PSNS Articulated Nozzle (Fall 2006)

From wsuwiki

The Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF) performs repair and maintenance on a variety of Naval vessels and facilities. One specific aspect of facility maintenance is the internal cleaning of storage tanks. When the tanks are emptied, deposits remain that cannot be effectively removed by the current cleaning system. The Puget Sound Naval Shipyard has proposed that a supplementary steerable nozzle be developed to remedy this problem. Considerations for this design are listed below.

• To reduce the amount of waste created, low flow rates must be used.

• The nozzle must be remotely operated.

• The cleaning system must withstand periodic pressure tests as well as harsh environmental conditions.

• The supplementary cleaning system must be compatible with the system already in place.

• This system must require zero maintenance over the lifecycle of the tank.

Currently a manual cleaning process must be performed periodically to remove deposits missed by the system now in place. This is very costly, and also increases the risk of exposure to hazardous materials. An effective steerable nozzle will reduce these costs dramatically and eliminate the buildup of deposits.