Patent ID: 8122898

Claim:
A tank cleaning system for cleaning interior surfaces of a vertically oriented tank having an inside diameter and an inside circumference of substantially circular cross section, the tank defining a central vertical axis, and the tank having an access defining a diameter less than the inside diameter, the cleaning system comprising: a. a feed sub-system comprising a prime mover adapted to be positioned outside the tank to be cleaned; b. a support spaced above and outside the access, wherein the feed sub-system is positioned laterally of the support; c. a spray sub-system comprising: at least two fluid spray nozzles, each of which makes a track against the interior surface; a telescoping arm to which each of the at least two fluid spray nozzles is mounted; means to collapse the spray sub-system to a horizontally measured diameter less than the diameter of the access and to expand the spray sub-system to a horizontally measured diameter greater than the diameter of the access when the spray sub-system is positioned within a tank for cleaning to position the spray nozzles to between one and six inches from the interior surfaces of the tank, the spray sub-system directed along the vertical axis of the tank; and a damping system to control a first rate at which the spray sub-system collapses to a horizontally measured diameter less than the diameter of the access and further controls a second rate at which the spray sub-system expands to a horizontally measured diameter greater than the diameter of the access; and d. a flexible feed tube which conducts high pressure fluid of at least 9,000 psi. from the feed sub-system to the spray sub-system; wherein the prime mover develops lateral and unidirectional rotational movement in the feed tube; and further wherein the feed tube suspends the spray sub-system within the tank by gravity.