Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F04—POSITIVE - DISPLACEMENT MACHINES FOR LIQUIDS; PUMPS FOR LIQUIDS OR ELASTIC FLUIDS
  • F04F—PUMPING OF FLUID BY DIRECT CONTACT OF ANOTHER FLUID OR BY USING INERTIA OF FLUID TO BE PUMPED; SIPHONS
  • F04F1/00—Pumps using positively or negatively pressurised fluid medium acting directly on the liquid to be pumped
  • F04F1/06—Pumps using positively or negatively pressurised fluid medium acting directly on the liquid to be pumped the fluid medium acting on the surface of the liquid to be pumped
  • F04F1/10—Pumps using positively or negatively pressurised fluid medium acting directly on the liquid to be pumped the fluid medium acting on the surface of the liquid to be pumped of multiple type, e.g. with two or more units in parallel

Definitions

• This invention relates to the movement of highly corrosive liquids in a flow system without the use of mechanical pumps in contact with the corrosive liquid.
• Core removal and tire cure have been achieved by flowing a hot caustic solution through the interior of the article.
• the hot caustic material dissolves the bond holding the grains of the particulate material together and additionally entrains the loosened parti ⁇ culate grains to remove them from the interior of the article in the fluid stream.
• Motive force for the corrosive liquid to drive the same through the interior of the article has been provided by mechanical pumps of various types as, for example, centrifugal pumps which, of course, have components in actual content with the caustic material. Consequently, the corrosive nature of the caustic ma ⁇ terial rapidly deteriorates seals in the pump or pumps used with the consequence that leaks develop. This is quite undesirable since the system must be taken out of production frequently for seal replacement and, of course, the presence of hot, highly corrosive caustic material, usually under elevated pressure, emanating from leaks in a flow path provides a hostile working environment.
• the present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.
• the system includes a source of gas under pressure and first and second corrosive liquid reservoirs connected in parallel to the gas source such that one or the
• v ' may receive pressurized gas there ⁇ from.
• Means are provided for connecting one or the other, but not both, of the reservoirs to a point of use of the corrosive liquid and specifically, for connecting the reservoir receiving pressurized gas to the point of use.
• Means are also provided for receiving a mixture of the corrosive liquid, after use, for conveying the corro ⁇ sive liquid to one or the other, but not both, of the reservoirs, and specifically the reservoir not then receiving pressurized gas from the source.
• gas under pressure drives the corrosive liquid from one reservoir to the point of use and then to the other reservoir to be collected and then subsequently driven from that reservoir to the point of use to the first mentioned reservoir.
• No mechanical pumps in contact with the corrosive liquid are required thereby obviating the problems of frequent down time and corrosive liquid leaks.
• Fig. is a schematic flow diagramof a corrosive liquid transporting systemmade according to the invention.
• a point of use of a highly, corrosive liquid is generally designated 10 and for explanatory purposes may be considered to be a tire 12 made according to the teachings of the pre ⁇ viously identified United States Letters Patent to Grawey.
• the corrosive liquid will be a hot caustic solution under pressure which is driven into the interior of the tire via a valve stem shown schematically at 14 and which exits the tire 12 from an opposed valve stem, shown schematically at 16.
• the system is not limited to use in the formation of tires but may be used wherever the transporting of highly corrosive materials, whether caustic or acidic, in a flow path is required and pump wear and/or leaks is a significant problem.
• the invention is particularly advantageous where not only is corrosive liquid being moved in a flow path, but where there is a mixture of the corro ⁇ sive liquid and a particulate material.
• Corrosive liquid may be supplied to the point of use via a line 18 which is connectable through a three- way valve 20 to either of two reservoirs 22 and 24, both in form of pressure vessels.
• the pressure vessels 22 and 24 have outlets 26 and 28, respectively, connected to the valve 20.
• the valve 20 is operable, either manually or by means of a control actuator, to direct liquid from the vessel 24 exiting the outlet 28 to the line 18 while sealing the outlet 26 of the vessel 22 or vice versa.
• each of the pressure vessels 22 and 24 is provided with interior heating ele ⁇ ments 30 by which the corrosive liquid contained in either may be selectively heated to an elevated tempera ⁇ ture.
• Each of the vessels 22 and 24 is provided with an inlet 32, and 34, respectively, and the inlets
• Corrosive liquid in a line 40 is recovered from the point of use 10 by means to be described in greater detail hereinafter and directed to the valve 36.
