Vacuum Implosion

vege57 wrote:

HawkTheSlayer wrote:

Crusader wrote:Don't take a submarine too deep.

That was cool.

Those vacuum trucks are indispensable in the refinery and chemical plants. I've watched them do all kinds of stuff, from sucking nasty, burnt crude out of pipes after a unit fire to filling large 24" lines with water and hydro testing them.

I would have thought their real value would be in creating a vacuum in the system to boil off any hydrocarbons or other volatiles that may be present in the system

If its an open ended situation I cant see that there would be any difference between sucking and blowing  

Yes, you would think with air sucking or blowing would have similar effects.
From my experience a vacuum is much better with air/gases.
Pressure is better with fluids.

vege57 wrote:

Crusader wrote:They use vacuum lines to clear acids and other chemicals from the machines that make microchips.

Do they use vacuums or create a vacuum ?

Both.  The tools are a closed system when depressurized to remove the contents, then the system is opened and sucked through a filter to an exhaust for purging. That's also how they emptied the fuel tanks in military jets so we could go inside for fuel quantity probe and fuel distribution system maintenance.

They pumped the tanks dry to as low of a p.s.i. as possible.  Then they remove the bottom access panel in the main tank and pump fresh air into the tank for 8 hours before we were allowed to enter.   We still would get headaches from the fumes.

Crusader wrote:

vege57 wrote:

Crusader wrote:They use vacuum lines to clear acids and other chemicals from the machines that make microchips.

Do they use vacuums or create a vacuum ?

Both.  The tools are a closed system when depressurized to remove the contents, then the system is opened and suckered through a filter to an exhaust for purging. That's also how they emptied the fuel tanks in military jets so we could go inside for fuel quantity probe and fuel distribution system maintenance.

They pumped the tanks dry to as low of a p.s.i. as possible.  Then they remove the bottom access panel in the main tank and pump fresh air into the tank for 8 hours before we were allowed to enter.   We still would get headaches from the fumes.

Wow