Disclosed is an apparatus for water jet cutting including: a water source; a pump communicating with the water source, generating a high pressure water flow; a tank containing an abrasive material in suspension, including a fluid and abrasive particles dispersed homogeneously in the fluid; and a cutting head in fluid communication with the pump and the tank, the cutting head including a mixing chamber. The tank of the abrasive material in suspension is in communication with the cutting head by an abrasive inlet channel and the cutting head is configured to generate a vacuum pressure that draws the abrasive material in suspension through the abrasive inlet channel toward the mixing chamber to mix the abrasive material in suspension and the high pressure water and form a jet of water and abrasive. Also disclosed is a method for generating a water jet cut that can be implemented with the apparatus.

Provided is a centrifuge media separator for separating blast particulate from fine particulate carried by air flowing from a blast cabinet and through the media separator. The centrifuge media separator comprises an upper panel, a lower panel, and an outer wall. The upper panel has a central opening formed therein. The outer wall is configured in a truncated logarithmic shape and which extends between the upper and lower panels. The outer wall has at least one particulate escape aperture formed therein. The upper panel, lower panel and outer wall collectively define a curvilinear air passageway having an inlet and an outlet. An air foil extends from the outer wall in to the air passageway. The distance than the air foil extends in to the air passageway is adjustable. The inlet is configured to allow a flow of air to enter the air passageway and circulate therethrough toward the outlet. The escape aperture is configured to exhaust the blast particulate out of the passageway. The central opening is configured to exhaust the fine particulate out of the passageway.

A system and method for cleaning of heat exchanger tubes including an assembly, an indexer, and a communication device provided with specialized software and programming. The indexer includes orthogonally arranged first and second arms. A trolley and sensors are provided on the indexer arms. One or more lances are provided on the trolley to deliver water jets into the openings. Sensors measure displacement as the trolley is moved relative to the heat exchanger's face plate. An operator controls the system from a distance away using the communication device. During setup, the pattern of the face plate is learned and mapped utilizing information from the sensors as one of the inputs. This information is utilized to help navigate the face plate during a subsequent cleaning operation. A kit for retrofitting existing X-Y indexers is also disclosed.

The present invention provides a system and method for wirelessly controlling an operating device by way of a wireless connection between the operating device and a computing device. The computing device provides an interface for controlling the operating device via a control unit which is removably connected to the operating device. The control unit and the computing device communicate wirelessly allowing a user to move about freely while still controlling operating device. Control unit may include at least one valve for use in controlling the operating device.

An abrasive jet system for producing an abrasive cutting jet is provided. The system includes a source of abrasive suspension connected via a conduit to a cutting head. A source of displacement fluid is provided to flush abrasive suspension in the conduit towards the source of abrasive suspension, when the pressure at the source of abrasive suspension is below the pressure at the source of displacement fluid and no water jet is present in the cutting head. Also provided is a method for suspending a settled or partly settled bed of abrasive.

Disclosed herein are systems and methods for improving the performance of a fluid jet cutting system by testing and adjusting characteristics of the system based on the effect of the characteristics on forces imparted by the system to a workpiece being cut. Also disclosed are systems and methods for monitoring and validating the performance of fluid jet cutting systems, and for diagnosing such systems. In some cases, the technologies described herein can be used to determine whether components of a fluid jet system require maintenance, or that characteristics of the system require adjustment.

Aspects of the present disclosure are presented for techniques in removing roughness and surface anomalies in structures with internal passages and intricate external surfaces, such as structures with internal fluid passages constructed by additive manufacturing (AM), using an abrasive slurry. Post processing methods which are capable of smoothing non-uniform surface roughness within intricate fluid passages are a prerequisite to the widespread adoption of AM for complex fluid systems. In some embodiments, a mixture of abrasive powder and deionized (DI) water is used to create a viscous slurry which can then be pumped through the internal fluid passages of a workpiece until the desired surface roughness is achieved. This abrasive flow machine (AFM) is capable of smoothing a wide range of roughnesses, internal geometries, and printable materials.

A system and method for cleaning of heat exchanger tubes including an assembly, an indexer, and a communication device provided with specialized software and programming. The indexer includes orthogonally arranged first and second arms. A trolley and sensors are provided on the indexer arms. One or more lances are provided on the trolley to deliver water jets into the openings. Sensors measure displacement as the trolley is moved relative to the heat exchanger's face plate. An operator controls the system from a distance away using the communication device. During setup, the pattern of the face plate is learned and mapped utilizing information from the sensors as one of the inputs. This information is utilized to help navigate the face plate during a subsequent cleaning operation. A kit for retrofitting existing X-Y indexers is also disclosed.

A high pressure fluid system including enhanced safety, maintenance and servicing features. The system can include a CAM assembly module, having a valve seat assembly, seal cartridge assembly and inlet manifold, that is easily installed in and removed from a frame and/discharge manifold as a single unit. A discharge manifold can isolate different pressure rated passageways of the system, and multiple rupture discs associated with the same. A discharge manifold end plate can be included to provide ease of repair of discharge outlets and to establish a plumbing system for the rupture discs. A quick coupler can facilitate connection between a plunger of the seal cartridge assembly and a cross head stub connected to a power frame. A lubrication valve assembly can provide and meter lubrication from a high pressure inlet source to a plunger and packing of the seal cartridge assembly.

A blast cleaning system has a nozzle configured to deliver a pressurized blast cleaning media. The blast cleaning media includes a pressurized fluid and water ice particles as the primary blast cleaning component. The system includes an input hopper configured to accept supplied water ice in bulk form from an outside source. The system further includes a particle sizing module configured to produce the water ice particles for the pressurized blast cleaning media from the supplied water ice after the supplied water ice has been accepted into the input hopper.