• the valve 36 either manually or automatically, may be conditioned to direct the corrosive liquid to the interior of the vessel 22 via the inlet 32 while blocking the inlet 34 for the pressure vessel 24 or vice versa.
• the corrosive liquid directed to the line 40 is received from the point of use 10 via a line 42 connected to the valve stem 16.
• the line 42 is con ⁇ nected to the inlet of a settling tank 44 which is a sealed pressure vessel and of sufficient size so that liquid velocity therein is minimal.
• Particulate material from the dissolving core within the tire 12 is entrained in the liquid exiting the tire 12 on the line 42 and enters the settling tank 44 therewith. By gravity, the same settles to the bottom of the settling tank 44.
• the bottom of the tank 44 is provided with a valved outlet 46 which may be periodically opened to al ⁇ low accumulated particulate material to exit the vessel 44 into a hopper 48.
• the settling tank 44 also includes an upper out ⁇ let 50 which is connected to the inlet of a conventional cyclone separator 52.
• An upper outlet 54 of the cyclone separator is connected to the line 40 while a lower out ⁇ let 56 from the cyclone separator 52 is connected to a sealed holding tank 58 which in turn has a valved out ⁇ let 60 leading to the hopper 48.
• Particulate fines which do not readily separate within the settling tank 44 are separated from the corro ⁇ sive liquid in the cyclone separator 52. and will settle in a conventional fashion to accumulate in the holding tank 58. They may be periodically removed therefrom through suitable operation of the valved outlet 60.
• a conventional draining and/or drying system generally designated 62
• a conventional draining and/or drying system generally designated 62
• inlet-outlet port 64 and 66, respectively.
• port 64 on the reservoir 22 is serving a gas outlet function while the port 66 on the reservoir 24 is serving a gas inlet function.
• the ports 64 and 66 are connected in parallel via valves 68 and 70, respectively, to the inlet of a conventional gas scrubbing device 72.
• the outlet of the gas scrubbing device is connected to a low pressure regulator 74 and then to a line 75 to the inlet 76 of an air compressor 78.
• the ports 64 and 66 are also connected to a three-way valve 80 which in turn is connected to the outlet 82 of the air compressor 78 by a line 84.
• the outlet 82 of the air compressor 78 is con ⁇ nected via a high pressure regulator 86 to a tank 88.
• the line 75 is also connected to the tank 88 via a pressure regulator 90 which normally will be set at a valve just below the setting on the regulator 74.
• a heater 92 may be incorporated in the line 18 in addition to or as an alternate for the heaters 30.
• the three-way valve 80 can be adjusted, either manually or automatical- ly, to direct air under pressure from the air compressor 78 to the interior of the pressure vessel 24 as shown while blocking the port 64 of the pressure vessel 22 or vice versa. It will be appreciated from the foregoing description that the entire system is sealed save for the regulatable outlets for the particulate materials, namely, the valved outlets 46 and 60.
• the described system is a closed system and during the operational cycle no gas enters or leaves the system. Thus, the mass of gas in the system remains constant but the vol ⁇ ume ratio of high to low pressure gas changes as the liquid level changes in the vessels 22 and 24.
• the tank 82 serves as a reservoir for that mass of gas not active in the system during part of the cycle, and either re ⁇ ceives gas from the pressure regulator 86, when pressure is higher .than required in line 84, or expels gas through the pressure regulator 90 when the pressure in the line 75 is less than that controlled by the pressure regulator 74.
• the pressure regulator 74 may be set at any desired pressure so long as it is lower than the pressure setting on the regulator 86 so that a pressure differential will exist for flow purposes as will be seen. This is particularly desirable where the corro- sive liquid is to be heated by the heaters 30 to a temperature in excess of its boiling point at atmospheric pressure.
• the minimum system pressure can be set on the regulator 74 at a sufficiently high level so as to pre ⁇ vent the occurrence of boiling of the corrosive liquid anywhere within the system.
• a venting valve in the line 42 whereby the interior of the tire 12 can be vented to atmosphere at the conclusion of the core removal process.
• a valve allows any residual pressure remaining in the tire 12 to be vented to atmosphere prior to removal of the tire 12 from the flow system to avoid any pressurized discharge of gas or caustic solution when the system connections at the valve stems 14 and 16 are removed.
• a further high pressure air inlet to the system may be provided between the outlet of the air compressor 78 and the pressure regulator 86 for the purpose of initially charging the system with a suffi ⁇ cient volume of air so as to enable closed loop opera ⁇ tion thereafter, as will be seen.
• valve 70 will be closed while the valve 68 will be opened.
