Method of replacing a tube on a straight-tube heat exchanger
US5205038A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 19, 1991 |
| Grant date | Apr 27, 1993 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 19, 2011 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T29/49821
- WIPO fieldMachine tools
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A transverse cut (18, 19) is made on a heat exchanger tube (4) to be replaced in the vicinity of its connectors (14, 15), at each end. A cut (19') is made in the frustoconical zone (16') of connection of the tube (4) to the second connector (15). The cutting operations are effected from inside the tube (4) and through one of the tube plates (2, 3). The tube (4) to be replaced is extracted from the heat exchanger through the interior of the second connector (15) and the corresponding opening (13) in the second tube plate (3). A replacement tube is introduced into the heat exchanger through the opening (13) in the second tube plate (3) until a first end of the tube engaged in the heat exchanger reaches the level of the cut zone (18) of the first connector (14). The first end of the tube is welded on the first connector (14). The length of the replacement tube is adjusted so that its second end can be engaged in the second connector (15) over a predetermined length, and the second end of the replacement tube is joined by an overhang weld inside the second connector (15).
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.