Research On Hydrocarbon Cleaning Of Thin And Long Copper Tube

With the increasing demand on cleanliness of copper tubes in modern industry, more and more attention has been paid to the cleaning before tubes'delivery. However, among the existing methods for tube cleaning, there is no one effective in cleaning of thin and long tube. Because of feature slender shape, it is difficult for the cleaning tools to enter the tube and also easy to be blocked. Even if the dirt is washed down, it is hard to be discharged. So, only simply purging can be done for it. If the tubes leave the factory without high cleanliness, it will cause pollution to the transmission medium. In some precise areas, the pollution will directly affect life of the whole system. Therefore, improving the existing methods or finding a new method is very necessary. For the copper tube factory, it also can greatly increase the added value of products.The developed of hydrocarbon cleaning is based on efficient and environment friendly hydrocarbon cleaning agent. In a variety of cleaning equipments, the hydrocarbon cleaning equipment has become the main trend. Hydrocarbon cleaning agent has a excellent ability in cleaning the lubricant oil remaining on the inner face of copper tube after drawing. In this paper, hydrocarbon cleaning is introduced into the cleaning of thin and long copper tube for the first time. High cleanliness is achieved through the way of using the copper tube to be cleaned as a part of the cleaning agent pipe line. The main research contents and results are as follows:(1) A detailed investigation of existing methods for tube cleaning is made. According to the analysis of their characteristics and problems existing in the cleaning of thin and long copper tube, a new idea of making cleaning agent flow in the tube by placing tube into the pipe line is opened up. Accordingly, hydrocarbon cleaning is introduced.(2) Based on the analysis of hydrocarbon cleaning agent's characteristics and technology, the cleaning process of thin and long copper tube is established. In chronological order, it is steam cleaning, fluid cleaning, steam heating, vacuum drying. This study is aimed at the copper tube that mainly polluted by oil. Internal diameter ranges from 2 to 10 mm. Length ranges from 1 to 12 m. Thickness ranges from 2 to 10 mm.(3) A detailed analysis of the influence factor of cleaning is made. According to the experiment of water bath, the efficient cleaning ability of hydrocarbon cleaning agent in the temperature of 90℃is observed. In the cleaning scope of copper tube studied in this paper, such a consult is obtained:when the flow rate of hydrocarbon cleaning agent is more than 2.2L/min, the flowage is turbulence which improves the cleaning power. (4) The experiment equipment for cleaning of thin and long copper tube is developed. The design and selection of key parts is analyzed. A kind of union joint which can accommodate vacuum drying and quick assemble is designed.Using 90℃hydrocarbon cleaning agent, the most energy-saving time of fluid cleaning with the equipment is 6min. And the average rest dirt in tubes is about 0.259g/m2, which is lower than 0.8 g/m2 of current level. High micro-cleanliness is observed by micrographs taken from an indirect way.