JP2005537936A - Filtration extraction mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

A transport mechanism between a first container containing a slurry of liquid and solids and a second container under reduced pressure. The housing is in communication with the first container and the second container, and the volume between the adjacent screw threads and the housing decreases between the first container and the second container, and from the first container to the second container. Includes a screw that forms a stopper to seal the container. A method of forming a seal is also disclosed. The slurry may comprise liquid alkali metal, titanium metal particles and halide salt particles, such as are typically obtained in the production of Ti metal by reducing Ti halide with an alkali metal.

Description

  The present invention relates to an armstrong method as described in US Pat. Nos. 5,779,761, 5,958,106 and 6,409,797. The disclosures of each of which are incorporated herein by reference.

  In carrying out the invention disclosed in the above referenced patent, a slurry is formed in the reaction chamber consisting of excess reducing agent metal, formed salt particles and formed elemental material or alloy particles or powder. The slurry is then processed in various ways. However, all methods have in common the separation of excess liquid metal from the slurry and then separation of the remaining liquid metal and the resulting salt from the desired product, which is an elemental material or alloy. In the specific examples disclosed in the three reference patents, liquid sodium is used as a reducing agent for titanium tetrachloride to produce titanium powder.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide particles and liquids between two containers or containers such that at least one of the two containers or containers is in a reduced pressure (or vacuum) or inert atmosphere. It is to provide a method for transporting (or moving) the slurry and a transport mechanism (or moving mechanism).

  Yet another object of the present invention is a transport mechanism of the type for the Armstrong process for transporting slurry from an inert container or container to a vacuum chamber for further processing, separating the container or container. It is to provide a transport mechanism that forms a seal within the transport mechanism.

  Still another object of the present invention is to provide a transport mechanism between a first container containing a slurry of liquid and solids (or solids) and a second container under reduced pressure, the first container and the first container A housing in communication between two containers, including a screw having a plurality of helical threads along a longitudinal axis in the housing for transporting material from the first container to the second container; The volume between the first container and the housing decreases between the first container and the second container, so that as the slurry is transported by the screw toward the second container, the slurry entering the housing from the first container As the solids are concentrated in, the liquid is squeezed out of the slurry as the solids are concentrated, so that the concentrated solids have a plug (or plug) that seals the second container from the first container. Formation To provide a that transport mechanism.

  It is a further object of the present invention to provide between a first vessel containing a slurry of liquid alkali metal or alkaline earth metal or mixtures thereof and metal or alloy or ceramic particles and halide salt particles and a second vessel under reduced pressure. And a plurality of spirals along a longitudinal axis within the housing for transporting material from the first container to the second container. The volume between adjacent screw threads and the housing is reduced between the first container and the second container, thereby transferring the slurry to the second container. The slurry that enters the housing from the first container as it is transported by the screw toward it concentrates the particles therein and squeezes the liquid metal from the slurry as the particles are concentrated. Is, as a result, concentrated particles, is to provide a transport mechanism for forming a plug that seals the second container from the first container.

  The present invention comprises a combination of certain novel features and parts (elements or parts), which will be fully described below, illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims. It will be understood that various changes in detail may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and without sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

  In order to facilitate the understanding of the present invention, preferred embodiments thereof are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and considered together with the following description, the present invention, its configuration and operation, its Many of the advantages will be easily understood and understood.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

  Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a transport mechanism (or device) 10 comprising a double wall conduit including an outer conduit wall 11 having a liquid outlet 12 and an end wall 13, the wall 11 being cylindrical. Although it is preferable, it is not essential. Inside the cylindrical wall 11, an inner tube or conduit having an unbroken (or unopened) portion 16 and an opening 17 that may be any suitable size mesh. 15 is provided. The inner tube or conduit 15 may be cylindrical as shown in FIG. 1 or may be conical as described below. Inner conduit 15 has a discharge end 18 that opens into a vacuum (or vacuum) chamber 25 and communicates with a reactor as described in the Armstrong patent previously referenced and incorporated herein. It has an inlet end 19 that opens into a container or container 20.

  The feed screw 30 is disposed within the inner conduit 15 and includes a rotatable shaft 31 having a conical thread 32 disposed on the longitudinal axis 31 as is well known to those skilled in the art. The thread 32 may have a constant pitch or a variable pitch. The pitch refers to the distance between adjacent threads, and the variable pitch is a gradually changing pitch, and the pitch can decrease from the container 20 to the container or the container 25 for the purpose described later. Is preferred.

