Cetek Corporation

Fosbel International Limited

Dale R Miller, Ii

Robert D Chambers

Steve Cherico

William MacFarlane

A monitoring system for a furnace, such as one in which ceramic welding is practiced, where the temperature often exceeds 2000&deg; F., allows substantially distortion-free, real time, monitoring. In order to monitor the furnace, a fluid cooled lance designed to be held by an operator outside the furnace has a camera (e.g. microcamera, endoscope or boroscope) mounted at the free end of the lance. An electrical connection is provided between the camera and a portable control unit mounted exteriorly of the furnace. A stationary video monitor and recorder may be mounted in the control unit, and a portable real time video monitor is mounted on the operator's headgear so that it may be seen by the operator when manipulating the lance. The lance is cooled by a water jacket having an inlet and outlet at the end of the lance exterior of the furnace, and the water jacket substantially surrounds the camera. The camera is mounted in a waterproof metal casing and the cord is covered by an aramid reinforced covering adjacent the camera. A second, sapphire, lens protects the camera lens from radiant heat, and air under pressure also helps cool the camera.

Camera insertion into a furnace

It is possible to clean high temperature (over 400, e. g. over 1000, degrees F) surfaces in a time and cost efficient manner by using a liquid-cooled ceramic welding lance to direct (at super-atmospheric pressure) a blasting media at the surfaces to be cleaned. The blasting media is preferably combustible at the temperature of the environment surrounding the surfaces, and may include one or more organic agricultural abrasive materials (preferably black walnut shells) as the sole or primary constituent. Blasting may be practiced by directing the media at the surfaces to be cleaned at a pressure of between about 40-100 psi, for example continuously for as long as is necessary (e. g. more than 30 minutes), without any need to remove the lance from the environment. The method is desirably practiced to clean, while in operation or in situ, metal surfaces having scale buildup which adversely affects the ability of the metal surfaces to transfer heat, reheat tubes, process tubes, furnace surfaces, or the like.

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Middleburg Heights, OH, United States of America

Dale R Miller, Ii