Pipeline external wall self-climbing descaling and decoking device

Abstract

This invention relates to the technical field of pipeline external wall cleaning devices, specifically a self-climbing pipe-mounted descaling and decoking device. It includes a base capable of gripping the pipeline's external wall and moving along it. The base houses a decoking assembly and an adsorption-walking assembly. The decoking assembly includes a scraper, and a decoking motor within the base drives the scraper's rotation. The adsorption-walking assembly includes adsorption-walking wheels and a motor. The adsorption-walking wheels adsorb the pipeline, and the motor, located within the base, drives the adsorption-walking wheels to move axially and circumferentially. This invention features a reasonable and compact structure, is easy to use, and utilizes magnetic adsorption Mecanum wheels for stable adsorption and axial and circumferential movement along the pipeline. The elastic corrugated pipe adapts to pipelines of different radii through adaptive deformation, enhancing the device's versatility. The drill bit body is equipped with blades for thorough descaling and decoking without generating contaminants.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the technical field of pipe external wall cleaning devices, specifically a self-climbing pipe-to-descaling and descaling device for the external wall of a pipe. Background Technology

[0002] In industries such as chemical and power, critical transmission pipelines are highly susceptible to the accumulation of hard scale and coke (such as silicate scale) during long-term operation. This scale and coke buildup severely hinders heat conduction, triggers under-deposit corrosion, and can even lead to pipe ruptures and leaks. Therefore, regular descaling and decoking is a core element in ensuring the safety of industrial equipment.

[0003] Existing methods for descaling and removing coke from the outer walls of pipelines are mainly divided into chemical and physical methods, but both have insurmountable technical drawbacks: Chemical descaling and decoking methods pose an extremely high risk of metal corrosion. Descaling and decoking agents easily lead to thinning of the pipeline substrate or trigger intergranular corrosion during the reaction process; moreover, they have poor penetration into hardened, old scale, making complete removal difficult. Furthermore, the neutralization and disposal of strong acid and alkali wastewater are extremely costly, posing a serious threat to the ecological environment and the health of operators.

[0004] Existing physical descaling and decoking equipment has several drawbacks: it requires additional negative pressure adsorption or mechanical clamping devices for stable operation, increasing structural complexity, cost, and the risk of pipe wall damage; it has poor adaptability to oil stains, rust, and uneven pipe surfaces, easily leading to slippage, jamming, and blind spots in cleaning, affecting the descaling and decoking effect; and it lacks adaptability to high-altitude and vertical pipelines, lacking a reliable posture-maintaining structure, making it prone to tipping and slipping, thus limiting its applicability. Existing equipment suffers from structural complexity, weak adaptability to operating conditions, and poor adaptability to high-altitude and vertical conditions, making it difficult to meet the needs of efficient, comprehensive, safe, and stable external wall cleaning of industrial pipelines.

[0005] Furthermore, existing physical descaling equipment struggles to remove hardened scale and char deposits, and the tools are prone to damage. Traditional mechanical physical descaling and char removal relies heavily on ordinary scrapers or wire brushes. These tools lack sufficient cutting force when dealing with hard, old scale such as silicates, making it difficult to completely remove them. More critically, during the forced scraping of hard scale, ordinary scrapers or brushes are prone to severe wear and even breakage, requiring frequent downtime for tool replacement, significantly increasing maintenance costs and slowing down the operation. In conclusion, existing technologies struggle to simultaneously achieve "thorough removal of hard scale," "durable and wear-resistant tools," and "flexible operation adaptable to complex pipe diameters." Summary of the Invention

[0006] This invention provides a self-climbing pipe descaling and descaling device for the outer wall of pipelines, which overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art. It can effectively solve the problems of existing pipe descaling and descaling devices, such as the need for additional structures to clamp the pipe, poor adaptability to the outer wall of the pipe, and the easy wear and breakage of ordinary scrapers or brushes, resulting in weak adaptability to working conditions, time and labor costs, and low construction efficiency.

