Abstract:
Copper slags are primarily used as a blasting material in the removal and refining of old coated
paint on maritime ships and boats. During this cleaning process a small amount copper is mixed
with the wastewater system. The copper slags and wastewater mixture which known as slag will
get solidifies over the time and eventually blocks the drainage pipes in dry dock areas. In Sri
Lankan dry docks these blocked pipes are removed, and new pipes are replaced without cleaning
the drainage pipes. There are no such cleaning mechanisms or machineries that have been
introduced for the specific application according to the litreature review carried out. As a
solution for the identified problem a simpler, semi-automatic, more efficient sewer line clog
removing machine was designed and developed. The fabricated machine composed of two main
components, one for removing the clog and one component for driving the removing
mechanism. The clog removing mechanism is equipped with a specially designed drill bit for
clog removing, driving mechanism of the drill bit, the supporting wheel mechanism of the drill
bit. The clog removing mechanism is spring tensioned and can be adjustable for the pipe size
and was designed considering a range of diameters for drainage pipes. The driving mechanism
which drives the clog removing mechanism forward and backwards is driven by pulley
mechanism and using a retractable cable mechanism, the spring cable is wrapped and unfolded
around the rolling disk. The speed of the rolling disk is also adjusted using the pulley mechanism
and belt drive mechanism. The clog removing mechanism and driving mechanism of the
developed clog removal machine worked well when tested and can be used for clog removal
successfully in dry dock areas. The Proposed machine also represents a cost-effective
replacement for the current practice.
