System and method for treating additive powder
AssigneeAP&C Advanced Powders & Coatings, Inc.
InventorFrederic Larouche
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system and method for treating additive powder is provided. The method may include positioning the additive powder within a reactor chamber defined by the reactor; evacuating residual gases from the reactor chamber; increasing a reactor content temperature within the reactor chamber to a target temperature; agitating the additive powder; and injecting a gas mixture into the reactor chamber. The gas mixture includes a reactive gas for modifying a surface chemistry of the additive powder.
Claims31
A method of treating additive powder in a reactor, the method comprising:
- positioning the additive powder within a reactor chamber defined by the reactor;
- evacuating residual gases from the reactor chamber;
- increasing a reactor content temperature within the reactor chamber to a target temperature;
- agitating the additive powder;
- and
- while agitating the additive powder, injecting a gas mixture into the reactor chamber, the gas mixture including a reactive gas for modifying a surface chemistry of the additive powder to obtain a modified surface chemistry, wherein the gas mixture includes the reactive gas in a percentage that is less than 0.1% by volume or 1000 parts per million of the gas mixture such that the modified surface chemistry of the additive powder has a more net neutral charge than the surface chemistry of the additive powder and the additive powder with the modified surface chemistry has an improved flowability than the additive powder without the modified surface chemistry.
A method of treating additive powder in a reactor, the method comprising:
- positioning the additive powder within a reactor chamber defined by the reactor;
- increasing a reactor content temperature within the reactor chamber to a target temperature;
- stirring the additive powder;
- and
- injecting a gas mixture into the reactor chamber, the gas mixture including a reactive gas for modifying a surface chemistry of the additive powder to obtain a modified surface chemistry, the modified surface chemistry of the additive powder having a more net neutral charge than the surface chemistry of the additive powder, wherein the concentration of the reactive gas in the gas mixture is between about 1 and 500 parts per million.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.