Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
  • F16K—VALVES; TAPS; COCKS; ACTUATING-FLOATS; DEVICES FOR VENTING OR AERATING
  • F16K24/00—Devices, e.g. valves, for venting or aerating enclosures
  • F16K24/06—Devices, e.g. valves, for venting or aerating enclosures for aerating only
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60P—VEHICLES ADAPTED FOR LOAD TRANSPORTATION OR TO TRANSPORT, TO CARRY, OR TO COMPRISE SPECIAL LOADS OR OBJECTS
  • B60P3/00—Vehicles adapted to transport, to carry or to comprise special loads or objects
  • B60P3/22—Tank vehicles
  • B60P3/224—Tank vehicles comprising auxiliary devices, e.g. for unloading or level indicating
  • B60P3/225—Adaptations for pumps or valves
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60P—VEHICLES ADAPTED FOR LOAD TRANSPORTATION OR TO TRANSPORT, TO CARRY, OR TO COMPRISE SPECIAL LOADS OR OBJECTS
  • B60P3/00—Vehicles adapted to transport, to carry or to comprise special loads or objects
  • B60P3/22—Tank vehicles
  • B60P3/224—Tank vehicles comprising auxiliary devices, e.g. for unloading or level indicating
  • B60P3/2255—Ventilating arrangements

Definitions

• Closing device for a tank The invention relates to a closing device for a tank accord ⁇ ing to the preamble of claim 1.
• Tanks for transporting liquids are usually cleaned using steam. If during such a cleaning process the steam pipeline valves, drain connection and the tank hood are closed prema ⁇ turely, hot steam remains in the interior of the tank. Cool ⁇ ing and condensation of this steam results in a significant underpressure within the tank compared to the surrounding at- mosphere. Since such tanks are not usually designed to withstand external overpressure, this can lead to tank implosions completely destroying the tanks.
• a known way to overcome this problem is additional fortifica- tion of the tank by thickening the walls or applying ribbing to them. This, however, significantly increases the weight of the tank and necessitates major changes in the production process, thereby incurring significant costs.
• Such mechanisms can prevent tank implo- sions in the case of mishandling the tank during washing operations.
• the rupture disc since the rupture disc is destroyed in the process, it has to be exchanged after its activation, leading to a certain downtime in which the tank is unusable and incurring significant maintenance costs.
• Such a closing device for an opening of a storage and/or transportation tank for liquids comprises at least one means for equalizing pressure between a tank interior and the envi- ronment if a pressure difference between the environment and the interior exceeds a predetermined limit.
• the means for equalizing pressure is a reversibly acting underpressure valve.
• a reversibly acting underpressure valve In contrast to the known use of rupture discs, such a valve does not require maintenance or exchange after its opening. It therefore can reliably prevent tank implosions due to improper cleaning procedures without adding significant weight to the tank and without incurring non-negligible maintenance costs and times.
• the valve comprises one moveable disc, which, in a closed state of the valve, is held in an airtight manner against a flange of a holding ring of the device by at least one spring. Since a pressure difference caused by underpressure in the interior of the tank exerts a force on the disc which is counteracted to a point by the force of the spring, this presents an easy way to define the predetermined pressure limit at which the valve should open - the valve construction can easily be ad- justed to the desired pressure limit by varying the spring constant of the spring and the area of the disc exposed to the pressure differential.
• the valve moves into an opened state, in which the moveable disc is positioned at a distance to the flange, opening a fluidic connection between the interior and the environment. This allows for the equilibration of pressure be- tween the tank interior and the environment, thereby prevent ⁇ ing an implosion of the tank.
• the at least one spring is connected to a fixed disc of the valve. This provides a stable abutment for the spring within a compact valve design.
• the fixed disc is connected to the holding ring in a manner allowing for adjustment of a distance between the fixed disc and the holding ring.
• This allows for easy adjust- ment of the cross- section of the fluidic connection between the interior and the environment in the opened state of the valve and can furthermore be utilized for adjusting the pressure difference at which the valve opens.
• the holding ring is connectable to a body of the tank by at least one bolt or similar. The device therefore can simply replace a normal tank hatch or cover without necessitating any changes in the tank design.
• tanks 10 as partially shown in the FIG are routinely purged with hot steam.
• improper han- dling e.g. closing all valves and hatches on the tank 10 be ⁇ fore replacing the steam with air, the steam condenses, which results in a pressure difference between the tank interior 12 and the environment 14.
• the resulting inward force on the tank wall 16 can lead to the implosion and destruction of the tank 10.
• a closing device 18 for an opening 20 in the tank wall 16 is provided.
• the closing device 18 comprises an outer ring 22, which is fixed to a tank-side ring 24 surrounding the opening 20 by means of bolts 26.
• Additional bolts 28 hold a fixed disc 30 in a defined and ad- justable distance to the ring 22. Coupled to the fixed disc 30 via springs 32 is a movable disc 34. This arrangement forms an underpressure valve.
• the springs 32 press the movable disc 34 against a flange 36 of the ring 22, thereby sealing the tank. Since the pressure of the environment 14 exerts a force on the outer surface 38 of the movable disc 34 and the pressure of the interior 12 exerts a counter- acting force on the inner surface 40 of the movable disc 34, the position of the disc 34 is dependent on the sum of these forces and the forces exerted by the springs 32.
• the device 18 works reversibly and does not need any maintenance after activation. It can replace normal covers for the opening 20 without any significant requirements for additional space or weight.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Public Health (AREA)
• Transportation (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Pressure Vessels And Lids Thereof (AREA)
• Refuse Collection And Transfer (AREA)

Priority Applications (1)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=47553327

Family Applications (1)

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Cited By (3)

Families Citing this family (1)

Citations (7)

• 2012
  • 2012-06-19 WO PCT/RU2012/000474 patent/WO2013191575A1/fr not_active Ceased

Patent Citations (7)

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