[0007] The technical solution of this invention is achieved through the following measures: a self-climbing pipe descaling and decoking device for the outer wall of a pipeline, comprising a base capable of gripping the outer wall of the pipeline and moving along the pipeline, a decoking assembly and an adsorption-walking assembly provided on the base, the decoking assembly comprising a scraper, a decoking motor capable of driving the scraper to rotate within the base, the adsorption-walking assembly comprising an adsorption-walking wheel and a walking motor, the adsorption-walking wheel capable of adsorbing the pipeline, the walking motor located within the base capable of driving the adsorption-walking wheel to move axially and circumferentially; the adsorption-walking wheel is a magnetic adsorption Mecanum wheel, there are four adsorption-walking wheels, each adsorption-walking wheel is driven and connected to a walking motor; the scraper comprises a drill body and blades, at least two sets of blades are evenly distributed on the end face of the drill body, the blades are provided with cutting teeth, and the end face of the drill body is parallel to the cut surface of the pipeline.

[0008] The following are further optimizations and / or improvements to the above-mentioned technical solution: Preferably, the decoking assembly also includes a gear and a worm gear. The end of the decoking motor is connected to the worm gear via a coupling. The worm gear is connected to the gear via a transmission. A rotating base is connected to the center of the gear via a key transmission. The rotating base is fixedly connected to the drill bit body by screws. A connecting sleeve is provided between the rotating base and the drill bit body. A bearing is provided between the inner side of the connecting sleeve and the screw. A bearing is provided between the inner side of the connecting sleeve and the drill bit body. A bearing is provided between the end of the connecting sleeve and the gear.

[0009] Preferably, the base is arc-shaped and is composed of three arc-shaped bases. The left and right bases are descaling bases, and the descaling assembly is installed on the descaling bases. The middle part is the walking base, and the adsorption walking assembly is installed on the walking base. The two descaling bases and the walking base are connected by an elastic corrugated pipe.

[0010] Preferably, two sets of descaling assemblies are provided on the inner sides of both the left and right sides of the base, and a driven adsorption wheel is provided on the base between the two sets of descaling assemblies. The driven adsorption wheel is a magnetic adsorption Mecanum wheel.

[0011] The invention has a reasonable and compact structure and is easy to use. The adsorption and walking assembly adopts a magnetic adsorption Mecanum wheel, which provides stable adsorption and enables the device to move axially and rotate circumferentially along the pipeline. The elastic bellows adapts to pipelines of different radii through adaptive deformation, improving the versatility of the device. The drill bit body is equipped with blades, which thoroughly remove scale and coke without generating pollutants. Attached Figure Description

[0012] Appendix Figure 1This is a schematic diagram of the main structure of an embodiment of the present invention.

[0013] Appendix Figure 2 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

[0014] Appendix Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the external three-dimensional structure of the adsorption and walking assembly.

[0015] Appendix Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the internal three-dimensional structure of the adsorption and walking assembly.

[0016] Appendix Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the first three-dimensional structure of the decoking assembly.

[0017] Appendix Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the second three-dimensional structure of the decoking assembly.

[0018] Appendix Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the third three-dimensional structure of the decoking assembly.

[0019] Appendix Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the cross-sectional structure of the scraper.

[0020] The codes in the attached diagram are as follows: 1 is the adsorption traveling wheel, 2 is the scraper, 3 is the drill bit body, 4 is the blade, 5 is the cutting tooth, 6 is the gear, 7 is the worm, 8 is the rotating base, 9 is the screw, 10 is the connecting sleeve, 11 is the bearing, 12 is the decoking base, 13 is the traveling base, 14 is the elastic bellows, and 15 is the driven adsorption wheel. Detailed Implementation

[0021] The present invention is not limited to the following embodiments, and the specific implementation can be determined according to the technical solution of the present invention and the actual situation.

[0022] In this invention, for ease of description, the description of the relative positions of the components is based on the appendix to the specification. Figure 1 The layout is described using a diagrammatic method, such as front, back, top, bottom, left, right, etc. The positional relationships are determined based on the layout direction of the attached diagram in the instruction manual.

[0023] The present invention will be further described below with reference to embodiments and accompanying drawings: Example 1: As shown in the attached document Figure 1-8 As shown, the self-climbing pipe descaling and decoking device for the outer wall of the pipeline includes a base. The base can hug the outer wall of the pipeline and move along the pipeline. The base is equipped with a decoking assembly and an adsorption and walking assembly. The decoking assembly includes a scraper 2. The base is equipped with a decoking motor that can drive the scraper 2 to rotate. The adsorption and walking assembly includes an adsorption and walking wheel 1 and a walking motor. The adsorption and walking wheel 1 can adsorb the pipeline. The walking motor is located in the base and can drive the adsorption and walking wheel 1 to move axially and circumferentially.

