Nozzle arrangement for injecting liquid into a tank

Abstract

The present invention relates to a nozzle arrangement and a method for removing solids and / or fluids, such as sludge, preferably suspended or contained in fluids, from tanks such as oil / sludge tanks and other similar hard-to-reach reservoirs and tanks. In preferred embodiments, the nozzle arrangement has a rotating mechanism (8) comprising a main drive shaft (13) connected to a pipe section (4), a row of gear teeth (9) fixedly arranged or formed on the lower end of a downpipe (3) on the outside thereof, an angle gear (10), and a helical gear (16) arranged to rotate an angled nozzle pipe section (7) in the cleaning head (5) driven by the angle gear.

Description

Nozzle arrangement for injecting liquid into a tank Field of invention The present invention relates, among other things, to a nozzle arrangement and a method for removing solids and / or fluids, such as sludge, preferably suspended or contained in a fluid, from deposits such as oil / sludge tanks and other similar hard-to-reach accumulations and deposits.The nozzle arrangement has a rotating mechanism comprising a main drive shaft that is connected to a tube section, a row of gear teeth fixedly arranged or formed at the lower end of a descending tube, preferably on the outside thereof, an angle gear, a helical gear arranged to rotate a nozzle tube section in the cleaning head driven by the angle gear, a secondary drive shaft rotatably mounted on the outside of said tube section and having at one end a toothed wheel of the angle gear and at the other end a toothed wheel cooperating with said row of gear teeth. Background of the invention Cleaning larger tanks, such as oil tanks, is a difficult task that often requires care to avoid or at least mitigate the risk to the health of the personnel involved in cleaning such tanks. Furthermore, since such cleaning can be carried out at regular intervals, the issues mentioned above become relevant. Furthermore, such deposits may need to be cleaned on most internal surfaces such as bottom and side surfaces. Therefore, there is a need to provide a method and device that make the cleaning process more efficient. An improved cleaning device and method would be advantageous, and in particular, a more efficient and / or reliable cleaning device and method would be advantageous. US document 4426233 A describes a jet device with a rotating nozzle for disintegrating and fluidizing sludge in a tank. Object of the invention Another object of the present invention is to provide an alternative to the prior art. In particular, it can be seen as an object of the present invention to provide a nozzle arrangement, a method of use and / or a reservoir that uses or comprises the method and / or nozzle arrangement that solves the aforementioned problems of the prior art. Compendium of the invention The invention relates in a first aspect to a nozzle arrangement for injecting a liquid into a reservoir such as an oil / sludge tank. The nozzle arrangement comprises • a downpipe • a section of pipe • rotatably arranged at a lower end of the downpipe with an axis of rotation coinciding with a longitudinal axis of the downpipe, and • said tube section comprising a cleaning head angled distal to the position in which the tube section is rotatably arranged in the downpipe, • an angled nozzle tube section; • a nozzle hub intended to rotatably connect the angled nozzle tube section to the tube section in the cleaner head; wherein the nozzle arrangement preferably further comprises a rotating mechanism comprising • a main drive shaft that is connected to said tube section • a row of gear teeth fixedly arranged or formed at the lower end of the downpipe on the outside thereof; • an angular gear; • a helical gear, arranged to rotate the nozzle tube section in the cleaner head driven by the angle gear; • a secondary drive shaft rotatably mounted on the outside of said tube section and having at one end a toothed wheel of the angular gear and at the other end a toothed wheel cooperating with said gear row. The invention relates in a second aspect to a method for cleaning a tank, such as a sludge / oil tank. This method preferably comprises: • provide a nozzle arrangement according to the first aspect on a tank wall member; • provide a connection to a cleaning fluid source to the nozzle arrangement; • Rotate the main drive shaft while expelling the cleaning fluid through the nozzle arrangement. The invention relates in a third aspect to a tank, such as a sludge / oil tank comprising a nozzle arrangement according to the first aspect, arranged in a wall section, such as a roof of said tank. In this context, orientations such as "lower" and "upper" are given with reference to the accompanying figures, which illustrate a preferred orientation relative to gravity (downward) of the nozzle arrangement. Other nozzle arrangement orientations can be implemented by changing orientations such as "lower" and "upper" to, for example, "right" and "left." These and other aspects of the invention will become evident and will be clarified with reference to the embodiments described below, as well as in the accompanying patent claims. Brief description of the figures The present invention, and in particular its preferred embodiment, will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying figures. The figures illustrate ways of implementing the present invention and should not be construed as limiting other possible embodiments that fall within the scope of the appended claims. Figure 1 is a three-dimensional view of a nozzle arrangement according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a three-dimensional cross-sectional view of the nozzle arrangement of Fig. 1, Figure 3 is a front and side view of the nozzle arrangement of Fig. 1; the front and side views illustrate the movement of the nozzle tube section during rotation of the main drive shaft; Figure 4 is a close-up illustration of a part of the rotating mechanism, in which a cross-sectional view is shown to illustrate the interior of the worm gear of the helical gear. and Figure 5 is an illustration of a drive unit according to preferred embodiments of the invention. Detailed description of preferred embodiments Reference is made to Fig. 1, which is a three-dimensional view of a nozzle arrangement according to an embodiment of the present invention, and also to Fig. 2, which is a three-dimensional cross-sectional view of the nozzle arrangement of Fig. 1. As presented herein, nozzle arrangement 1 is intended to inject a liquid into a reservoir such as an oil / sludge tank for washing the interior of such tanks. As illustrated in Fig. 1, the nozzle arrangement comprises a downpipe 3. This downpipe 3 is held in a fixed, non-rotating position, e.g., by the use of a mounting flange 2 as illustrated (to be described later). The downpipe 3 advances into a tube section 4, which is rotatably arranged at a lower end of the downpipe 3 with an axis of rotation coinciding with a longitudinal axis of the downpipe 3. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, the downpipe 3 and the tube section 4 have substantially the same outside diameter and are substantially cylindrical in shape, so that the longitudinal axis of the downpipe 3 and of the tube section coincide. The lower end of tube section 4 has an angled cleaning head 5 which is located distal to the position n in which tube section 4 is rotatably arranged in the downpipe 3. This angle is 45 degrees in the embodiment shown in Fig. 1 but can be selected differently. The nozzle arrangement also has an angled nozzle tube section 7, which in the embodiment shown in Fig. 1 is at the upper end of the tube section. The angle is shown as 45 degrees, but other angles can be used. The tube section 4 and the nozzle tube section 7 are rotatably connected to each other by means of a nozzle hub 15 provided to rotatably connect the nozzle tube section 7 at an angle to the tube section 4 in the cleaner head (5). This hub is normally provided with bearings such as sealed bearings between a lower section of the tube section 4 and the nozzle tube section 7, and, as seen in Fig. 2, the tube section 4 has a section extending into the nozzle tube section 7. The nozzle arrangement further comprises a rotating mechanism 8 for rotating the tube section about a longitudinal axis and thus rotating the nozzle tube section 7. This rotating mechanism comprises a main drive shaft 13 connected to said tube section 4. As shown in Fig. 2, the main drive shaft preferably extends inside the downpipe and is connected to the interior of the tube section 4. The main drive shaft 13 extends through the downpipe 3 via a hermetically sealed passage that also includes bearings to allow rotation of the main drive shaft about its longitudinal direction. Therefore, by rotating the main drive shaft 13, the tube section 4 is rotated by the same amount as the rotation of the main drive shaft 13. The rotating mechanism also comprises a row of gear teeth 9 fixedly arranged, or formed at the lower end of the descender tube 3 on the outside thereof. It further comprises an angular gear 10 that cooperates with the helical gear 16. As illustrated, the helical gear is arranged to rotate the nozzle tube section 7 in the cleaner head 5, which is driven by the angular gear. In particular, the worm gear meshes with a gear provided in the nozzle hub 15 in the nozzle tube section 7, so that when the worm gear is rotated by the angular gear 10, the nozzle tube section rotates. A secondary drive shaft 11 is rotatably mounted on the outside of the tube section 4 and has at one end a sprocket of the angle gear 10 and at the other end a sprocket 12 that meshes with the gear row 9. Thus, when the main drive shaft 13 is rotated, the tube section 4 rotates. When the sprocket 12 meshes with the gear row 9, the secondary drive shaft is rotated, resulting in the rotation of the angle gear 10, which in turn rotates the worm gear of the helical gear 16, causing the nozzle tube section 7 to rotate. When the sprocket 12 does not mesh with the gear row 9, the tube section 4 still rotates when the drive shaft 13 is rotated.This results in a rotary stroke movement of nozzle tube section 7, in the sense that the rotation of the nozzle tube section only occurs during a part of a complete 360-degree rotation of tube section 4. As is more clearly seen in Fig. 2, the main drive shaft 13 extends inside the downpipe 3 and is engaged at its lower end with the inside of the pipe section 4, such that rotation of the main shaft 13 rotates the pipe section 4. The connection between the main drive shaft 13 and the pipe section 4 can be provided, as illustrated, by a crossbar extending through the pipe section 4, preferably inserted from the outside, and through the drive shaft 13 at its lower end. Note that the mechanical seal 17 is not shown in Fig. 2. For easy placement and securing of the nozzle assembly on a wall member of, e.g., a tank, the nozzle assembly may further comprise a mounting bracket 2 arranged on the downpipe 3 in a position where a portion of the downpipe 3 extends above the mounting bracket 2, forming an inlet pipe 14, and another portion extends below the mounting bracket 2. The inlet pipe 14 is used to feed fluid expelled from the nozzle into the nozzle assembly. The mounting bracket is configured to fix the nozzle assembly to a wall member, such as a roof or side wall, of the oil / sludge tank. While the nozzle assembly can be welded to the wall member, bolting the nozzle assembly to the wall member is often preferred to allow for easy removal of the nozzle assembly.For this purpose, the mounting bracket 2 is provided with the through holes shown in the illustration. The wall member shall have an opening large enough to allow the nozzle assembly parts below the mounting bracket 2 to be inserted into the tank, while remaining small enough to allow the nozzle assembly to be secured using the mounting bracket. The gears, i.e., the number of teeth on the different gears, of the rotating mechanism are configured so that during a complete 360-degree rotation of tube section 4, the nozzle hub 15 and therefore the nozzle pipe section 7 rotate less than 5 degrees, such as less than 4 degrees. In the preferred embodiments shown in Figures 1-4, the teeth of gear row 9 are uniformly arranged only along a segment of the circumference of the descending tube 3. However, gear row 9 can also be uniformly distributed over the entire circumference of the ascending tube. While the first option provides a relatively rapid rotation of nozzle tube section 7, which occurs only partially during a complete 360-degree rotation of tube section 4, the second option provides a relatively slower rotation of the nozzle tube section distributed over a full 360-degree rotation of tube section 4. This is because the rotation of nozzle tube section 7 only occurs when gear 12 meshes with one or more teeth of gear row 9. The rotation of the main drive shaft is normally achieved by means of a drive unit 23 (see Fig. 5) which is applied, for example, to the upper end of the main drive shaft 13. