Process for surface treatment of pulverulent material
AssigneePlasmacarb Inc.
InventorsHans I. Wallsten, Hirotsugu K. Yasuda
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A process for the surface treatment of individual particles of a pulverulent material to improve the surface properties thereof. The process includes a plasma-generating apparatus for generating a plasma in a plasmagenerator while supplying an inert gas at a high drift velocity into the generator to form a low temperature plasma flame which is directed into a low pressure zone. Subsequently, the pulverulent material is injected into the high velocity inert gas or into the base of the plasma flame to disintegrate any particle aggregate present in the material. The low temperature plasma acts on the surface of each individual particle to improve the properties thereof. The treated particles can then be recovered from the zone.
Claims14
A process for the surface treatment of individual particles of a pulverulent material for improving surface properties thereof, comprising the steps of:
- a) generating a plasma in a plasmagenerator while supplying an inert gas into said generator to form a plasma flame which is directed into a zone;
- b) injecting the pulverulent material into one of said inert gas and a base of said plasma flame to disintegrate any particle aggregate present in said pulverulent material;
- c) injecting a monomeric gas into the inert gas at a first location upstream of said plasma flame, thereby allowing plasma polymerization to form a surface coating on each individual particle;
- d) allowing the plasma flame to act on the surface of each individual particle;
- and
- e) recovering the individual particles from said zone.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.