[0024] The adsorption wheels 1 provide the primary suction, enabling them to firmly adhere to the pipe surface and drive the entire device to move along the pipe axis. During this movement, the descaling and decoking assembly scrapes away hard scale deposits on the pipe's outer wall. After axially cleaning localized areas, the rotation direction of the adsorption wheels 1 is adjusted, causing the base to move circumferentially along the pipe. Then, axial movement is resumed to clean un-descaled areas. No additional steering mechanism is required. Furthermore, due to the adsorption effect of the adsorption wheels 1, the base will not fall off when positioned under the pipe. Therefore, circumferential descaling and decoking of the pipe can be achieved without rotating, moving, or disassembling the pipe. This method offers better adaptability, and the adsorption method is less affected by oil, rust, or unevenness on the pipe surface, resulting in a more stable working process and higher efficiency.

[0025] The above-mentioned autonomous pipe-climbing descaling and decoking device for the outer wall of the pipeline can be further optimized and / or improved according to actual needs: Example 2: As shown in the attached document Figure 2 , 3 As shown, the adsorption-walking wheel 1 is a magnetic adsorption Mecanum wheel. There are four adsorption-walking wheels 1, each connected to a motor. The structural feature of the Mecanum wheel is that multiple inclined (typically 45°) rollers are installed around the main wheel. By independently controlling the speed and direction of each wheel, the platform can achieve omnidirectional movement, including forward movement, lateral movement, diagonal movement, and rotation in place. When the wheel rotates, the frictional force generated by the roller contacting the ground can be decomposed into components along the roller axis and perpendicular to the axis. By vectoring the components generated by each wheel, the resultant force of the platform in any direction within the plane is obtained, achieving omnidirectional movement. The magnetic adsorption Mecanum wheel adds a permanent magnet to the Mecanum wheel, providing a strong magnetic adsorption force. The magnetic adsorption Mecanum wheel utilizes existing publicly available technology. When in use, after placing the base in its initial position, the magnetic Mecanum wheels will work, adhering to the pipe and moving along the pipe's axial direction. Once at the designated position, adjust the rotation direction of the four magnetic Mecanum wheels to make them move laterally, that is, move along the circumference of the pipe to the uncleaned area. After rotating to the correct position, continue to return to the initial position along the pipe's axial direction until that section of the pipe is cleaned.

[0026] Example 3: As shown in the attached document Figure 4-8 As shown, the scraper 2 includes a drill bit body 3 and blades 4. At least two sets of blades 4 are evenly distributed on the end face of the drill bit body 3, and cutting teeth 5 are provided on the blades 4. The end face of the drill bit body 3 is parallel to the pipe cross-section. The scraper 2 is similar in form to the PDC drill bit in the oil drilling field. The blades 4 are the core descaling and decoking execution components of the scraper 2, with a total of 6 blades, which are evenly distributed in a straight row on the crown of the drill bit body 3 (the central angle of adjacent blades 4 is 60° apart), forming a "full circumferential coverage" descaling and decoking range, effectively avoiding blind spots in descaling and decoking on the inner wall of the pipe. The blades 4 are inlaid with cutting teeth 5, which can effectively remove hard scale from the pipe surface by rotation.

[0027] Example 4: As shown in the appendix Figure 4-8 As shown, the decoking assembly also includes a gear 6 and a worm gear 7. The end of the decoking motor is connected to the worm gear 7 via a coupling. The worm gear 7 is driven by the gear 6. A rotating base 8 is driven by a key at the center of the gear 6. The rotating base 8 is fixedly connected to the drill bit body 3 by screws 9. A connecting sleeve 10 is provided between the rotating base 8 and the drill bit body 3. A bearing 11 is provided between the inner side of the connecting sleeve 10 and the screw 9, and between the inner side of the connecting sleeve 10 and the drill bit body 3. A bearing 11 is also provided between the end of the connecting sleeve 10 and the gear 6. This transmission structure can drive the scraper 2 to rotate. By setting the bearing 11, the movement of the scraper 2 is supported, friction is reduced, and the rotation of the scraper 2 is ensured to be stable.

