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| CSIRO | SOLVE | Issue 7 | May 06 | |
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ARTICLE
FLUIDS ENGINEERING:
Jet-Stream Cure By David Adams
A device that creates a high-velocity jet inside storage tanks promises to ease sediment build-up, making cleaning easier and safer. One of the toughest cleaning jobs in industry – the inside of giant storage tanks at refineries and bulk chemical storage facilities – may be about to get a whole lot easier, safer and cheaper with the development in Australia of an innovative cleaning device. The patented R-jet device is placed inside the tank, where it generates a high-velocity rotational jet that re-suspends sediment and keeps solids suspended so they cannot settle and create the tough layer of sludge that currently has to be removed manually. This typically involves workers using water cannons, shovels or even mini-bulldozers and can mean a tank being offline for several months. Regulations require tanks, which can measure more than 60 metres in diameter, to be regularly inspected – meaning regular cleaning. The Australian-developed R-jet is considered a breakthrough for the petro-chemical industry, one that should save millions of dollars and people’s lives.
“We came up with the idea of a high-velocity rotating jet located in the tank for suspending and mixing and cleaning operations, so people don’t have to do it manually,” says Dr Wu, who is a principal scientist at CSIRO’s Fluids Engineering Laboratory at Highett in Melbourne. He says that in the Australian industry alone, manual cleaning costs millions of dollars a year in downtime, labour and direct capital costs. Dr Wu says the development of the R-jet also mitigates the risk to workers who have to do the actual cleaning. “At the moment people are still doing it manually in lots of refineries – they have to go into the tank and physically remove the sludge,” he says. “They are working in an environment where the vapour can explode.” The dangers of manual cleaning were tragically illustrated in Japan several years ago when four workers at a refinery in Nagoya were killed in an explosion that happened while they were cleaning a tank. ‘We came up with the idea of a high-velocity rotating jet located in the tank for suspending and mixing and cleaning operations, so people don’t have to do it manually’ – Dr Jie Wu Dr Wu says the R-jet technology can either be permanently installed in a tank to prevent sludge build-up, or installed on a temporary basis. The R-jet was recently tested in an Australian refinery by Paul White, who runs Innobiz Solutions, a South Australian-based consultancy that works with the petroleum and alternative fuels industries. He says two tanks were cleaned; the first as a demonstration trial and the second under a commercial agreement with the oil company. Both operations were successful. “It’s a low-cost alternative that can be justified on safety grounds and economic grounds,” he says. “You get the tank back into service faster and at a lower cost, but most importantly without placing workers in hazardous environments.” Mr White believes the R-jet technology will be attractive to the oil industry, and other bulk liquid industries, worldwide. Dr Dilip Manuel, business development manager at CSIRO Manufacturing and Infrastructure Technology (CMIT) says the organisation is now looking for a suitable engineering company to commercialise the technology globally. As well as the oil industry, Dr Manuel says R-jet could have useful applications in a range of other fields including the wastewater industries – “anything where people are storing liquid and need to keep the materials suspended so they don’t have a costly sludge-cleaning problem”. APPLICATION The R-jet generates a high-velocity rotational jet to stop sludge generating in the bottom of massive tanks BENEFIT Dangerous tank-cleaning jobs and downtime will be reduced through R-jet use For further information contact: |
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Dr Jie Wu, who led the CSIRO team that
developed the R-jet device, says the idea of an
automated device arose when researchers were
helping Exxon Mobil decommission its Adelaide
refinery several years ago.
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