JP2016172633A - Powder supply device and powder supply method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a powder supply device which supplies constant amounts of raw powder stored in a powder storage chamber sealed in an airtight manner and a gas to a use destination, and to provide a powder supply method.SOLUTION: A control device 37 causes a gas supply amount adjustment mechanism 43 to supply a gas so that a pressure of a gas phase part 15 measured by a pressure gauge 16 becomes a predetermined pressure to control an opening of a pressure control valve 56 and thereby makes supply amounts of raw powder 14 and a gas, which are supplied to a use destination, constant.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a powder supply apparatus and a powder supply method.

Conventionally, in the production of ceramic fillers such as paints and composite materials, spherical powders with a smooth surface are preferred from the viewpoint of improving the dispersibility, filling properties, and fluidity of the powder.
As a method for producing a spheroidized powder (spheroidized powder), for example, there is a method of melting a raw material powder in a flame such as a combustion flame or thermal plasma (for example, see Patent Document 1).
When obtaining a spheroidized powder with the combustion flame formed by the burner, the raw material powder is transported to the burner together with the carrier gas, and the raw material powder is made using the combustion flame formed in the burner by oxygen and combustion gas (for example, LPG) Spheroidized powder is formed by heating and melting.

In the burner configured as described above, the amount of carrier gas supplied to the burner greatly affects the temperature distribution of the combustion flame. Further, the supply amount of the raw material powder supplied to the burner needs to be constant.
This is because variation in the size and shape of the spheroidized powder increases as the amount of the raw material powder supplied to the burner changes. In addition, when a large amount of raw material powder is supplied, unmelted raw material powder may be generated.
That is, in order to stably produce a spheroidized powder having a desired shape and size, it is necessary to make the supply amount of the raw material powder supplied to the burner and the supply amount of the carrier gas constant.

Patent Document 2 discloses a table feeder as an apparatus for supplying raw material powder.
Specifically, Patent Document 2 discloses a storage container for storing powder particles, a discharge port provided on the bottom surface of the storage container, and a vertical rotation axis as a rotation center on the bottom surface of the storage container. A rotary blade that rotates so as to pass over the outlet and sends the granular material on the bottom surface to the discharge port, and a rotary shaft-side cover that covers the upper side of the rotary shaft of the rotary blade, and the rotary blade The tip side cover that covers the top side of the tip side of the storage container is provided with a space between each other, and the granular material that is above the rotary shaft side cover and the tip side cover passes through the space to the bottom surface of the storage container. A table feeder configured to be guided to the above is disclosed.

JP 2005-15303 A JP 2006-131362 A

In the table feeder disclosed in Patent Document 2, since the upper portion of the storage container is open, a constant pressure is always applied to the raw material powder stored in the storage container.
For this reason, it is estimated that the discharge amount of the raw material powder discharged from the discharge port, that is, the supply amount of the raw material powder to the usage destination of the raw material powder becomes constant.

However, when it is desired to suppress the mixing of atmospheric components in the storage container, it is necessary to cover the storage container with a lid.
When the raw material powder is housed in such an airtight storage container and the raw material powder is supplied to the use destination of the raw material powder, the gas phase part formed in the storage container as the raw material powder in the storage container decreases. The pressure applied to the raw material powder in the storage container is reduced.
Thereby, since the amount of the raw material powder led out from the discharge port changes with time, it is difficult to stably supply the raw material powder to the use destination with a desired supply amount.

  Then, this invention makes it a subject to provide the powder supply apparatus and powder supply method which can supply raw material powder and gas with a fixed quantity with respect to a user.

  In order to solve the above problems, according to the invention according to claim 1, the powder storage chamber for storing the raw material powder in an airtight interior and the lower end of the powder storage chamber are connected and stored in the powder storage chamber. A powder derivation unit for deriving the raw material powder, a rotary blade disposed at the bottom of the powder storage chamber and rotating to guide the raw material powder to the powder derivation unit; a gas supply line for supplying gas; and A gas supply unit that is provided in the gas supply line and includes a gas supply amount adjusting mechanism that adjusts the supply amount of the gas; and is disposed in the powder storage chamber and connected to the gas supply line; A gas blowing unit that blows the gas supplied to the powder deriving unit; and a branch from the gas supply line that is located after the gas supply amount adjusting mechanism; and connected to the powder deriving unit; A powder supply line including a bypass supply valve that bypasses the powder storage chamber and is provided in the powder supply line for supplying the raw material powder to a user using a part of the gas supplied to the line. And a branch portion of the powder supply line at a position subsequent to the branch position of the powder supply line, branch from the gas supply line, connected to the upper part of the powder storage chamber, and in the gas phase portion formed in the powder storage chamber, A pressure adjustment line that supplies a part of the gas flowing to the gas supply line, a pressure adjustment unit that includes a pressure adjustment valve provided in the pressure adjustment line, and a pressure gauge that detects the pressure in the gas phase part And the opening of the pressure regulating valve is electrically connected to the bypass valve, the pressure regulating valve, and the pressure gauge so that the pressure in the gas phase detected by the pressure gauge becomes a predetermined pressure. Control to control Powder feeding device is provided, characterized in that it comprises a location, a.

