Angled Branch Pipe Access Seal for High-Pressure Fluid Delivery
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing devices are unable to effectively access, inspect, or deliver fluids to pipes that branch from larger diameter pipes at an angle, especially under high pressure, requiring costly and time-consuming pipe cutting for maintenance.
Innovation Solution
A device with a seal member and telescopically extending legs that forms a fluid seal with the header pipe, allowing delivery of fluids up to 85 bar pressure, and optionally includes a camera and sensing devices for inspection, with a head piece that creates a pressure seal and mechanical coupling with the feeder tube.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional pipe access device is used to engage with a feeder tube at an angle in a header pipe, then the device can be positioned at the feeder tube opening, but it cannot maintain a fluid seal under high pressure conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing plate features a convex exterior surface shaped to conform to the curved inner surface of the header pipe. This curved geometry allows the sealing plate to maintain intimate contact with the pipe wall under pressure, distributing the load and preventing seal failure that would occur with flat sealing surfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The device divides the sealing function into a separate sealing plate component that can be independently optimized for high-pressure conditions. The sealing plate is designed with specific dimensional relationships (seal diameter to device length ratio of at least 0.25) to ensure adequate sealing surface area while maintaining structural integrity under pressure.
2Ease of operation
If pipe cutting is performed to access feeder tubes for cleaning, testing, or repair, then direct access to the feeder tube interior is achieved, but the facility must be taken offline for a relatively long time and the process becomes expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The access device is designed to be inserted through the header pipe and engage with the feeder tube from the interior side of the header pipe wall. This nested configuration allows the device to access the feeder tube without requiring external pipe cutting, as the device passes through the header pipe wall and positions itself within the feeder tube opening.
Solution Approach 2:
The device serves as an intermediary tool that bridges the gap between the header pipe interior and the feeder tube interior. By engaging the feeder tube from within the header pipe, it provides a pathway for delivering cleaning fluids or inspection equipment without requiring direct external access to the feeder tube.
3Reliability
If a seal member with sufficient dimension is used to ensure a reliable fluid seal under high pressure, then the seal reliability improves, but the device complexity and size increase
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing plate dimensions are optimized based on specific parameter relationships rather than simply increasing overall device size. The patent specifies that the seal member dimension should be at least a quarter of the length of the device, creating a scalable design that maintains seal reliability while controlling device proportions.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables efficient access and delivery of cleaning and testing equipment to feeder tubes at high pressures, reducing downtime and maintenance costs by forming a reliable seal and allowing inspection through angled connections.
Implementation Method 1
The plate of the seal member comprises a convex exterior surface that is shaped to conform to the inner surface of a header pipe to ensure a fluid seal and mechanical coupling and to assist in maintaining a fluid seal even when fluid is delivered under high pressure
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A device (100) and method for delivering a fluid to a first conduit (12) having an opening that communicates with a larger second conduit (10), the device having a tubular body (110) defining a central axis and having a first opening at a first end and a second opening at a second end, the second end being at an angle to the central axis, wherein the second opening is associated with a seal member (113) capable of creating a fluid seal such that fluid can be delivered to the first conduit (12), and wherein the seal member (113) has an elongate body having a convex upper surface (114) engageable with an inner surface of the second conduit (12).