Furnace for the continuous sintering of pellets of ceramic nuclear fuel material
AssigneeCommissariat a l'Energie Atomique
InventorJacques Heyraud
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The furnace comprises a hearth for the longitudinal displacement of pellet containers, means for injecting gas at both ends of the furnace, for sucking gas between preheating and sintering zones and for condensing the binder, means for displacing the containers from an introduction lock-chamber to an extraction lock-chamber, a conveyor belt which passes through a glove box and provides a leak-tight connection between the lock-chambers. A station for loading containers with pellet sub-containers prior to sintering and a station for unloading the pellet sub-containers after sintering are juxtaposed within the glove box.
Claims3
A furnace for the continuous sintering of pellets of ceramic nuclear fuel material in a neutral or reducing atmosphere, comprising a tubular enclosure having a longitudinal axis and equipped with heating means located at intervals along said enclosure, a hearth for the longitudinal displacement of pellet containers, means for injecting gas at both ends of the furnace, means for sucking gas in an intermediate zone between the preheating and sintering zones and for condensing a binder for the pellets, and means for displacing said containers along said hearth from a lock-chamber for the introduction of containers which is placed at one end of the furnace to a lock-chamber for the extraction of containers at the other end of the furnace, wherein the two lock-chambers are connected to each other in leak-tight manner by means of a conveyor belt which passes through a glove box, there being juxtaposed within said glove box a station for loading containers with sub-containers which contain the pellets to be sintered and a station for unloading said sub-containers which contain the sintered pellets.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.