• valved outlets 46 and 60 will be closed, although they may be periodically opened when a predetermined parti ⁇ culate level in either the settling tank 44 or the hold ⁇ ing tank 58 has been reached, to bring the particulate level down to some predetermined minimum.
• Compressed air from the air compressor 78 will be provided at a relatively high pressure to the line 84. The high gaseous pressure will be applied via the line 84, the three-way valve 80, and the port 66 to the interior of the pressure vessel 24.
• Heated, highly corrosive cau ⁇ stic will be driven from the pressure vessel 24 via the valve 20 and the line 18 to the inlet 14 for the tire 12.
• the hot caustic will dissolve or loosen the bond between the particulate material in the core of the tire 12 and a mixture of corrosive liquid and particulate
• the vessels 22 and 24 can be suitably sized so that they will contain a sufficient amount of corrosive liquid as to fully dissolve the core and completely cure the largest tire 12 for which the system is intended.
• the valve 20 may be suitably operated so as to close off both of the outlets 26 and 28 or the vessels 22 and 24 and the tire 12 removed and another tire with core intact replaced therein.
• the corrosive liquid that has been accumulated in the vessel 22 can be heated.
• the valve 20 may then be operated so as to connect the outlet 26 of the vessel 22 to the line 18 while blocking the outlet 28 of the vessel 24.
• the valve 68 will then be closed while the valve 70 will be opened.
• the valve 36 will be manipulated so as to direct recovered corrosive liquid incoming on the line 40 to the vessel 24 via its inlet 34.
• valve 80 will be ad ⁇ justed so as to direct air under elevated pressure in ⁇ coming on the line 84 from the compressor 78 to the port 64 for the vessel 22.
• the recovered caustic will be driven therefrom and through the newly placed tire 12 at the point of use 10.
• recovered corrosive liquid will replenish the vessel 24 and air driven therefrom will be scrubbed by :the scrubber 72 and recompressed by the compressor 78 until the cycle is completed.
• a new tire with core intact is placed at the point of use 10 and suitably connected to the lines 18 and 42, and the operation repeated using corrosive liquid from the vessel 24.
• the system may be operated in the same fashion described above until either the vessel 22 or the vessel 24 is nearly empty and the receiving vessel 24 or 22 very nearly full. At this time, flow is stopped by placing both valves 68 and 70 in an open condition thereby allowing gas pressure in the vessels 22 and 24 to equalize. Valves 20, 36 and 80 are then switched and one or the other of the valves 68 and 70 closed to cause the liquid to flow from the nearly full one of the vessels 22 and 24 as soon as the air compres ⁇ sor 78 has established an adequate pressure differential.
• the system provides uniform flow in a closed loop throughout the core removal and/or curing process.
• the vessel 22 would contain, for exam ⁇ ple, 210 cubic feet of air at 300 psi while the vessel 24, being principally filled with corrosive liquid might contain 10 cubic feet of air at 400 psi to provide a 100 psi pressure differential to cause liquid flow.
• the vessel 22, having been filled with the liquid would contain 10 cubic feet of air at 300 psi while the tank 24, now substantially empty, would contain 210 cubic feet of air at 400 psi.
• the pressure regulator 90 which opens in response to sensed pressure in the line 76 as shown in the drawing, would be set at, for example, 295 psi.
• the pressure in the line 75 will begin to drop.
• the compressor 78 will not only receive inlet air from the regulator 74, but from the tank 88 through the regulator 90 as well, the latter allowing sufficient flow of air to meet system needs.
• the regulator 86 which is set at such maximum pressure, here 400 psi, opens to allow the excess volume of air to flow into the tank 88 thereby maintaining maximum pressure at 400 psi while increasing the air supply in the tank 88.
• the minimum system pressure is maintained uniformly throughout the cycle through action of the regulator 74 while the regulator 86 uniformly maintains maximum system pressure.
• the regulator 90 opens as is required to provide sufficient additional air to the compressor 78 to enable it to maintain the desired maximum system pressure at its outlet. And since the pressures are uniformly main ⁇ tained, substantially uniform flow will occur throughout the process.
• system can be applied to the vulcanization mode, concurrently with the removal of the particulate core, without the necessity of carcass molds.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Jet Pumps And Other Pumps (AREA)

Priority Applications (1)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=22147764

Family Applications (1)

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Cited By (2)

Citations (12)

• 1980
  • 1980-11-03 JP JP50019580A patent/JPS56501563A/ja active Pending
  • 1980-11-03 DE DE8181900032T patent/DE3068565D1/de not_active Expired
  • 1980-11-03 WO PCT/US1980/001466 patent/WO1981001246A1/en active IP Right Grant
• 1981
  • 1981-05-19 EP EP19810900032 patent/EP0038857B1/en not_active Expired

Patent Citations (12)

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