Purification of quartz powders by removal of microparticles of refractory materials
AssigneesHeraeus Quarzglas GmbH & Co. KG, Heraeus Conamic UK Limited
InventorsIan George Sayce, Michael Schindler, Fabian Schildt, Eduard Visnow
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Abstract
Described is a process for the refinement of a quartz powder, comprising the step of separating microparticles of refractory minerals, in particular minerals containing rare earth metal compounds, from the quartz powder by an elutriation step.
Claims12
A process for the refinement of a quartz powder, comprising
- separating microparticles of refractory minerals out of the quartz powder by an elutriation step, wherein the microparticles of refractory minerals comprise minerals containing rare earth metals and/or thorium and/or uranium;
- and
- carrying out the elutriation step in a fluidised bed reactor, in which a controlled upward flow of a liquid elutriation phase is provided, by which the microparticles of refractory minerals are carried upwards in the fluidised bed reactor;
- whereas the quartz powder remains in the lower region of the fluidised bed reactor.
A process for the refinement of a quartz powder, comprising separating microparticles of refractory minerals out of the quartz powder by an elutriation step, wherein the quartz powder to be refined has a size from 75 to 1000 μm, whereas the microparticles of refractory minerals have a particle size of less than 50 μm.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.