WO2004026495A1

WO2004026495A1 - An apparatus for cleaning tubular elements

Info

Publication number: WO2004026495A1
Application number: PCT/IT2002/000600
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ruggero Barani
Original assignee: Ico Oleodinamici S.P.A.
Priority date: 2002-09-20
Filing date: 2002-09-20
Publication date: 2004-04-01
Also published as: AU2002347597A1

Abstract

The invention comprises a chamber (1) conformed to receive internally a tubular element (2) arranged at a lie which corresponds to a predetermined arrangement of an axis thereof with respect to a longitudinal axis of the chamber (1). The chamber (1) is equipped with a plurality of washing nozzles, of which at least one nozzle (10) is located in a central position and is mobile at least in a parallel direction to the longitudinal axis of the chamber (1), so as to be insertable coaxially internally of a tubular element (2). The chamber (1) is closed and comprises: a first outlet (11) for draining liquids used for washing; an inlet (13) for enabling introduction of a gas for drying and/or sterilising; a second outlet (12) for enabling evacuation of humid air. The apparatus is equipped with instrumentation which can read and transmit all parameters relating to outletting liquids to data processing systems such as PCs or PLCs.

Description

An Apparatus for Cleaning Tubular Elements.

Technical Field

The invention relates to an apparatus for cleaning tubular elements. Background Art

Specifically, though not exclusively, the invention is usefully applied for cleaning and decontaminating rigid or flexible pipes which are part of machines or plants mainly used in the pharmaceutical, chemical and/or food industries which, at the end of a production spell have to be decontaminated (therefore carefully washed, dried and in some cases sterilised or at least left in a very hygienic state). Prevalently modern plants and machines are provided with systems for cleaning in place, which enable cleaning to be done without having necessarily to dismantle the plants or machinery. The plants or machinery are normally provided with a series of auxiliary apparatus, constituted in particular by flexible or rigid pipes which are predisposed for connecting various plants or apparatus up to one another for transporting raw materials, semi-finished materials or indeed finished products, and must obviously be well cleaned and decontaminated. The cleaning in place systems however to not provide for cleaning these auxiliary apparatus and, in particular, the pipes, which usually have to be disconnected in order to be taken to special rooms or shops where they can be cleaned properly. This cleaning operation, in the prior art, is done manually, with the use of special nozzled wands, and other cleaning and drying equipment. In some prior art applications drying is done by taking the washed pipes to an air-conditioned area (in the majority of cases these areas are maintained at temperatures of between 40 and 45°C). The final report on the completion of the cleaning operation, which must respond to set decontamination standards, is drawn up by the operator, with the inevitable approximations (irreconcilable with the required guarantees of safety) which this incurs. To add to this, the pipes to be decontaminated reach very considerable dimensions, sometimes being as long as about ten metres, and therefore require much space and the use of a notable quantity of washing liquid (water), as well as long washing times and therefore considerable deployment of personnel. It is also true that the personnel are obliged to work in an environment which is not truly healthy, because of the presence of humidity and various vapours.

The long working times required for completing the cleaning operations, which lead to correspondingly long production time losses, have led some users to use replacement piping kits, which are mounted and used while the "used" kit from the previous production cycle is washed. Apart from the costs incurred in obtaining a second kit of pipes, the system requires space and personnel for storing the cleaned exchanged kits.

The main aim of the present invention is obviate the limits and drawbacks inherent in the prior art, providing space saving for carrying out the cleaning operations, a considerable energy saving, and a saving of liquid used for washing, and offers greater utilisation of the plants together with a corresponding saving in terms of work hours of personnel.

An advantage of the invention is the possibility of carrying out a decontamination operation directly in the place where the pipes are used. A further advantage of the invention is to enable a drastic reduction in the consumption of washing water and clean water for rinsing.

A still further advantage consists in using a contained and isolated space for the cleaning operations (a closed chamber) in which the operative personnel does not require special protection devices. The leads to considerable saving of space, energy and working hours, and the personnel does not need to don special individual protection devices.

