Protecting the Interior Surface of Sewage Pipelines

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By Abram Teplitskiy, Igor Endovtsev and Igor Shpachenko

Sewage is mostly transported by gravity from the customers to waste water treatment plants – through concrete pipes. Because of gravity, the upper part of sewage pipelines remains empty, which leaves an area of concentrated bacteria. The bacteria germinate due to the content of the transporting substances. As a result of this bacterial activity, the strength of pipelines' concrete weakens and leads to the destruction of pipes.

One of the effective ways to protect this arching (vaulting) part of pipelines is to spray the pipeline interiors with protective solutions. To do this, the authors developed a mechanical device using the TRIZ principle of self-service. This device allows for jet-spraying of a protection solution by spiral trajectory as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Rotating Jet-sprayer Inside  Concrete Pipeline

Figure 2 shows a small cart, which is driven along the bottom of a pipe. (Inside the pipe is a truss that connects to an exterior motor.) The authors used the self-service principle to create a spiral trajectory without using an additional source of energy. After analyzing all available sources of energy, there was an energy resource already at hand – the rotation of the wheel moving the jet-sprayer.

As previously stated, the energy source for moving this device is located outside the pipe and connects to the cart by a truss. Rollers center and stabilize the moving curt and can be adjusted inside the pipe's internal surface. Due to this capturing of the cart's own energy, the adjustable sprayer moves smoothly inside the pipe. Pressure-spraying material is supplied by separate hose, moving inside the pipe along with cart. Synchronization of the mechanical system is supplied from the elasticity of rubber hose, also developed using the self-serving principle. (See Figure 3.)

The jet-sprayer (1, Figure 3) strengthens carrier (2, Figure 3) with a ball-bearing (5, Figure 2) that is able to rotate relative to its longitude axle. The flexible hoses (6, Figure 2) are connected to the jet-sprayer (1, Figure 3) and to sockets in the axle, which strengthens the hold to the cart. Carrier (3, Figure 2) strengthens disk (4, Figure 2) by never allowing it the opportunity to intersect with the flexible hoses (6, Figure 2).