[0028] Example 5: As shown in the attached document Figure 1 , 2 As shown, the base is arc-shaped and consists of three arc-shaped bases joined together. The left and right bases are descaling bases 12, on which the descaling assembly is mounted. The middle base is a traveling base 13, on which the adsorption traveling assembly is mounted. The two descaling bases 12 and the traveling base 13 are connected by an elastic bellows 14. The elastic bellows 14 can expand and contract elastically, adapting to situations where the outer diameter of the pipe changes due to scaling or other reasons, and can also be used for cleaning pipes of different diameters. The elastic bellows 14 flexibly adapts to the dynamic changes in the angle between the central axes of the two assemblies through differentiated deformation of the folds in different parts (such as the folds on the inside of the pipe bend shrinking and the folds on the outside unfolding), allowing the descaling and descaling assembly to adjust its position in real time according to the curvature changes of the pipe surface, always maintaining a tight fit with the pipe surface. This flexible adaptability avoids localized detachment or excessive compression between the descaling and decoking assembly and the pipe surface due to uneven pipe radius. This ensures thorough descaling and decoking while protecting the pipe surface from scratches by the components, and also improves operational adaptability in complex pipe environments. The central notch allows for direct clamping onto the pipe, making it easy to operate.

[0029] Example 6: As attached Figure 1 , 2 As shown, two sets of descaling assemblies are spaced apart on the inner sides of both the left and right sides of the base. A driven adsorption wheel 15 is provided on the base between the two sets of descaling assemblies. The driven adsorption wheel 15 is a magnetic adsorption Mecanum wheel. The driven adsorption wheel 15 is not connected to a power source and moves with the adsorption traveling wheel 1. It can provide suction force to make the scraper 2 fit tightly against the pipe surface. This tight fit can not only counteract the tendency to detach due to its own weight, but also ensure that the scraper 2 and other actuators of the descaling assembly maintain a preset contact pressure with the pipe surface.

[0030] The above technical features constitute various embodiments of the present invention, which have strong adaptability and implementation effect. Unnecessary technical features can be added or removed according to actual needs to meet the needs of different situations.

Claims

1. A self-climbing pipe wall descaling and descaling device for pipes, characterized in that... The system includes a base capable of gripping the outer wall of the pipe and moving along it. The base is equipped with a descaling assembly and an adsorption-moving assembly. The descaling assembly includes a scraper, and a descaling motor capable of driving the scraper to rotate is located within the base. The adsorption-moving assembly includes adsorption-moving wheels and a motor. The adsorption-moving wheels can adsorb onto the outer wall of the pipe, and the motor, located within the base, can drive the adsorption-moving wheels to move axially and circumferentially. The adsorption-moving wheels are magnetic Mecanum wheels, and there are four adsorption-moving wheels, each connected to a motor. The scraper includes a drill body and blades. At least two sets of blades are evenly distributed on the end face of the drill body, and the blades are equipped with cutting teeth. The end face of the drill body is parallel to the pipe's cut surface.

2. The self-climbing pipe descaling and decoking device for the outer wall of a pipeline according to claim 1, characterized in that... The decoking assembly also includes gears and worm gears. The end of the decoking motor is connected to the worm gear via a coupling. The worm gear is connected to the gear drive. The center of the gear is connected to the rotating base via a key drive. The rotating base is fixedly connected to the drill bit body by screws. A connecting sleeve is provided between the rotating base and the drill bit body. A bearing is provided between the inner side of the connecting sleeve and the screw. A bearing is provided between the inner side of the connecting sleeve and the drill bit body. A bearing is provided between the end of the connecting sleeve and the gear.

3. The self-climbing pipe descaling and decoking device for the outer wall of a pipeline according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that... The base is curved and consists of three arc-shaped bases. The left and right bases are descaling bases, and the descaling assembly is installed on the descaling bases. The middle part is the walking base, and the adsorption walking assembly is installed on the walking base. The two descaling bases and the walking base are connected by an elastic corrugated pipe.

4. The self-climbing pipe descaling and decoking device for the outer wall of a pipeline according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that... Two sets of descaling assemblies are spaced apart on the inner sides of both the left and right sides of the base. A driven adsorption wheel is provided on the base between the two sets of descaling assemblies. The driven adsorption wheel is a magnetic adsorption Mecanum wheel.

5. The self-climbing pipe descaling and decoking device for the outer wall of a pipeline according to claim 3, characterized in that... Two sets of descaling assemblies are spaced apart on the inner sides of both the left and right sides of the base. A driven adsorption wheel is provided on the base between the two sets of descaling assemblies. The driven adsorption wheel is a magnetic adsorption Mecanum wheel.

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