These aims and advantages and others besides are all achieved by the invention, as it is characterised in the appended claims. Disclosure of Invention

Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention will better emerge from the detailed description that follows of a preferred but non-exclusive embodiment of the invention, illustrated purely by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying figures of the drawings, in which: figure 1 is a schematic frontal view in partially-sectioned vertical elevation; figure 2 is a schematic plan view from above of figure 1. With reference to the figures of the drawings, 1 denotes a chamber which is conformed in order to receive a tubular element 2 arranged at a lie which is identified by a predetermined arrangement of its axis with respect to a longitudinal axis x-x of the chamber 1, which is elongate in shape in the direction of the longitudinal axis x-x. The chamber 1 is equipped with a plurality of washing nozzles 14 and with at least one nozzle 10 which is located in a central position and which is mobile at least in a parallel direction to the longitudinal axis x-x of the chamber 1.

The chamber 1 is closed and comprises: a first outlet 11 for draining off the washing liquids; a second outlet 12 for enabling evacuation of the humid air; an inlet 13 for enabling introduction of a gas for drying. The chamber 1 is further provided with an opening, normally closed by a hatch, through which one or more tubular elements 2 can be introduced in the chamber 1. In the example the hatch is constituted by a conical cover 25, and the inlet 13 is predisposed in the cover 25 itself. In the illustrated embodiment the chamber 1 has a telescopic structure, which enables a length thereof to be varied in a direction of the axis x-x. This enables an adjustment of the length of the chamber 1 to the length of the tubular elements to be received. The chamber 1 rests on the ground in the following way: it is inferiorly hinged by a horizontal pivot 20 to a support 21 and also rests on a height-adjustable support 22 having a function of arranging the chamber 1 at a desired inclination about the pivot 20. The support 21 and the adjustable support 22 can be fixed to an underlying frame 23 which can be simply rested on the ground or can be mounted on wheels so as to enable easy transport of the whole chamber 1.

Inside the chamber 1 the nozzles 14 of the plurality of nozzles 14 are distributed peripherally around at least a part of the lateral walls of the chamber 1. The mobile nozzle 10 inserts coaxially internally of a tubular element 2 housed internally of the chamber 1 , and is provided with a plurality of holes for wasliing liquid to exit therefrom (the washing liquid is usually water). The holes are orientated in order that the reactions of the jets support the mobile nozzle 10 when it is inside the tubular element 2. In particular the mobile nozzle 10 is directly mounted at an end of a flexible tube 15 through which it is supplied with pressurised liquid.

This flexible tube 15 is mounted on a winding reel 16 by means of which the two-way movements of the mobile nozzle 10 can be controlled, parallel to the axis of the tubular element 2 internally of which the mobile nozzle 10 is inserted. In the illustrated embodiment the reel 16 is located externally of the chamber 1. The flexible tube 15 runs slidably and sealedly through an aperture 17.

The aperture 17 is arranged coaxially to the longitudinal axis x-x of the chamber 1 in a position which is diametrically opposite the position of the second outlet 12 for evacuation of humid air.

The unwinding and rewinding of the flexible tube 15 on the reel 16 determine the axial displacement of the nozzle 10 along the axis of the tubular element 2, and therefore also determine the internal washing action. The winding and unwinding are controlled electronically and can be set automatically on the basis of the pre-set washing programme for the tubular element 2 which is to be washed.

The washing of the external surfaces of the tubular element 2 is done by means of the external nozzles 14, which are normally in fixed positions. Discharge of the waters or liquids used for washing and rinsing is achieved through the outlet 11 towards which the liquids are sent by inclining the chamber 1 which is located in a diametrically opposite position to a position at which the outlet 12 for the evacuation of the humid air is located. A self-priming pump 24 extracts the liquids. Immediately downstream of the outlet 11 there are devices for qualitative and quantitative measurement of the contaminating agents present in the liquid used for the washing operation, which, in the illustrated embodiment, can be constituted by conductivity and resistivity measurement devices which enable continuous monitoring of the discharged liquids. Once the washing and rinsing operations have been completed, and the liquid inflow has been stopped, the drying process can immediately begin, and, if necessary, the sterilising process.

