Method for keeping surfaces sensitive to inorganic or organic deposits clean

Abstract

An ultrasonic generator fixed to a main body is used as an ultrasonic probe which, due to the inverse piezoelectric effect, is used to emit ultrasound and, due to the piezoelectric effect, is also used to detect (ultrasonic) sound. In this process, a plurality of ultrasonic probes are initially fixed at predefined locations on a surface, which can ensure the greatest possible surface area coverage, wherein it is thereby checked whether an acoustic event emitted by a single ultrasonic probe can be detected by at least one other ultrasonic probe. Since in each case only one ultrasonic probe is connected for emitting an acoustic event and the remaining ultrasonic probes are connected for receiving, the position of each ultrasonic probe can be adjusted in each case, which leads to an optimal surface area coverage. Optionally, the number of ultrasonic probes provided can also be increased or reduced.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for keeping a substrate surface that is sensitive to deposits clean and / or for removing deposits adhering to a substrate surface by means of ultrasound.

[0002] The use of ultrasound to remove inorganic or organic deposits (e.g., adherent biofilms) adhering to surfaces or to prevent their formation, for example, on the hull of a ship or inside a container or pipe, is known, for example, from DE102019203069A1. Piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers are integrated onto opposite sides of a surface to be kept free or clean in order to remove or retain such deposits on liquid-bearing or liquid-contact surfaces by means of ultrasound. Control units equipped with ultrasonic transducers excite the transducers at appropriate frequencies and power, typically below the canvitation limit, to prevent damage caused by cavitation effects. Due to the rather limited power and associated short range of a single ultrasonic transducer, several transducers must be used for a larger area.

[0003] However, due to the reinforcement, attachment, corners, edges, or angles of the main body including the surface to be treated, it is impossible to predetermine 100% area coverage. These reinforcements, attachments, corners, edges, or angles include different filling levels, flow rates, or pressures of the medium, each of which affects the range of the emitted ultrasound.

[0004] Figure 1 illustrates this problem, showing the surface of the body 10 to be ultrasonically treated as completely as possible using two ultrasonic transducers 20, 20'. However, it can be seen that due to the structure or material properties of the body 10, the ranges 25, 25' of the ultrasonic transducers 20, 20' differ at their intended positions, resulting in only sporadic surface coverage. This leaves the surface of the body still susceptible to deposits, especially the growth of biofilm-forming (microbial) organisms.

[0005] Therefore, the object of the present invention is to create a method for keeping deposits (especially biogenic growth) on the surface of a substrate clean and / or for removing deposits (especially adhering biofilms) adhering to the surface of a substrate by means of ultrasound, by means of which 100% area coverage can be achieved as much as possible.

[0006] According to the invention, this objective is achieved by the method according to the invention. Advantageous embodiments of the invention are described below in the specification.

[0007] The basic idea of ​​this invention is to use an ultrasonic transducer attached to a body as an ultrasonic probe, whereby the ultrasonic transducer is configured to emit ultrasound due to the inverse piezoelectric effect and detect (ultrasonic) sound due to the piezoelectric effect. Multiple ultrasonic probes are initially attached to predetermined positions on the surface that may ensure maximum possible area coverage, which is checked according to the invention by determining whether a sound event emitted by a single ultrasonic probe can be detected by at least the other ultrasonic probes. The position of each ultrasonic probe can be adjusted by activating only one ultrasonic probe at a time to output a sound event and another ultrasonic probe to receive and preferably check the position of each ultrasonic probe, thereby resulting in optimal area coverage. If desired, the number of ultrasonic probes provided can also be increased or decreased to provide optimized methods for maintaining the freedom of the body surface susceptible to deposits and / or for removing deposits adhering to the body surface by means of ultrasound.

