Robot Climbs Boiler Tube's Walls to Improve Safety for Human Workers
Photo: ICM
Cleaning power station boiler tube walls can be a danger to humans working in power station environments. Not only is it also a hazardous task, but it can generally only be done during station down times to minimize the risk to human cleaners. A new robot has been developed to help address this problem and is specifically designed to climb and clean boiler tube walls, even in confined spaces and at elevated particulate levels.
Created by International Climbing Machines, the boiler tube wall-climbing (BTWC) robot is specifically designed for the harsh conditions of working in power station boilers. The BTWC gets about by attaching itself with electromagnets to standard-size boiler tubes and inching its way up.
In steam-driven electric power stains, water circulates in tubes heated by fuel burned in a furnace, creating hot gas which heats water in the steam-generating tubes. Over time, these boiler tubes develop a thick residue on their outer surface from the burning of fossil fuels in the furnace, which significantly affects the efficiency of the boiler itself. Typically, workers clean these tubes by climbing up scaffolding, much of which is very high and dangerous as boiler rubes can be anywhere up to 180 feet.
The BTWC also has a mechanical cleaning head that can utilize a variety of removable brushes, front and rear-mounted cameras — one to provide navigation and the other to enable remote visual inspection of the cleaned surface. Its cleaning head also incorporates a particulate capture shroud that catches dust and debris from the rotating brush and feeds it through a HEPA-filtered vacuum source. This assists in reducing airborne particles produced in cleaning operations, further protecting workers from hazardous materials.
Fitted with a range of detectors and other devices, ICM sees the robot being used in the future in nondestructive testing on the metal in the boiler tube walls.
