Hermetic Pipe Penetration Shaped Collar Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hermetic pipe penetrations in buildings, particularly in nuclear power plants, face issues with uncontrollable pressure-stressed welds, thermal stress, and inaccessible leak-tightness monitoring, which compromise safety and service life.
Innovation Solution
A hermetic pipe penetration design featuring a shaped collar that connects the embeddable and flow parts without a circumferential pressure-stressed weld, allowing for leak-tightness monitoring and thermal stress reduction, with a rigidity-creating part that adjusts for varying temperatures and heat transfer, and includes a circumferential inspection chamber for continuous monitoring.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a circumferential pressure-stressed weld is used to connect the flow pipe to the head, then the connection strength is improved, but the weld becomes inaccessible for inspection and uncontrollable after installation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a collar as an intermediary component between the flow pipe and the head. The collar provides a accessible welding surface that mediates the connection, allowing the flow pipe to be welded to the collar in a accessible location while the collar itself connects to the head. This separates the connection function from the inspection accessibility problem.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent moves the welding operation from an inaccessible internal dimension (inside the penetration assembly) to an accessible external dimension (outside the penetration assembly). The collar extends the connection interface to a location where welding can be performed and inspected from the external environment, changing the spatial dimension of the operation.
2Strength
If the head is made robust to ensure structural integrity, then the connection strength is improved, but thermal stress increases at the transition between cylindrical and disk-shaped parts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the head structure into multiple parts: a cylindrical portion, a transition portion with reduced thickness, and a disk-shaped portion. This segmentation allows each part to be optimized for its specific function while reducing stress concentration at transitions through the intermediate transition portion.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by varying the thickness of the head structure. The transition portion has reduced thickness compared to the cylindrical and disk portions, creating a localized geometric feature that reduces thermal stress concentration at the transition zone while maintaining overall structural integrity.
3Strength
If the embeddable part is firmly connected to the building structure, then the rigidity and load-bearing capacity are improved, but the thermal expansion difference between the flow part and embeddable part creates stress
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a flexible membrane or thin film structure that allows relative movement between the flow part and embeddable part. This flexible element accommodates thermal expansion differences while maintaining the hermetic seal and connection integrity, preventing stress buildup from differential thermal movement.
4Reliability
If assembly welds are made to ensure hermetic separation, then the hermeticity is improved, but the welds are located in inaccessible positions for leak-tightness monitoring
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses the collar as an intermediary that provides an accessible location for welding and inspection. The collar's external positioning allows assembly welds to be made and inspected from accessible locations, eliminating the inaccessibility problem while maintaining hermetic separation functionality.
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
This design enhances operational safety and lifetime by eliminating uncontrollable welds, allowing for flexible rigidity adjustment, reducing thermal stress, and enabling continuous leak-tightness monitoring, while maintaining fire resistance and radiation protection.
Implementation Method 1
penetrations with media temperatures exceeding 150 °C, in addition to the insulation, are cooled actively with low-pressure cooling air (to reduce the temperature of the adjacent concrete under 70 °C)
Implementation Method 2
penetrations with media temperatures exceeding 80 °C are completed with insulation of the flow part
Data Source
Figure 1a
Figure 1b~2
Figure 3~5
AI summary
Hermetic pipe penetration to pass media transported by a pipeline through a wall separating mutually hermetically separated building spaces; such hermetic pipe penetration comprises an embeddable part (9) and a flow part (5) and a shaped collar (1), said shaped collar (1) comprising a rigidity-creating part (1a) and a connecting part (lb), the connecting part (1b) is provided for a connection of the embeddable part (9) with the flow part (5). The shape of the rigidity-creating part (1a) influences the rigidity of the connection of the flow part (5) with the embeddable part (9) and also a quantity of heat passing from the flow part (5) to the embeddable part (9). The connecting part (lb) of the shaped collar (1) is provided with a foot (1c). The foot (1c) is designed to be fitted on the flow part (5) and connected with it by connecting joints (3).