One exemplary embodiment of this disclosure relates to a method of forming an engine component. The method includes forming an engine component having an internal passageway, the internal passageway formed with an initial dimension. The method further includes establishing a flow of machining fluid within the internal passageway, the machining fluid changing the initial dimension.

A method of cleaning a contaminated surface, such as cleaning the elongate interior lumen of an endoscope contaminated with flesh, bone, blood, mucous, faeces or biofilm, said method comprising the steps of: providing a suspension of solid particles in a liquid to said contaminated surface, and flowing said suspension along said surface thereby to remove contaminant from the surface. The suspension is preferably an ice slurry, where the solid material is ice crystals. The slurry preferably has a solid fraction between 50-85% by volume. A freezing point depressant may be present.

A cleaning system comprising: (a) one or more pumps; (b) one or more foamers; and (c) one or more cleaning reservoirs including one or more cleaning solutions; wherein the one or more foamers combine a fluid and the cleaning solution to form a foamed solution so that the solution is introduced into a system to be cleaned.

The invention relates to a method for the hydroerosive processing of components, in which a liquid comprising grinding particles flows over surfaces of the component (1), in a device having a channel (3) through which the liquid comprising grinding particles flows under pressure and in which the component (1) to be processed is received, and in which a valve (5), with which the flow of the liquid can be adjusted, is positioned in front of the component (1) in the flow direction, comprising the following steps: (a) closing the valve (5) in front of the component (1) and generating a predetermined pressure in the liquid comprising the grinding particles; (b) opening the valve (5) in front of the component (1) and setting up a first volumetric flow of the liquid comprising the grinding particles, which is from 5 to 80% less than the product of the minimum setpoint cross-sectional area flowed through and the maximum permissible speed at this position, without the predetermined pressure generated in step (a) being changed; (c) measuring the pressure difference which is set up between a position in front of the component (1) to be processed and a position behind the component to be processed in the liquid comprising the grinding particles; (d) increasing the volumetric flow of the liquid comprising the grinding particles until the volumetric flow corresponds to the product of the minimum setpoint cross-sectional area flowed through and the maximum permissible speed at this position, as soon as the pressure difference measured in step (c) has decreased by from 5 to 80%; (e) closing the valve (5) in front of the component (1) and terminating the flow, as soon as the volumetric flow in step (d) corresponds to the product of the minimum setpoint cross-sectional area flowed through and the maximum permissible speed at this position.

The invention relates to a method for determining the geometry of a raw part, which is shaped to form a finished part in a hydroerosive grinding method, comprising the following steps: (a) creation of a structural model of the finished part to be produced, the structural model of the finished part to be produced being used as an initial model for the first execution of the next step (b); (b) mathematical simulation of the hydroerosive grinding method, with which an intermediate model with a modified geometry is produced starting from an initial model; (c) comparison of the intermediate model produced in step (b) with the structural model of the finished part and determination of the distance, orthogonal to the surface of the structural model of the finished part, between the structural model of the finished part to be produced and the intermediate model at each node of the structural model, and comparison of the orthogonal distance with a predetermined limit value; (d) creation of a modified model of the component by adding from 5 to 99% of the distance determined in step (c) with the opposite sign at each node on the surface of the model which is used as an initial model in step (b), orthogonally to the surface, and repetition of steps (b) to (d), the modified model created in step (d) being used as a new initial model in step (b) if the orthogonal distance determined in step (c) at at least one node is greater than the predetermined limit value; (e) termination of the simulation when the orthogonal distance determined in step (c) between the structural model of the finished part and the intermediate model at each node falls below a predetermined limit value, the initial model of the step (b) carried out last corresponding to the raw part geometry to be determined.

A system, apparatus and method of cleaning tubes of a heat exchanger or a tube bundle that includes disengaging the heat exchanger or bundle from a use-position in a process or a plant; moving the heat exchanger or bundle to a cleaning station remote from the use-position; positioning the heat exchanger or tube bundle in front of a cleaning apparatus; providing water jet cleaning equipment on the cleaning apparatus; responding to programming in a computing device and controlling the water jet cleaning equipment and a cleaning operation; providing a pattern of tube openings defined in an end plate of the heat exchanger or bundle to the computing device; actuating the water jet cleaning equipment with the computing device; and manually or automatically performing a cleaning operation with the water jet cleaning equipment under control of the programming of the computing device and by following the provided pattern of tube openings.

Water-jet cleaning system and a method of cleaning a heat exchanger. The equipment includes a rotary tool having a lance with at least two degrees of freedom. The lance's movements relative to openings defined in the heat exchanger face plate are controlled via a smart indexing controller. The controller includes an electronic communication device that is specifically programmed to selectively activate various components of the rotary tool and a water delivery system. The programming utilizes an observed, learned, or uploaded pattern of the heat exchanger tube openings to selectively rotate the lance relative to the rotary tool's mounting assembly or linearly move the lance towards or away from the mounting assembly. The controller moves the lance to align a nozzle thereon with a selected opening in the face plate and then delivers a high pressure water jet therethrough.

Water-jet cleaning system and a method of cleaning a heat exchanger. The equipment includes a rotary tool having a lance with at least two degrees of freedom. The lance's movements relative to openings defined in the heat exchanger face plate are controlled via a smart indexing controller. The controller includes an electronic communication device that is specifically programmed to selectively activate various components of the rotary tool and a water delivery system. The programming utilizes an observed, learned, or uploaded pattern of the heat exchanger tube openings to selectively rotate the lance relative to the rotary tool's mounting assembly or linearly move the lance towards or away from the mounting assembly. The controller moves the lance to align a nozzle thereon with a selected opening in the face plate and then delivers a high pressure water jet therethrough.

The present subject matter relates to a method and an apparatus in the form of a machine system (1200) for machining a component (100) with an internal passage (115). In an aspect, the method comprises periodically injecting 5 abrasive slurry back and forth through the internal passage (115) at a pressure ranging from about 25 bar to about 35 bar. The abrasive slurry comprises a mixture of abrasive particles having a size in the range of about 40 m to about 60 m, and a slurry medium. The volume fraction of the abrasive particles in the slurry medium is about 40% to about 50%. Further, the injection of the abrasive 10 slurry is performed for a predefined number of process cycles at predetermined time versus pressure changes to obtain the component having a final average surface roughness of less than about 3.0 m.

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.