A drying gas is introduced through the inlet 13, which is located in a diametrically opposite position to the outlet 12 for evacuating the humid air. The gas is produced by a fixed or mobile generator of hot and/or cold and/or gas- sterilised filtered air, according to needs. The fact that all of the process parameters can be controlled together enables data storing and printing out of the final reports upon conclusion of each operation; the results are also constant and reproducible.

The invention enables washing, drying and sterilising of tubular elements without having to move them, and further enables execution of these operations in non- specialist environments - while nonetheless avoiding pollution.

The invention is provided with adequate instrumentation for reading and transmitting all of the process parameters to remote data processing systems (e.g. PLC or PC), thus guaranteeing the best possible guarantee that the parameters read are reproducible and the final reports fully reliable. Furthermore, the whole system is mobile and telescopic and enables one positioning only of the tubular element to be internally washed, externally washed, made hygienic and/or sterile.

Claims

Claims.

1). An apparatus for cleaning tubular elements, comprising a chamber (1) which is conformed such as to receive internally thereof at least one tubular element (2) arranged with a lie identified by a predetermined arrangement of an axis of the tubular element with respect to a longitudinal axis of the chamber (1); the chamber (1) being equipped with a plurality of washing nozzles (14), of which plurality at least one nozzle (10) is located in a central position and is mobile at least in a parallel direction to the longitudinal axis of the chamber (1). 2). The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the chamber (1) is elongate in a direction corresponding to the longitudinal axis thereof. 3). The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the chamber (1) is closed and comprises: a first outlet (11) for draining washing liquids; a second outlet (12) for enabling evacuation of humid air from the chamber (1); an inlet (13) for enabling introduction of a drying gas. 4). The apparatus of claim 3, wherein a part of the plurality of nozzles (14) is distributed peripherally in at least a part of lateral walls of the chamber ( 1 ).

5). The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the chamber (1) has a telescopic structure which enables a length of the longitudinal axis thereof to be varied. 6). The apparatus of claim 4 or 5, wherein the mobile nozzle (10) is coaxially insertable internally of a tubular element (2) and is provided with a plurality of holes for exit of the washing liquid, which holes are oriented so that reactions from jets of washing liquid exiting from the holes produce at least an advancement of the mobile nozzle (10) internally of the tubular element (2). 7). The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the mobile nozzle (10) is directly mounted at an end of a flexible tube (15) through which a pressurised liquid is supplied; the flexible tube (15) being mounted on a winding and unwinding reel (16) through which movement in two directions of the mobile nozzle (10) is controllable and measurable according to a length of the tubular element (2) and parallel to the axis of the tubular element (2), internally of which the mobile nozzle (10) is inserted.

8). The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the reel (16) is located externally of the chamber (1); an aperture (17) being provided through which the flexible tube (15) slidably and sealedly passes. 9). The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the aperture (17) is arranged coaxially to the chamber (1) in a diametiically opposite position to a position at which the second outlet (12) is located, for enabling evacuation of humid air. 10). The apparatus of claim 3 or 9, wherein the inlet (13) for enabling introduction of a gas for performing a drying operation is located in a diametrically opposite position to the position at which the second outlet (12) for evacuation of humid air is located.

11). The apparatus of one of claims 3, 9 or 10, wherein the first outlet (11) for draining the washing liquid is in a position which is diametrically opposite to the position of the second outlet (12) for evacuation of the humid air; all of the chamber (1) being inclinable so that a bottom wall thereof can be located inclinedly towards the first outlet (11).

12). The apparatus of claim 11, comprising, immediately downstream of the first outlet (11), devices (18) for qualitative and quantitative measurement of contaminating agents present in the liquid used for washing. 13). The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the devices (18) for qualitative and quantitative measurement of contaminating agents present in the liquid used for washing consist of devices for measuring conductivity and resistivity.