[0008] According to the present invention, a method is therefore proposed for keeping a substrate surface susceptible to deposits free and / or for removing deposits adhering to the substrate surface by ultrasonication, the method comprising the following steps:

[0009] a. Attaching a predetermined plurality of ultrasonic probes to predetermined locations on a body having at least one surface susceptible to or having deposits;

[0010] b. Perform ultrasonic treatment on the subject using a single ultrasonic probe selected from a predetermined plurality of ultrasonic probes;

[0011] c. Detect the ultrasound emitted by one of the ultrasound probes as an ultrasound event using the remaining ultrasound probes among a plurality of ultrasound probes;

[0012] d. If necessary, repeat steps b. and c., wherein the subject is exposed to ultrasound by means of another ultrasound probe identified as the selected ultrasound probe, until each of the plurality of ultrasound probes has exposed the subject to ultrasound.

[0013] e. If no expected ultrasonic event is detected for at least one of the remaining ultrasonic probes, or if at least one of the remaining ultrasonic probes detects an ultrasonic event with an acoustic energy lower than the predetermined acoustic energy, at least reposition the selected ultrasonic probe; repeat steps b. to e. until the at least one of the remaining ultrasonic probes detects an ultrasonic event with at least the predetermined acoustic energy; and

[0014] The body is exposed to ultrasound by means of all the ultrasound probes attached to the body.

[0015] The deposits to be prevented or removed can be inorganic and / or organic deposits, particularly those of biological origin. Particularly preferred are those whose substrates have surfaces susceptible to biological growth or biofilm adhesion. Therefore, the deposits for which this method is used are preferably inorganic and / or organic deposits and / or biofilm-forming deposits.

[0016] Preferably, the repositioning process includes reattaching the selected ultrasound probe to the same predetermined location. In cases where the expected ultrasound event for at least one of the remaining ultrasound probes does not occur, the selected ultrasound probe may not be properly attached to the predetermined location of the body. Therefore, the correct attachment of the selected ultrasound probe must be checked and reattached if necessary.

[0017] Alternatively, or if necessary, repositioning may also include reattaching the ultrasound probe for which the expected ultrasound event did not occur. It is also possible that, not the selected ultrasound probe, but one of the remaining ultrasound probes among several probes to record the ultrasound event, is not properly attached to the body. Therefore, it may also be necessary to check that this ultrasound probe is properly attached and preferably reattached.

[0018] In any case, repositioning also includes replacing the defective ultrasound probe with a working one, especially if repositioning the selected or remaining ultrasound probes does not produce any other effect. In this case, the selected and / or remaining ultrasound probes are considered defective and are replaced with working ones.

[0019] Preferably, not every one of the remaining ultrasound probes must detect the acoustic event generated by the selected ultrasound probe, but rather, preferably, at least one of the remaining ultrasound probes is positioned directly adjacent to the selected ultrasound probe. For this purpose, a predetermined radius or distance from one of the remaining ultrasound probes to the selected ultrasound probe can be defined, which must detect an acoustic event with an acoustic energy lower than a predetermined acoustic energy to trigger relocation. For example, it can be specifically stipulated that a plurality of defined remaining ultrasound probes arranged adjacent to the selected ultrasound probe within a predetermined radius must detect an acoustic event with an acoustic energy lower than a predetermined acoustic energy to initiate relocation.

[0020] A further preferred embodiment is that the body is a wall or partition wall, and the ultrasonic probes are located on one side or surface of the wall or partition wall opposite to a surface of the same wall or partition wall that is susceptible to or has deposits. In particular, the ultrasonic probes are located on a surface of the wall or partition wall that is largely protected from moisture and is not in contact with it, while the surface to be treated is the surface in direct contact with moisture.

[0021] Specifically, the main component is the hull of a ship, with multiple ultrasonic probes attached to the interior of the hull to keep the outer surface of the hull free of deposits and / or remove deposits adhering to the outer surface of the hull. Therefore, in this case, the ultrasonic probes are located inside the hull.

[0022] However, the main body can also preferably be a container or conduit for receiving liquid. Most preferably, the main body is a cooling tower, a tank in a wastewater treatment plant, or a tank in a biogas plant. In this case, the ultrasonic probe is located outside the corresponding main body. Therefore, the method according to the invention is particularly suitable for the shipping industry, especially for handling all kinds of cooling systems (sea tanks, filter housings, pipes, plate heat exchangers, box / box coolers), all kinds of propellers, freshwater generators, and ship hulls. In the industrial field, the method according to the invention is suitable for handling evaporative cooling systems, plate heat exchangers carrying cooling / processing media (especially thick juice coolers), juice heaters, juice purifiers, milk heaters, machines, pipes and tanks carrying cooling / processing media, wet separators, bottle washing machines, pasteurizers, and papermaking machines (especially glue dispensers and color coating machines).

