Apparatus and method for determining the internal cleanliness of a tube

Abstract

A system to measure the internal state of a bundle of tubes by injecting a signal into each tube of the bundle, receiving reflections from the tube due to anomalies within the tube, then analyzing the reflections to determine the type or characteristics about the anomalies. The analyzed information is stored in database to be used for statistical processing. Further, the device can be used in the performance of a cleaning process by conducting an initial assessment of the tubes in a bundle of tubes, comparing the stored data and estimating the number of cleaning cycles that will be required, and re-conducting the evaluation of the state of the tubes after every cleaning cycle or after every few cleaning cycles.

1 .- 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A system for evaluating the interior state of one or more associated tubes, comprising:
 a processing unit;   a memory element communicatively coupled to the processing unit;   a signal injector interfacing with the processing unit;   a signal detector interfacing with the processing unit; and   an interface element that is coupled to the signal injector and the signal detector and is configured to interface with one tube, at a time, of the bundle of tubes under test;   wherein the processing unit is configured to at least partially control the signal injector to cause the injection of a signal into the interior of a current-measured tube of the associated tubes through the interface element;   wherein the signal detector is configured to detect a signal reflected back out of the current-measured tube through the interface element and provide information regarding the reflected signal to the processing unit; and   wherein the processing unit is further configured to process the information regarding the reflected signal received from each one of a plurality of measured tubes of the associated tubes, to deduce one or more parameters regarding the current interior state of the associated tubes and to store the deduced one or more parameters in the memory element.   
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein said interface element comprises multiple interface tubes being coupled to the same signal injector and the same signal detector and being configured to interface with multiple tubes under test, at the same time or in a consecutive fashion, wherein said processing unit is configured to at least partially control the signal injector to cause the injection of a signal into the interior of the multiple tubes through the interface tubes; wherein the signal detector is configured to detect a signal reflected back out of the multiple tubes through the interface tubes and provide information regarding the reflected signal from each one of the multiple tubes to the processing unit; and wherein the processing unit is further configured to process the information regarding the reflected signal received from each one of the multiple tubes under test, to deduce one or more parameters regarding the current interior state of the multiple tubes and to store the deduced one or more parameters in the memory element to thereby evaluate the interior state of multiple tubes. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 22 , wherein the one or more parameters regarding the current interior state are statistical information selected from a group consisting of an average roughness value, the average size of a blockage, and the size of the biggest blockage in the multiple tubes. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 22 , wherein the processing unit is further configured to collect one or more parameters regarding the current performance of the multiple tubes and store it in the memory element. 
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 23 , wherein the one or more parameters regarding the current performance are selected from a group consisting of temperature difference between the ingress and the egress of the multiple tubes, the pressure difference over the multiple tubes; and the flow speed. 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 23 , wherein the processing unit is further configured to compare at least one of the collected one or more parameters regarding the performance of the multiple tubes and the deduced one or more parameters regarding the current interior state of the multiple tubes to previously stored information in order to determine whether a remedial process is necessary. 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 25 , wherein the processing unit is further configured to determine the number of remedial cycles required to bring said multiple tube to a desired interior state. 
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 22 , wherein the signal injector includes a transmitter that is configured to transmit an acoustic wave toward each interface tube. 
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 22 , wherein the one or more parameters regarding the current interior state of the multiple tubes comprises an average number of blockages in a tube above a certain threshold. 
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 22 , wherein the multiple tubes are part of a heat exchanger. 
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 22 , wherein each interface tube comprises a pressure sensor. 
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein said processing unit is configured and operable to filter out reflections signatures indicative of known obstructions including bends and diameter changes to thereby provide information on blockages, cracks or other anomalies. 
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein said processing unit is configured and operable to perform signal processing to identify and differentiate between reflections from tube bends and/or diameter changes from other anomalies. 
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein said processing unit is configured and operable to identify different types, patterns or frequencies of signals to detect different anomalies. 
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein said processing unit is configured and operable to detect specific signal frequencies being indicative of at least one particular deposit. 
     
     
         36 . A method for evaluating the interior state of a plurality of associated tubes, the method comprising the action of identifying the interior state of selected tubes from the associated tubes by conducting the acts of:
 interfacing an interface element of a measuring device to one target tube selected from a plurality of tubes to be tested;   injecting a signal from the measuring device into the selected target tube such that the signal propagates through the interface element and into the selected target tube;   detecting at the measuring device, signal reflections exiting from the selected target tube via the interface element;   repeating the previous acts per each tube from the selected tubes of the associated of tubes; and   processing the signal reflections from each tube of the selected tubes, to deduce one or more parameters regarding the current interior state of the associated tubes and to store the deduced one or more parameters into a memory element.   
     
     
         37 . The method for  claim 36 , wherein, the method comprising:
 interfacing multiple interface tubes of a measuring device to multiple tubes to be tested;   injecting a signal from the measuring device into the multiple tubes such that the signal propagates through the interface tubes and into the multiple tubes;   detecting at the measuring device, signal reflections exiting from each tube of the multiple tubes via the interface tubes;   repeating the previous acts per each tube from the multiple tubes; and   evaluating the interior state of the multiple tubes.   
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein said processing of the signal reflections comprises using known signal reflections from clean tubes. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein said processing of the signal reflections comprises filter out reflections signatures indicative of known obstructions including bends and diameter changes to thereby provide information on blockages, cracks or other anomalies. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein said processing of the signal reflections comprises identifying and differentiating between reflections from tube bends and/or diameter changes from other anomalies. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein said processing of the signal reflections comprises identifying different types, patterns or frequencies of signals to detect different anomalies. 
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein said processing of the signal reflections comprises detecting specific signal frequencies being indicative of at least one particular deposit.