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, a notched structure 22 is provided for meshing with a gear, which is rotated by the drive unit 23. This drive unit 23 can be an electric or hydraulic motor, adapted to rotate the main drive shaft 13. The drive unit 23 can alternatively be arranged inside the downpipe 3. Figure 5 illustrates an example of a drive unit 23. The drive unit comprises a motor 24, such as a hydraulic or electric motor, connected to a gearbox 25, such as a helical gear, arranged to rotate a drive gear 26. When the drive unit 23 is installed, the drive gear meshes with a gear 27 on the main drive shaft, which is arranged to rotate the main drive shaft 13 when the main drive shaft gear 27 is rotated. In the illustration of Figure 5, the main drive shaft gear 27 is not shown but is illustrated to fit into the opening designated by the number 27. In one embodiment, the main drive shaft gear 27 has a spline that engages the notch 22 on the main drive shaft 13.Typically, the drive gear 26 and the main drive shaft gear are both spur gears, with the drive gear having twenty-three teeth and the main drive shaft gear 27 having forty teeth. In the embodiments shown in Figures 1-4, the portion of the downpipe 3 that extends above the mounting bracket 2 and forms an inlet pipe 14 has an elbow 141, which may be 90 degrees. In such embodiments, the main drive shaft 13 advantageously extends within the downpipe 3 and is engaged at a lower end thereof with the inside of the pipe section 4, e.g., as described above, such that a rotation of the main shaft 13 rotates the pipe section 4, and the main drive shaft 13 extends to an externally mounted drive unit 23 (such as a drive unit described above) through an opening provided in said elbow 141. As illustrated in Fig. 1, the nozzle arrangement has a mechanical seal 17 arranged in the inlet tube elbow 14, through which mechanical seal 17 the main drive shaft 13 extends to provide a hermetically sealed displacement of the main drive shaft 13. Accordingly, the drive unit 23 is arranged to be applied with the main drive shaft 13 at the end that extends outwards through said opening, which may be an opening sealed tightly by the mechanical seal 17, provided in said elbow 141. Reference is made to Fig. 4, which is a close-up illustration of a portion of the rotating mechanism. A cross-sectional view is shown to illustrate the interior of the worm gear. As illustrated, the worm 19 of the worm gear 16 is longitudinally sliding on a worm shaft 18 connected at one end to the angle gear 10. The distance the worm can slide is shown as "d" in Fig. 4. This has the effect that when the direction of rotation of the tube section 4 is reversed, the nozzle tube section 7 does not rotate until the worm has traveled the distance "d". This has the advantage that, in some situations, the fluid leaves a rinse trail when, for example, the nozzle moves upwards (the movement shown in Fig. 3), leaving areas unrinsed. Such rinse trails can be rinsed away by reversing the direction of rotation so that the nozzle moves downwards, since the sliding capacity of the worm gear 19 will compensate for the nozzle's travel. An initial rotation of the worm gear will result in only the worm gear moving along the worm gear shaft 19. The nozzle arrangement, as illustrated in Fig. 1 for example, may comprise a tubular nozzle extension 21 disposed at a distal end of nozzle tube section 7. This nozzle extension 21 may be a replaceable part and may allow the nozzle arrangement to be configured to have different lengths. To improve the cleaning operation using the nozzle arrangement, it can be beneficial to deliver the fluid as a jet with a relatively high momentum. To this end, the nozzle tube section 7, the nozzle extension 21 (when applicable), may comprise a nozzle tip 20 (see Fig. 1) disposed at the distal end, relative to the nozzle hub 15, of the nozzle tube 7 and configured to accelerate fluid flowing through the nozzle tip 20. The nozzle tip 20 may be provided as a tubular section having a cross-sectional area converging towards the nozzle tip outlet. Typical dimensions for the cross-sectional area at the nozzle tip outlet (20) can be a hydraulic diameter of 16 mm, such as 18 mm, such as 20 mm. The invention also relates to a method for cleaning a tank, such as a sludge / oil tank. Such a method may comprise • provide a nozzle arrangement as described in this document in a wall member of a tank; • provide a connection to a cleaning fluid source to the nozzle arrangement; • Rotate the main drive shaft 13 while expelling the cleaning fluid through the nozzle arrangement. Furthermore, the invention also relates to a tank, such as a sludge / oil tank, comprising a nozzle arrangement according to any of the preceding claims disposed in a wall section, such as a roof, of said tank. Although the present invention has been described in connection with the specified embodiments, it should not be construed as being limited in any way to the examples presented. The scope of the present invention is set forth in the appended claims. In the context of the claims, the terms "comprising" or "comprising" do not exclude other possible elements or steps. Furthermore, the mention of references such as "a," "an," or "one," etc., should not be construed as excluding a plurality. The use of reference signs in the claims with respect to the elements indicated in the figures shall also not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. Reference numbers used in this report 1 Nozzle arrangement 2 Mounting bracket 3 Downpipe 4 Pipe section 5 Cleaning head 6 Drive mechanism 7 Nozzle tube section 8 Rotating mechanism 9th row of teeth 10 Angular gear 11 Secondary drive shaft 12 Gear wheel 13 Main drive shaft 14 Inlet pipe 15 Nozzle Cube 16 Helical gear 17 Mechanical airtight seal 18 Worm screw shaft 19 Helical gear worm 20 Nozzle tip 21 Tubular nozzle extension 22 Notch for application, e.g., with a gear 23 Drive unit 24 Motor 25 Gearbox 26 Drive gear 27 Main drive shaft gear

