Flange and coupling cooling means and method

Abstract

Reaction vessels, furnace tubes, heating and cooling enclosures frequently have parts such as access ports, inlet tubes, inspection windows, etc. made of thermally transparent materials such as plastic, glass, quartz, oxides, nitrides and sulfides. When these parts extend outside the hot zone, they can act as "light pipes" carrying appreciable amounts of thermal radiation which can damage thermally sensitive gaskets or other materials used to secure external couplings or end closure flanges to these parts. Thermal radiation induced gasket damage is a frequent cause of stuck flanges and couplings. This problem is avoided by inserting a thermal radiation scattering region in the thermally transparent material between the hot zone and the end closure or gaskets. The thermal radiation is scattered and dispersed, so that the end zones receive less radiation and remain cooler. Milky quartz is a suitable scattering material for use with quartz furnace tubes or bell jars.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.