Apparatus for dismantling potentially contaminated tubes from a tube bundle
US5293682A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 21, 1993 |
| Grant date | Mar 15, 1994 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 21, 2013 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T29/53122
- WIPO fieldMachine tools
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
An apparatus for deforming, splitting and chopping of contaminated, or potentially contaminated, heat exchanger tubes into short tubes segments that easily may transported to an off-site location for decontamination or disposal. The invention has particular utility in dismantling potentially contaminated tubes from a tube bundle that is part of a condenser for a BWR or PWR nuclear power plant. The invention involves first gripping and deforming the exterior periphery of a potentially contaminated tube with opposed transverse forces sufficient to travel the tube longitudinally out of the tubesheets in a deformed condition, and then splitting the deformed tube into first and second wall sections which are chopped into short length wall segments. The deformation preferably flattens the tube so that the short wall segments are substantially planar, with exposed inner and outer surfaces.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.