  In a preferred but non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the transport mechanism 10 is used in conjunction with a material (or substance) produced by the Armstrong process. For exemplary purposes only, more particularly, the slurry described herein is a combination of liquid sodium, sodium chloride particles and titanium and / or titanium alloy particles. As indicated in the Armstrong patent, it can produce a variety of metal and non-metal products, limiting the present invention to any specific product produced by the Armstrong process. And of course, it is not intended to be limited to the preferred products described herein.

  In any event, a container or container 20 that is preferably operated under an inert atmosphere or reduced pressure has a slurry of the particles described above, which enters part 19 of the inner conduit or tube 15 and feed screw 30. Is rotated as shown by the rotation of the shaft 31, so that the slurry moves from left to right as shown in FIG. 1 along the feed screw. Because of the gradual change in the pitch of the feed screw 30 in FIG. 1, that is, the threads are closer together, the pitch decreases from left to right, and material moves from the container or container 20 to the container or container 25. Concentrate as you go. Further, the portion 17 of the conduit or tube 15 is provided with an opening or is porous, and liquid sodium flows out through the opening and exits the outlet 12 for further processing. Thus, as the slurry moves from container or container 20 to container or container 25 and liquid flows out of the slurry, the slurry becomes more concentrated and the specific gravity increases as the pitch between adjacent threads decreases.

  In other ways to explain what is happening, the volume between adjacent threads and the wall of the cylinder or tube 16 is such that the material is moved from the container or container 20 to the container or container 25 by the feed screw 30. That is, it will decrease. Between the vessel 20 and vessel 25 containing the slurry from the reactor, until the slurry is concentrated and reaches the unbroken (or non-perforated) portion 16 of the portion 16, inner tube or conduit 15. In addition, a seal (or plug) is formed. Seal formation by the transport mechanism 10 is a critical aspect of the present invention. Because, as described in the Armstrong patent, the separation of liquid sodium and salt from the desired particles of ceramic or alloy can include distillation in a vacuum chamber or vessel 25, and the reaction of the Armstrong reaction This is because the vessel itself can be an inert container using argon or the like. Thus, forming a seal between two containers or containers does not stop one of the containers during transport or destroy the protective atmosphere in the container 20 or reduce the pressure in the container 25. It is important to allow continuous operation between the two containers without breaking (or vacuum).

  With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, another embodiment of the present invention is shown. Furthermore, the main feature that the volume between the screw thread of the adjacent screw and the housing or container in which the feed screw is arranged is reduced from the container 20A to the container 25A will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the transport mechanism 10A includes a conical housing 15A, and the screw 30 therein may or may not be a screw whose pitch gradually changes. The screw threads of the embodiment described in FIG. 2 do not need to be closer together. That is, as the material moves from left to right or from container 20A to container 25A, there is no need to reduce the pitch to reduce the volume of material between the housing wall and the adjacent thread. However, depending on engineering considerations, it may be useful to use the conical inner housing 15A with or without the use of screws 30A with gradually changing pitch.

  Referring to FIG. 3, the longitudinal axis 31B of the screw 30B is conical, the larger end of the conical shape is adjacent to the container 25B, and the pitch between adjacent threads 32B is constant or reduced. Other aspects of the invention are shown. Again, the volume of the region between adjacent threads and the inner container 15B decreases as material moves from container 20B to container 25B.

  Although the present invention has been described with reference to deactivated and depressurized containers, the present invention moves material from one container to another without compromising either container's environment. And concentrating. The container may be connected to a pipe or container and the environment may or may not be a reduced pressure (or vacuum) inert atmosphere. The core of the present invention is to concentrate the solids in the slurry and move the solids from one environment to another, with a seal formed between them to separate the environments from each other. It is.

  Having described in detail what is considered to be the preferred embodiments of the invention, it is understood that various changes in detail may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or without sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention. Should do.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing two containers and a transport mechanism between them. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic view of still another aspect of the present invention.