Claims

1. A nozzle arrangement (1) for injecting a liquid into a reservoir such as an oil / sludge reservoir, said nozzle arrangement comprising: a downpipe (3); a tube section (4) rotatably arranged at a lower end of the downpipe (3) with an axis of rotation coinciding with a longitudinal axis of the downpipe (3); and said tube section (4) comprising a wiper head (5) angled distal to the position in which the tube section (4) is rotatably arranged in the downpipe (3); an angled nozzle tube section (7); and a nozzle hub (15) provided for rotatably connecting the angled nozzle tube section (7) to said tube section (4) in the angled wiper head (5). The nozzle arrangement further comprising a rotary mechanism (8) comprising: a main drive shaft (13) connected to said tube section (4); and a row of teeth.(9) gears fixedly arranged or formed at the lower end of the downpipe (3); - an angle gear (10); characterized in that the nozzle arrangement further comprises: - a helical gear (16) arranged to rotate the nozzle tube section (7) at an angle in the angled cleaner head (5) driven by the angle gear; - a secondary drive shaft (11) rotatably mounted on the outside of said tube section (4) and having at one end a toothed wheel of the angle gear (10) and at the other end a toothed wheel (12) cooperating with said gear tooth row (9), - said gear tooth row (9) being arranged on the outside of the downpipe (3).

