Process for continuous refining of quartz powder

Abstract

A rotating cylindrical quartz glass tube is partitioned into at least 3 chambers comprising a pre-heating chamber, a reaction chamber, and a gas desorption chamber. The process comprises pre-heating the starting quartz powder by continuously supplying it into the pre-heating chamber, refining the powder by transferring it into the reaction chamber in which the powder is brought into contact with a chlorine-containing gas atmosphere, and transferring the powder into the gas desorption chamber; the chambers may be partitioned using a sectioning plate having an opening. Alkali metal elements such as sodium and potassium, as well as transition metal elements such as iron, copper, chromium, and nickel are removed from a powder of naturally occurring quartz. The process also removes alkaline earth metal elements such as magnesium and calcium. Furthermore, it is of high productivity because it can be operated continuously to yield high purity quartz powder at a low cost.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.