Claims (32)

A transport mechanism between a first container containing a slurry of liquid and solids and a second container under reduced pressure,
A housing in communication between the first container and the second container; and a plurality of helical threads along a longitudinal axis within the housing for transporting material from the first container to the second container Comprising a screw and
The volume between adjacent screw threads and the housing decreases between the first container and the second container;
Thereby, as the slurry is transported by the screw toward the second container, the slurry entering the housing from the first container is concentrated in solids therein,
A transport mechanism in which liquid is squeezed out of the slurry as the solids are concentrated so that the concentrated solids form a plug that seals the second container from the first container.   The transport mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the screw is a variable pitch screw.   The transport mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the screw is a screw in which a pitch that becomes a minimum pitch closest to the second container gradually changes.   The transport mechanism of claim 1, wherein the housing is generally cylindrical.   The transport mechanism of claim 1, wherein the housing is conical with a minimum end closest to the second container.   The transport mechanism of claim 1, further comprising a slurry of liquid metal and salt particles and ceramic or metal or alloy particles in the transport mechanism.   The transport mechanism according to claim 6, wherein the liquid metal is Na or Mg.   The transport mechanism according to claim 7, wherein the ceramic or metal or alloy particles are Ti or an alloy thereof.   The transport mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the housing has a cylindrical shape, and the screw is a screw whose pitch is gradually changed to a minimum pitch closest to the second container.   The transport mechanism of claim 1, wherein the housing is conical with a minimum end closest to the second container and the screw has a constant pitch thread.   The transport mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the shaft increases in diameter toward the second container.   The transport mechanism of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the housing in fluid communication with the first container has a plurality of openings therein.   The transport mechanism according to claim 12, wherein the plurality of openings are meshes.   The transport mechanism of claim 1, further comprising an outlet in the housing for separating liquid flowing through the opening from the slurry. A transport mechanism between a first container comprising a slurry of liquid alkali metal or alkaline earth metal or mixtures thereof and metal or alloy or ceramic particles and halide salt particles and a second container under reduced pressure;
A housing in communication with the first container and the second container;
Comprising a screw having a plurality of helical threads along a longitudinal axis within the housing for transporting material from the first container to the second container;
The volume between adjacent screw threads and the housing decreases between the first container and the second container;
Thereby, as the slurry is transported by the screw toward the second container, the slurry entering the housing from the first container is concentrated with particles therein,
A transport mechanism in which liquid metal is squeezed out of the slurry as the particles are concentrated so that the concentrated particles form a plug that seals the second container from the first container.   16. The transport mechanism according to claim 15, wherein the screw is a screw that gradually changes in pitch with a minimum pitch closest to the second container.   16. A transport mechanism according to claim 15, wherein the housing is approximately cylindrical.   16. A transport mechanism according to claim 15, wherein the housing is conical with a minimum end proximate to the second container.   The transport mechanism according to claim 15, wherein the housing has a cylindrical shape, and the screw is a screw that gradually changes in pitch with a minimum pitch closest to the second container.   16. A transport mechanism according to claim 15, wherein the housing is conically shaped with a minimum end closest to the second container, and the screw has a constant pitch thread.   21. A transport mechanism according to claim 20, wherein the shaft increases in diameter toward the second container.   16. The transport mechanism of claim 15, wherein at least a portion of the housing that is in liquid communication with the first container has a plurality of openings therein.   The transport mechanism according to claim 22, wherein the plurality of openings are meshes.   16. The transport mechanism of claim 15, further comprising an outlet in the housing for separating liquid flowing from the slurry through the opening.   25. The transport mechanism of claim 24 further comprising liquid Na, NaCl particles and Ti or alloy particles thereof.   A double wall housing is provided, the inner wall has a perforated portion and an uninterrupted portion, the outer wall has the outlet in it, and the screw is disposed in the inner wall. 25. A transport mechanism according to claim 24. A method of concentrating slurry and transporting slurry from one container to another while sealing the container,
Providing communication between containers,
Transporting slurry from one container to another while squeezing liquid from the slurry;
Thereby increasing the concentration of the solids and transporting the solids from the stopper to another container with a stopper formed between the two containers.   28. The method of claim 27, wherein one container is operated under an inert atmosphere.   28. The method of claim 27, wherein one container is operated under reduced pressure.   28. The method of claim 27, wherein the slurry comprises liquid metal and metal particles.   32. The method of claim 30, wherein the slurry comprises a liquid alkali metal or alkaline earth metal. 28. The method of claim 27, wherein the slurry comprises particles of liquid sodium metal and Ti or an alloy thereof.

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