[0023] The following is a reference appendix. Figure 2 The invention is explained in more detail by examples of particularly preferred embodiments shown in the figures. Figure 2 The result of the method according to the invention is shown, with the same body 10 as known from FIG1 having an improved arrangement of ultrasonic probes 20, 20'.

[0024] Using the selected ultrasonic probe 20 positioned on the left in the example, the body 10 is exposed to ultrasound, as shown in Figure 1. The ultrasound cannot be detected by the ultrasonic probe 20' positioned on the right, or it lacks the predetermined acoustic energy. Inverse function checks via the sound emission from the right ultrasonic probe 20' and insufficient detection of sound events via the left ultrasonic probe 20 also result in no detection or insufficient sound energy. By iteratively adjusting the positions, the desired result is finally achieved. Figure 2 The state is shown in Figure 1. On the one hand, it can be seen that the ultrasonic probes 20 and 20' have changed positions compared to Figure 1. On the other hand, it can be seen that the ranges 25 and 25' of the ultrasonic probes 20 and 20' have changed due to the change in position. Overall, this results in improved ultrasonic coverage compared to Figure 1, and thus improved prevention of deposits (e.g., biofilms) on the surface of the body 10. By means of the positioning of the ultrasonic probes 20 and 20' discovered in this way, ultrasound can be applied over a large area to effectively prevent or remove deposits, especially biofilm growth.

Claims

1. A method for keeping the surface of a body (10) susceptible to deposits clean and / or removing deposits adhering to the surface of the body (10) by means of ultrasonication, comprising the following steps: a. Attach a predetermined plurality of ultrasonic probes (20, 20') to predetermined positions on a body (10), the body having at least one surface susceptible to or having deposits; b. The body (10) is subjected to ultrasonic treatment using a single ultrasonic probe selected from the predetermined plurality of ultrasonic probes (20, 20'); c. Detecting ultrasound emitted by the single ultrasound probe as an ultrasound event using the remaining ultrasound probes among the plurality of ultrasound probes (20, 20'); d. If necessary, repeat steps b. and c., wherein the body (10) is exposed to ultrasound by means of another ultrasound probe determined to be the selected ultrasound probe, until each of the plurality of ultrasound probes (20, 20') has exposed the body (10) to ultrasound; e. If no expected ultrasonic event is detected for at least one of the remaining ultrasonic probes, or if at least one of the remaining ultrasonic probes detects an ultrasonic event with an acoustic energy lower than the predetermined acoustic energy, at least the selected ultrasonic probe shall be repositioned. f. Repeat steps b. to e. until at least one of the remaining ultrasonic probes detects an ultrasonic event with at least a predetermined acoustic energy; as well as g. The body is exposed to ultrasound by means of all the ultrasound probes (20, 20') attached to the body (10).

2. The method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The sediments are inorganic sediments and / or organic sediments and / or sediments that form biofilms.

3. The method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The repositioning includes reattaching the selected ultrasound probe to the same predetermined location.

4. The method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The repositioning includes reattaching the ultrasound probe where the expected ultrasound event has failed.

5. The method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The repositioning involves replacing the defective ultrasound probe with a working one.

6. The method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The at least one of the remaining ultrasonic probes that detects an acoustic event with an acoustic energy lower than a predetermined acoustic energy is arranged directly adjacent to the selected ultrasonic probe.

7. The method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The main body (10) is the hull of a ship, wherein the plurality of ultrasonic probes (20, 20') are fixed inside the hull of the ship for keeping the outer surface of the hull of the ship, which is sensitive to deposits, clean and / or for removing deposits attached to the outer surface of the hull of the ship.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, The main body (10) is a container or conduit for receiving liquid.

9. The method as described in claim 8, characterized in that, The main body (10) is a cooling tower, a tank in a sewage treatment plant, or a tank in a biogas plant.

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