The invention disclosed relates to an apparatus for purging hazardous or volatile materials from external loading lines fixed to the bottom of cargo tank compartments. According to the invention, pressurized gas is directed into each external loading line to force the material to the lowest point in the loading line, through a purging tube, and back into the cargo tank compartment. In one embodiment, the purging apparatus is wholly contained on the cargo tank. In another embodiment, the apparatus is partly contained on the cargo loading facility and partly contained on the cargo tank.

The invention relates to a method for generating a scale-removing or coat-applying system based on a vacuum-balancing low-pressure multicomponent two-phase fluid flow. A cleaning site such as, e.g., a pipe circuit (A) or the inner cavities of a heat exchanger (B) is supplied with an already used cleaning agent in a two- or multiphase flow made up of ca. 10% liquid and ca. 90% air or gas, which after separation is used again by way of continuously monitoring the ion density of the separated liquid, using a conductivity apparatus which determines whether it shall be filtered and reused, be supplied with new liquid and/or solids, or be dumped. A liquid flow and separated air/gas flow from an air pump meet at a mixing point from where an intended two-phase flow flows to the cleaning site (A), (B), or similar, through this and then forward to return as a re-use medium. A gas-injected liquid/powder flow from a mixing unit is also used for coating, e.g., the inner surfaces of pipes and tanks, or objects placed in a suitable chamber, tunnel, or similar, where excess coating medium is returned for separation for possible re-use, re-introduction or dumping. The method operates an expansion separator (2), air pump (3), conductivity meter (5), cyclone filter (7), valve control (11), pump (12), vapor supply (13), ejector (14), mixing head (18) and sundry pressure (15), temperature (4, 6, 17, 20) and volume (16, 21) control units.

The invention disclosed relates to a method for purging hazardous or volatile materials from external loading lines fixed to the bottom of cargo tank compartments. According to the invention, pressurized gas is directed into each external loading line to force the material to the lowest point in the loading line, through a purging tube, and back into the cargo tank compartment. In one embodiment, the purging apparatus is wholly contained on the cargo tank. In another embodiment, the apparatus is partly contained on the cargo loading facility and partly contained on the cargo tank.

An improved method and apparatus for cleaning liquid-carrying hoses, and the like. A suitable cleaning solvent is passed under pressure through the hose. The pressure of the solvent delivered to the hose is measured and used to control the pressure of compressed air mixed with the solvent to maintain a turbulent flow of a predetermined mix ratio for various solvent pressures. The turbulent solvent/compressed air mixture increases scrubbing of the hose to reduce the cleaning time and the quantity of solvent required to clean the hose.

This invention concerns a system for insuring and accurately controlling the turbulent flow of a pressurized mixture of a gas and a cleaning fluid for purging and cleaning ducts. The pressures of cleaning fluid and the gas are continuously sensed and transduced into electrical signals for controlling valves for the pressurized gas to maintain and insure its pressure at a predetermined amount relative to the pressure of said cleaning fluid, so that when the gas and fluid are mixed in a turbulator, turbulent flow is insured. The improvements of this circuit include a pressure sensor transducer for sensing the pressure of the input of the air to the turbulator and feeding it back to the main air pressure transducer for accurately maintaining a predetermined ratio between the gas and cleaning fluid pressures within less than about 1 psi in at least pressures of 150 psi. A pressure warning signal indicates when the gas and/or cleaning fluid pressure is too low to produce effective turbulent flow. Furthermore, since the circuitry is so sensitive, a low pass filter is connected to the output of the cleaning fluid transducer to prevent unnecessary operation of the valves that control the gas pressure to the turbulator when the circuit is in its standby mode, thereby increasing the life of these gas control valves. An enrichment circuit for the cleaning fluid pressure sensors may vary the differences in pressure between the cleaning fluid and gas, not only for different cleaning fluids, but also during turbulation. Furthermore, the accurate control of the relative pressures of gas and cleaning fluid in the turbulator enables the turbulent flow mixture not only to clean the ducts, but also to simultaneously purge them.