Tube bundle removal method and apparatus
US4199857A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 1, 1978 |
| Grant date | Apr 29, 1980 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 1, 1998 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T29/53113
- WIPO fieldThermal processes and apparatus
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
Method and apparatus for removing the tube bundle from a steam generator disposed in a nuclear steam power plant while preserving an environment seal between the inside of the generator and the containment vessel. The tube bundle severed from the tubesheet is withdrawn upwardly into a multi-section crane including metal cask placed over an opened upper end of the steam generator shell. Removal of the bundle-containing cask is effectuated by the plant's radius crane and the cask lowered onto a metal cover plate made secure to the bottom of the cask. By a series of manipulations by the cask and radius cranes and use of tube and wrapper cutting equipment, length sections of the tube bundle and its wrapper can be contained in respective sequentially-separated top-and-bottom covered cask length sections for removal from the containment vessel.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.