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US 3,942,938 AGranted
Combustion system for preparing radioactive samples and the like
AssigneePackard Instrument Company, Inc.
InventorNiilo H. Kaartinen
Life of this patent
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AssigneePackard Instrument Company, Inc.
InventorNiilo H. Kaartinen
Estimating the term…
A combustion system for combusting materials containing radioactive nuclides to permit recovery of the radioactive nuclides. The system comprises a primary combustion zone in which the sample material is initially combusted and from which the combustion products are continuously exhausted. The exhaust products from this primary combustion zone are passed through a secondary combustion zone in which uncombusted materials in the exhaust products are combusted. In the secondary combustion zone, the exhaust products from the primary zone are directed in a helical path so that centrifugal forces drive the gases and any particulate matter entrained therein toward the walls of the secondary zone while intimately mixing the materials with each other to achieve rapid and complete combustion. The secondary combustion zone preferably comprises a helical tube which is heated by passing an electric current through the walls thereof. The helical path preferably has a radius of curvature of less than about 1.5 inches and is preferably heated to a temperature of at least 900.degree.C. to achieve the desired condition.
A process for combusting materials containing radioactive nuclides to permit recovery of the radioactive nuclides, said process comprising the steps of combusting a sample material containing at least one radioactive nuclide in a primary combustion zone, and continuously exhausting said primary combustion zone and passing the exhaust products through a secondary combustion zone while combusting uncombusted materials remaining in said exhaust products within said secondary zone, said exhaust products being directed in a helical path in the secondary combustion zone so that centrifugal forces drive the exhaust products toward the walls of the secondary combustion zone while intimately mixing the exhaust products with each other to achieve rapid and complete combustion of said uncombusted materials in said secondary zone.
A process for combusting materials containing radioactive nuclides to permit recovery of the radioactive nuclides, said process comprising the steps of combusting a sample material containing at least one radioactive nuclide selected from the group consisting of tritium and carbon-14 in a primary combustion zone while supplying substantially pure oxygen to said primary combustion zone, at an initial oxygen flow rate of at least 5 liters per minute, continuously exhausting said primary combustion zone and passing the exhaust products through a helical tube while heating said tube to a temperature of at least 900.degree.C. to combust uncombusted materials remaining in said exhaust products within said secondary zone, the helical path of said exhaust products through said tube producing centrifugal forces to drive the exhaust products toward the walls of said tube while intimately mixing the exhaust products with each other to achieve rapid and complete combustion of said uncombusted materials in said secondary zone, said helical tube having a radius of curvature of less than about 1.5 inches, and continuously removing the combustion products from said helical tube and cooling said combustion products.
Combustion apparatus comprising the combination of a primary combustion zone having means for combusting a sample material placed therein and means for continuously exhausting said primary zone, and a secondary combustion zone for receiving the exhaust products from said primary chamber, said secondary zone including means for combusting uncombusted materials remaining in said exhaust products in said secondary zone, and means for directing said exhaust products in a helical path in the secondary combustion zone so that centrifugal forces drive the exhaust products toward the walls of the secondary combustion zone while intimately mixing the exhaust products with each other to achieve rapid and complete combustion of said uncombusted materials in the secondary zone.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.