Detonative cleaning apparatus

摘要

An apparatus for cleaning a surface within a vessel having a vessel wall separating a vessel exterior from a vessel interior and having a wall aperture is disclosed. The apparatus includes an elongate conduit (26) which has an upstream first and a downstream second end. The elongate conduit (26) is positioned to direct a shock wave from the second end into the vessel interior. A source of fuel and oxidizer (32) is coupled to the conduit (26) to deliver the fuel and oxidizer to the conduit (26) and an initiator (50) is positioned to initiate a reaction of the fuel and oxidizer to produce a detonation wave within the conduit (26) for generating the shock wave. A supplemental gas inlet is provided for receiving a supplemental gas, and a supplemental gas outlet is provided for discharging the supplemental gas so that it will to pass into the vessel.