Highly turbulent quench chamber

• US 9,599,405 B2
• Filed: 10/12/2015
• Issued: 03/21/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/19/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Umicore AG & Company KG (Umicore S.A.)
• Original Assignee: SDC Materials,Inc.
• Inventors: Biberger, Maximilian A., Layman, Frederick P.
• Primary Examiner(s): LEVKOVICH, NATALIA A
• Application Number:
  US14/880,953
• Publication Number:
  US 20160138870A1
• Time in Patent Office: 526 Days
• Field of Search: 436/155, 700/282
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 2/18 Liquid substances or solutions comprising solids or dissolved gases
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 19/0013 Controlling the temperature of the process
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 19/088 giving rise to electric discharges for heating purposes H05B7/00; for the production of ozone C01B13/11, H01T19/00
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2/16 by suspending the powder material in a gas, e.g. in fluidised beds or as a falling curtain
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/0805 giving rise to electric discharges
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/0879 Solid
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/0894 Processes carried out in the presence of a plasma
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 25/00 Catalysts of the Raney type
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 25/02 Raney nickel
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 35/56 Foraminous structures having flow-through passages or channels, e.g. grids or three-dimensional monoliths
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 37/0018 Addition of a binding agent or of material, later completely removed among others as result of heat treatment, leaching or washing,(e.g. forming of pores; protective layer, desintegrating by heat)
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 37/0027 Powdering
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 37/06 Washing B01J37/0009, B01J37/0018 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 37/349 making use of flames, plasmas or lasers
• CPC Class Codes: B22F 2202/13 Use of plasma
• CPC Class Codes: B22F 2203/13 pressure
• CPC Class Codes: B22F 2999/00 Aspects linked to processes or compositions used in powder metallurgy
• CPC Class Codes: B22F 9/12 starting from gaseous material
• CPC Class Codes: F28C 3/16 the particulate material forming a bed, e.g. fluidised, on vibratory sieves
• CPC Class Codes: F28D 15/00 Heat-exchange apparatus with the intermediate heat-transfer medium in closed tubes passing into or through the conduit walls ; Heat-exchange apparatus employing intermediate heat-transfer medium or bodies F28D17/00, F28D19/00, F28D20/00 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F28D 7/024 : the conduits of only one medium being helically coiled tubes, the coils having a cylindrical configuration
• CPC Class Codes: F28D 7/08 : the conduits being otherwise bent, e.g. in a serpentine or zig-zag F28D7/10 takes precedenceF28D7/0016 and F28D7/0033 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F28F 27/00 : Control arrangements or safety devices specially adapted for heat-exchange or heat-transfer apparatus control arrangements in general G05
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 623/92 : Method or apparatus for preparing or treating prosthetic
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 623/923 : Bone
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/0391 : Affecting flow by the addition of material or energy
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/2076 : Utilizing diverse fluids
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 156/15 : Combined or convertible surface bonding means and/or assembly means

Abstract

An apparatus for cooling a reactive mixture, comprising: a reactor configured to form the reactive mixture; a quench chamber comprising a frusto-conical body having a wide end, a narrow end, and a quench region formed between the wide and narrow end, wherein the quench chamber is configured to receive the reactive mixture from the plasma reactor through a reactive mixture inlet into the quench region, to receive a conditioning fluid through at least one fluid inlet, and to flow the conditioning fluid into the quench region, wherein the frusto-conical body is configured to produce a turbulent flow within the quench region with the flow of the conditioning fluid into the quench region, thereby promoting the quenching of the reactive mixture to form a cooled gas-particle mixture; and a suction generator configured to force the cooled gas-particle mixture out of the quench chamber.

Claims

1. A method of cooling a reactive mixture in a quench chamber, where the reaction mixture comprises plasma-energized precursor material from an output of a plasma reactor, comprising:

flowing the reactive mixture from a reactor through a reactive mixture inlet into a quench region having a frusto-conical shape with a wide end and a narrow end, the quench region formed within a portion of a quench chamber having a frusto-conical surface, wherein the flow of the reactive mixture forms a mixture momentum vector leading from the wide end to the narrow end, and wherein the quench region is configured to enable the reactive mixture to expand upon exiting the reactive mixture inlet;

flowing a conditioning fluid into the quench region through at least one fluid supply inlet separate from the reactive mixture inlet along a plurality of conditioning momentum vectors from the wide end to the narrow end, wherein the flow of conditioning fluid into the quench region forms a turbulent flow within the quench region, wherein a gap is formed between the reactive mixture inlet and the frusto-conical surface of the frusto-conical body, the gap acting as a channel for supplying conditioning fluid into the quench region, and wherein the frusto-conical surface of the frusto-conical body is configured to produce the turbulent flow within the quench region;

mixing the conditioning fluid and the reactive mixture within the turbulent flow of the quench region, thereby quenching the reactive mixture with the conditioning fluid to form a cooled gas-particle mixture; and

flowing the cooled gas-particle mixture out of an outlet at the narrow end of the quench region, wherein the cooled gas-particle mixture comprises a plurality of particles entrained in a fluid.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least two of the conditioning momentum vectors form an angle between them that is greater than or equal to 90 degrees.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the conditioning momentum vectors has an oblique angle greater than 20 degrees relative to the mixture momentum vector.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the gap formed between the reactive mixture inlet and the frusto-conical surface of the frusto-conical body is formed by positioning the outlet a first distance away from the center of the reactive mixture inlet, positioning the frusto-conical surface at least a second distance away from the perimeter of the reactive mixture inlet, forming the gap therebetween, and the first distance is greater than the second distance.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising the step of adjusting the relative positioning of the frusto-conical surface and the reactive mixture inlet, thereby adjusting the first distance and the second distance.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the turbulent flow within the quench region has a Reynolds Number of at least 1000.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of adjusting the volume of the quench region.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of adjusting the angle of at least one of the conditioning momentum vectors.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of adjusting the temperature of the frusto-conical surface.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of adjusting the flow rate of the conditioning fluid into the quench region.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the conditioning fluid is an inert gas.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the conditioning fluid is argon.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of flowing the reactive mixture from the reactor into the quench region is preceded by the step of producing the reactive mixture in the reactor, wherein the step of producing the reactive mixture comprises:

flowing a working gas into the reactor;

delivering energy to the working gas, thereby forming a plasma;

flowing the precursor material into the reactor; and

applying the plasma to the precursor material within the reactor, thereby forming the reactive mixture.