2. Nozzle arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the main drive shaft (13) extends inside the downpipe (3) and is applied at a lower end thereof with the inside of the tube section (4) ofsuch that a rotation of the main shaft (13) rotates the tube section (4).

3. A nozzle arrangement according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a mounting bracket (2) disposed on said downpipe (3) in a position wherein a portion of the downpipe (3) extends above said mounting bracket (2) and forms an inlet tube (14) and another portion extends below the mounting bracket (2), said mounting bracket being configured to attach the nozzle arrangement to a wall element, such as a roof, of the oil / sludge tank.

4. Nozzle arrangement (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the gears of the rotating mechanism are configured such that during a complete 360-degree rotation of the tube section (4), the nozzle hub (15) and thus the angled nozzle tube section (7) rotates less than 5 degrees, e.g., less than 4 degrees.

5. Arrangement (1)6. Nozzle arrangement according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the teeth of the gear tooth row (9) are arranged uniformly only along a segment of the circumference of the downpipe (3).

7. Nozzle arrangement according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising a drive unit (23), such as an electric or hydraulic motor, adapted to rotate the main drive shaft (13).

8. Nozzle arrangement according to claim 6, wherein the drive unit (23) further comprises a gearbox (25), such as a helical gear, arranged to rotate a drive gear (26), meshing the drive gear with a gear (27) of the main drive shaft which is arranged to rotate the main drive shaft (13) by rotating the gear (27) of the main drive shaft.Any of claims 3 to 6, wherein the portion of the downpipe (3) extending above the mounting bracket (2) and forming an inlet pipe (14) comprises an elbow (141), and wherein the main drive shaft (13) extends within the downpipe (3) and is folded at a lower end thereof with the inside of the pipe section (4) such that rotation of the main drive shaft (13) rotates the pipe section (4), and said main drive shaft (13) extends to an externally mounted drive unit (23) through an opening provided in said elbow (141).

9. A nozzle arrangement according to claim 8, further comprising a mechanical seal (17) disposed in said elbow of the inlet pipe (14) through which the mechanical seal (17) of the main drive shaft (13) extends to provide a hermetically sealed displacement.

10. Nozzle arrangement according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the drive unit (23) is arranged to be applied to the main drive shaft (13) at the end extending outwards through the opening provided in the elbow (141).

11. Nozzle arrangement according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the worm (19) of the helical gear (16) is longitudinally slidable on a worm shaft (18) connected at one end to the angle gear (10).

12. Nozzle arrangement according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising a tubular nozzle extension (21) disposed at a distal end of the angled nozzle tube section (7).

13. Nozzle arrangement according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the angled nozzle tube section (7) or, when dependent on claim 8, the nozzle arrangement is...

12. The tubular nozzle extension (21) comprises a nozzle tip (20) disposed at the distal end, with respect to the nozzle hub (15), of the nozzle tube section (7) at an angle and configured to accelerate the fluid flowing through the nozzle tip (20), said nozzle tip (20) preferably being provided as a tubular section having a cross-sectional area converging towards the nozzle tip outlet.

14. Nozzle arrangement according to claim 13, wherein the cross-sectional area at the nozzle tip outlet (20) has a diameter or hydraulic diameter of 16 mm, such as 18 mm, such as 20 mm.

15. A method for cleaning a tank, such as a sludge / oil tank, comprising: - providing a nozzle arrangement according to any of the preceding claims in a tank wall member; - providing a connection to a cleaning fluid sourceto the nozzle arrangement; - rotating the main drive shaft (13) while expelling the cleaning fluid through the nozzle arrangement.

16. A tank, such as a sludge / oil tank comprising a nozzle arrangement according to any of claims 1 to 14 above disposed in a wall section, such as a roof, of said tank.

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