Pipe Unplugging by Fluid Wave-Action

Category: Waste Management > Waste Treatment > Pipe Unplugging
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AEAT technology is based on a fluid wave-action principle, which operates much like ocean wave-action on beach erosion, possibly aided by use of a solvent, coupled with positive and negative pressure pulses that tend to loosen the blockage. It can operate on a long pipeline that has drained down below a blockage. The system consists of a water/solvent tank, pressurize/vacuum vessel, fluidic control unit, vacuum finishing pump, and an air-operated jet pump eductor

Benefits

• Short mobilization and demobilization times possible with an adaptive jumper. • Can be used to deliver chemical solvent to the blockage where a solvent may be of assistance in loosening a blockage. • Can be applied to the section of the pipeline that has drained down below the elevation of the blockage. • System works under relatively low drive pressures (100 psi tested). • Technology can negotiate many elbows. (Unlike mechanical devices, this method is unaffected by elbows in the pipeline.) • Technology can be operated remotely. • No water discharged until the blockage is cleared, therefore minimizing the amount of liquid added. • Location of the blockage can be determined by the amount of water required to back-fill the pipeline.

Limitations

• Length of reach in an empty pipeline is limited by the strength of the vacuum pump. • Positive and negative pressure cycles acting to loosen a blockage were effective for most blockage types; however, unplugging time is relatively high as compared to other methods when considered without the effect of vacuum and pressure cycles. • Although the technology achieved its primary goals for the demonstration, the technology is still in its infancy and needs further development.

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