Patent ID: 7169439

Claim:
A method of repairing a fibrous refractory wall of a high temperature process vessel having an operational temperature of about 500° F. up to about 3000° F., comprising the steps of: (a) providing a thermally protected lance having an atomizing tube in thermal communication therewith and a nozzle structure which includes a nozzle opening at a distal end of the lance, wherein the atomizing tube has a discharge opening which is proximally spaced from, but coaxially aligned with, the nozzle opening of the nozzle structure; (b) inserting the a thermally protected lance into the process vessel while said process vessel is at or near its high operational temperature so that the nozzle opening of the nozzle structure at the distal end thereof is positioned adjacent to an area of the process vessel wall in need of repair, and so that the lance may be manipulated from outside the process vessel during repair of the wall thereof; (c) pumping a fibrous refractory material having a viscosity of about 1,000 Poise or greater from a source thereof at the proximal end of the lance to the nozzle opening of the nozzle structure at the distal end of the lance; (d) directing an atomizing gas through the atomizing tube so that the atomizing gas is discharged from the discharge opening thereof coaxially upstream of the nozzle opening and into the fibrous refractory material proximally of the nozzle opening to thereby cause the fibrous refractory material to be discharged from the nozzle opening of the nozzle structure in the form of an atomized spray; and (e) manipulating the lance from outside the process vessel so as to cause the atomized spray of the fibrous material to contact the wall of the process vessel thereby repairing the same.