US 12,031,782 B2
Tube cleaning system and method
Derek Sumsion, Rayleigh (GB); Michael Watson, Rayleigh (GB); and Jon Camp, Rayleigh (GB)
Assigned to Tube Tech Industrial Ltd., Rayleigh (GB)
Appl. No. 17/632,025
Filed by Tube Tech Industrial Limited, Rayleigh (GB)
PCT Filed Jul. 21, 2020, PCT No. PCT/IB2020/056836
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Feb. 1, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/019365, PCT Pub. Date Feb. 4, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. 1911027 (GB), filed on Aug. 1, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0268535 A1, Aug. 25, 2022
Int. Cl. F28G 3/16 (2006.01); B08B 9/023 (2006.01); B08B 13/00 (2006.01)
CPC F28G 3/166 (2013.01) [B08B 9/023 (2013.01); B08B 13/00 (2013.01); B08B 2209/02 (2013.01)] 17 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A heat exchanger cleaning system for determining the position of a lance within a tube bundle of a heat exchanger core, the system comprising:
a chassis,
a lance mounted on the chassis for movement in a direction transverse to the tubes of the bundle to penetrate between the tubes of the bundle and direct a jet of fluid into spaces between the tubes of the bundle,
an arm mounted on the chassis alongside the lance and movable relative to the lance and the chassis,
an abutment mounted to an end of the arm to sense an outer surface of the tube bundle, the abutment comprising a pair of jaws straddling the lance and at least one spring urging the jaws into contact with the outer surface of the bundle to be cleaned, and
a transducer for measuring movement of the lance relative to the arm to determine an extent penetration of the lance into the tube bundle.