned, the outsides of the drums are being cleaned by a stationary system of pipes and nozzles. This includes upper pipe ring 71 and lower pipe ring 72. These are supplied with hot caustic-soda solution by means of supply pipe 73 having horizontal branch 74 and vertical branch 75, and they are supplied with hot water by supply pipe 76 having horizontal branch 77 and vertical branch 78. The two liquids are kept separate in the upper pipe ring by blind unions 7979 and in the lower pipe ring by blind unions 8080.

A number of sets of three nozzles are connected by piping 8181 to upper pipe ring 71. Each set of nozzles includes an outer nozzle 32 for washing the outer exterior cylindrical surfaces of the drums, a central nozzle 83 for washing the upper heads of the drums, and an inner nozzle 84 for washing the inner exterior cylindrical surfaces. Lower pipe ring 72 is provided with a number of nozzles 8585 for washing the lower heads of the drums. No nozzles are placed in the immediate vicinity of opening 11.

After each drum is loaded in the manner described above, it moves in a counterclockwise direction and passes through the spray of hot caustic-soda solution from nozzles 82, 83, 84, and 85. This solution drains into basin 86 from which it is withdrawn by pipe 87, taken to a reserve tank, reheated, and pumped back into pipe 73. When the drums pass about two thirds of the way around the machine, they leave the caustic-soda zone and are then exposed to the rinsing spray of water. The rinse water drains into basin 68, mentioned above.

It has heretofore been thought that drums passing through the spray from fixed nozzles must be rotated to achieve effective cleaning of the outer surfaces. However, I have found that in the illustrated machine substantially all of the old paint may be stripped from the exterior surfaces or a portion of them depending on the strength of the caustic soda solution. The portions of the drum surfaces which are approximately tangent to the radial planes of the machine may escape the full effect of the direct sprays from the nozzles, but they are efficiently cleaned by solution splashed from the adjacent drums.

I claim as my invention:

A machine for cleaning drums which includes: carriers for supporting said drums in a bunghole-down position; an array of fixed nozzles pointed toward the positions occupied by the supported drums; means for supplying cleaning fluids to said fixed nozzles; a collecting basin for recovering cleaning fluid ejected from said fixed nozzles; means for transporting said carriers past said fixed nozzles; a nozzle associated with each of said carriers and movable therewith, arranged to protrude into the interior of the drum supported by said carrier through its bunghole; means for supplying cleaning fluids to said movable nozzles; a drainage conduit associated with each of said carriers and movable therewith, having its inlet situated immediately beneath the position occupied by the bunghole of the drum supported by said carrier; and a collecting trough for receiving fluid from said drainage conduits.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,115,202 Kimball Apr. 26, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS I 959,876 France Oct. 10, 1949

Images