Systems, methods and devices for cooling tower maintenance and repair
View Patent ↗A solution for cooling tower maintenance and repair including a hydro-power tool for cleaning beneath low hanging cooling tower fills, a tool for accessing between hanging cooling tower fills, a system for removing gas and other non-compressibles from an effluent flow while cleaning a cooling tower basin, and various hydro-booster components for interjecting a motive force of high pressure water into a vacuumed flow or an effluent flow while cleaning a cooling tower basin. The hydro-power tool operates under negative pressure produced by high-pressure nozzles within the interior of the hydro-power tool body. The hydro-boosters are fed by a high-pressure water manifold and include high-pressure nozzles that are angled into the flow path of a tube to increase the negative pressure.
1 . A system for maintenance of a cooling tower, the cooling tower including a plurality of hanging fill sheets and a cool water basin of beneath the plurality of hanging fill sheets, the system comprising:
at least one hanging fill access tool comprising a flat, elongated arm, the hanging fill access tool having a handle at one end, wherein upon sliding the flat, elongated arm between a first hanging fill sheet and a second hanging fill sheet, the handle can be rotated to cause the flat, elongated arm to turn, thereby separating the first hanging fill sheet and the second hanging fill sheet;
a hydro-power cleaning tool having a tool body defining a fluid path between a distal end and a proximate end of the tool body, the hydro-power cleaning tool comprising:
an open mouth associated with said distal end of the tool body;
a nozzle associated with said proximate end of the tool body; and
one or more internal nozzles associated with said distal end of the tool body and operable to direct high-pressure water at an angle towards said proximate end of the tool body to produce a suction force at said open mouth;
a scrubber that is fluidly associated with the nozzle of the hydro-power cleaning tool, whereby the hydro-power cleaning tool can be inserted into the cool water basin to extract water laden with debris from the cool water basin and deliver it to the scrubber to remove debris from the extracted water.
2 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising one or my more hydro-booster components, each hydro-booster component comprising:
a clam shell casing; and
one or more high-pressure tubes terminating with high-pressure nozzles, wherein:
the one or more hydro-booster components are mounted in the system such that the high-pressure nozzles are angled to promote an increased fluid flow rate.
3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the scrubber further comprises:
a mechanical pump vessel fluidly associated with the nozzle of the hydro-power cleaning tool and configured to receive extracted water with debris; and
an air evacuation tank fluidly associated with the mechanical pump vessel.
4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the mechanical pump vessel is positioned below the air evacuation tank and the scrubber further comprises:
a large diameter hose creating a fluid path from the lower side of the air evacuation tank to the upper side of the mechanical pump vessel;
a small diameter hose creating a fluid path from the upper side of the mechanical pump vessel to the upper side of the air evacuation tank; and
whereby gases existing in the mechanical pump vessel is are forced into the small diameter hose to be extracted at the air evacuation tank.
5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the large diameter hose has a shut off valve and the small diameter hose has a shut off valve, whereby when the large diameter hose shut off valve is open and the small diameter hose shut off valve is open, the combination of water weight and gravity force the gases from the mechanical pump vessel to the air evacuation tank.
6 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the air evacuation tank includes a water makeup inlet, whereby volume formerly occupied by extracted gases can be filled by water.
7 . The system of claim 6 , further comprising a distribution pressure regulating manifold that provides pressurized water to one or more of the hydro-booster components.
8 . The system of claim 7 , further comprising a pressure washer that can be used to clean debris from the hanging fill sheets, the pressure washer comprising:
a feed hose fluidly associated with the scrubber; and
one of said hydro-booster components associated with the feed hose, whereby water scrubbed by the scrubber can be pressurized and delivered to the pressure washer.
9 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the tool body of the hydro-power cleaning tool has a height of one (1) inch or less.
10 . The system of claim 7 , further comprising a strainer positioned inline between the hydro-power cleaning tool and the mechanical pump vessel, whereby dirt and debris can be filtered from the water being provided to the mechanical pump vessel.
11 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising one or more hydro-booster components, each hydro-booster component comprising:
a tube with a first quick-connect connector on a distal end of the tube;
a second quick-connect connector on a proximate end of the tube; and
one or more high-pressure tubes terminating with high-pressure nozzles angled towards the distal end of the tube, whereby when the first quick-connect connector and the second quick-connect connector are mounted to a fluid path in the system, high-pressure water from the high-pressure nozzles increases the negative pressure within the fluid path to increase a flow rate within the fluid path.
12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the scrubber further comprises:
a mechanical pump vessel fluidly associated with the nozzle of the hydro-power cleaning tool, whereby extracted water with debris can be received into the mechanical pump vessel; and
an air evacuation tank fluidly associated with the mechanical pump vessel.
13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the mechanical pump vessel is positioned below the air evacuation tank and the scrubber further comprises:
a large diameter hose creating a fluid path from the lower side of the air evacuation tank to the upper side of the mechanical pump vessel;
a small diameter hose creating a fluid path from the upper side of the mechanical pump vessel to the upper side of the air evacuation tank; and
whereby gases existing in the mechanical pump vessel are forced into the small diameter hose to be extracted at the air evacuation tank.
14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the large diameter hose has a shut off valve and the small diameter hose has a shut off valve, whereby when the large diameter hose shut off valve is open and the small diameter hose shut off valve is open, the combination of water weight and gravity force the gases from the mechanical pump vessel to the air evacuation tank.
15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the air evacuation tank includes a water makeup inlet, whereby volume formerly occupied by extracted gases can be filled by water.
16 . The system of claim 15 , further comprising a distribution pressure regulating manifold that provides pressurized water to one or more of the hydro-booster components.
17 . The system of claim 16 , further comprising a pressure washer that can be used to clean debris from the hanging fill sheets, the pressure washer comprising:
a feed hose fluidly associated with the scrubber; and
a one of said hydro-booster components associated with the feed hose, whereby water scrubbed by the scrubber can be pressurized and delivered to the pressure washer.
18 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the tool body of the hydro-power cleaning tool has a height of one (1) inch or less.
19 . The system of claim 16 , further comprising a strainer positioned inline between the hydro-power cleaning tool and the mechanical pump vessel, whereby dirt and debris can be filtered from the water being provided to the mechanical pump vessel.