Pressing arrangement for treating substances
AssigneeQuintus Technologies AB
InventorMats Gärdin
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention relates to a pressing arrangement for treatment of articles by hot pressing and in particular to a pressing arrangement for hot isostatic pressing of containers holding substances. The method comprises: placing containers including the substance in a load compartment in the furnace and loading a pressure medium into the pressure vessel and substantially all pressure medium flowing out from the furnace chamber (18) passes at least one substance capturing module, which may include the walls of the guiding passage, at least one condensation element (35) in the guiding passage, filters (41, 43) arranged in the guiding passage, before making contact with the pressure vessel including the top and bottom closures (8, 9).
Claims14
A pressing arrangement for hot isostatic pressing of substances, comprising:
- a pressure vessel including top and bottom end closures;
- a furnace chamber provided inside the pressure vessel and being adapted to hold articles such as containers comprising substances to be treated by hot isostatic pressing,
- a heat insulated casing including a heat insulating portion, a housing and a bottom heat insulating portion;
- a guiding passage being defined by said heat insulating portion and said housing, said guiding passage communicating with the furnace chamber and being a part of an outer cooling loop, wherein said pressure medium is guided toward said top closure in said guiding passage;
- at least one upper hole arranged substantially at the same height as said bottom heat insulating portion to allow pressure medium to flow into said guiding passage from said furnace chamber;
- and
- at least one substance capturing module adapted to capture substances carried by said pressure medium, wherein said at least one substance capturing module is arranged such that all pressure medium flowing out from said furnace chamber passes said at least one substance capturing module before making contact with said pressure vessel including said top and bottom closures, wherein said at least one substance capturing module is arranged in said outer cooling loop within said housing such that the pressure medium flowing out from said furnace chamber is forced to pass said at least one substance capturing module via said guiding passage before making contact with said pressure vessel;
- and
- a sealing arranged between an upper space, which is below the furnace chamber, and a lower space, which is below the bottom heat insulating portion, so as to ensure that the pressure medium flowing out from the furnace chamber is forced to pass the at least one substance capturing module via the guiding passage prior to entering the lower space.
A method for hot pressing of substances using a pressing arrangement, said pressing arrangement including a pressure vessel including top and bottom end closures, a furnace chamber provided inside the pressure vessel and being adapted to hold articles such as containers comprising substances to be treated by hot pressing, and a heat insulated casing including a heat insulating portion, a housing and a bottom heat insulating portion, wherein a guiding passage is defined by said heat insulating portion and said housing, said guiding passage communicating with the furnace chamber and being a part of an outer cooling loop, said heat insulating portion and said bottom heat insulating portion being arranged to enclose said furnace chamber, the pressing arrangement further comprising a sealing arranged between an upper space, which is below the furnace chamber, and a lower space, which is below the bottom heat insulating portion, the sealing being arranged so as to ensure that the pressure medium flowing out from the furnace chamber is forced to pass the at least one substance capturing module via the guiding passage prior to entering the lower space, said method comprising:
- placing containers including said substances in a load compartment in said furnace;
- loading a pressure medium into said pressure vessel;
- pressurizing said pressure vessel to a pressure between 200 to 5000 bars, and preferably 800 to 2000 bars, and more preferably 500 to 1500 bars;
- maintaining temperature in said pressure vessel from between 300° C. to 3000° C., and preferably from 800° C. to 2000° C.;
- conveying all pressure medium flowing out from said furnace chamber such that the pressure medium passes at least one substance capturing module via said guiding passage of the outer cooling loop within said housing before making contact with said pressure vessel including said top and bottom closures, wherein the sealing ensures that the pressure medium flowing out from the furnace chamber is forced to pass the at least one substance capturing module via the guiding passage prior to entering the lower space below the bottom heat insulating portion;
- reducing said temperature within the pressure vessel;
- and
- releasing pressure in said pressure vessel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.