  According to the invention of claim 2, the weight of the powder storage chamber that is electrically connected to the control device and stores the raw material powder is continuously measured, and data relating to the measured weight is stored in the control device. A weight measuring device that transmits the raw material powder per unit time based on the weight measured by the weight meter, the weight of only the powder storage chamber, and the supply time of the raw material powder When the supply amount of the raw material powder falls below a predetermined supply amount for a certain period of time, the opening of the bypass valve is reduced and the opening of the pressure adjustment valve is increased to increase the predetermined pressure. The powder supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the gas phase part is pressurized at a higher pressure.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a powder supply method using a powder supply device for supplying raw material powder together with gas to a use destination of the raw material powder, wherein the raw material powder is stored in an airtight interior. The rotary vane disposed at the bottom of the powder storage chamber is rotated, and the gas is blown from the gas spraying portion disposed in the powder storage chamber, so that the powder derivation unit provided at the lower end of the powder storage chamber A first step of deriving gas and the raw material powder and supplying a gas to the gas phase part so that the pressure of the gas phase part formed in the powder storage chamber 13 becomes a predetermined pressure; A second step of supplying the gas and the raw material powder derived from the powder derivation unit to a user using gas, and used in the first and second steps, and the user Of the gas supplied to Total flow rate, powder feed method which is a constant flow rate is provided.

  According to the invention according to claim 4, when the supply amount of the raw material powder falls below a predetermined supply amount for a predetermined time, the gas phase part is pressurized at a pressure higher than the predetermined pressure, and then the 4. The powder supply method according to claim 3, wherein when the supply amount of the raw material powder returns to the predetermined supply amount, the pressure of the gas phase part is returned to the predetermined pressure.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the raw material powder stored in the airtight powder storage chamber and gas can be supplied with a fixed quantity with respect to a user.

It is a figure (system diagram) showing typically the schematic structure of the powder supply device concerning an embodiment of the invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the other example of a weight measuring apparatus.

  Embodiments to which the present invention is applied will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. The drawings used in the following description are for explaining the configuration of the embodiment of the present invention, and the size, thickness, dimensions, and the like of each part shown in the drawings are different from the dimensional relationship of an actual powder supply apparatus. There is a case.

(Embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a diagram (system diagram) schematically showing a schematic configuration of a powder supply apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the powder storage chamber 13 and the powder derivation | leading-out part 24 are illustrated in a cross section.

  Referring to FIG. 1, the powder supply apparatus 10 of the present embodiment includes a gas supply source 11, a powder storage chamber 13, a pressure gauge 16, a pressure regulator 18, a rotary blade 21, a motor 22, The powder derivation unit 24, the gas supply unit 26, the gas spraying unit 28, the powder supply unit 29, the pressure adjustment unit 31, the gantry 33, the weight measurement device 34, and the control device 37 are included.

  The gas supply source 11 is connected to one end of a later-described gas supply line 41 constituting the gas supply unit 26. The gas supply source 11 supplies gas to the gas supply line 41. When a burner is used as the usage destination, as the gas supplied from the gas supply source 11, for example, nitrogen gas, oxygen gas, or the like can be used.

The powder storage chamber 13 has an airtight structure and includes a storage chamber body 13-1 and a lid 13-2. The storage chamber body 13-1 is a container that stores the raw material powder 14. An opening 13-1A for leading the raw material powder 14 is provided at the bottom of the storage chamber body 13-1.
The side wall part of the storage chamber main body 13-1 can be made into a column shape, for example. For example, welding can be used for joining the side wall portion of the storage chamber body 13-1 and the bottom plate portion of the storage chamber body 13-1.
The lid 13-2 is provided so as to close the upper end of the storage chamber body 13-1. A resin packing (not shown) is provided between the lid 13-2 and the storage chamber body 13-1.
The lid 13-2 is fixed to the side wall of the storage chamber body 13-1 by a restraining tool (not shown) for suppressing packing.

When the side wall part of the storage chamber body 13-1 and the lid body 13-2 have a flange part, for example, bolts and nuts can be used as the restraining tool.
Further, in the case of a structure in which the cover 13-2 is put on the upper end of the side wall portion of the storage chamber body 13-1 and the packing is pressed, for example, a chuck-type restraint can be used as the restraint.
As a material of the powder storage chamber 13, a material having high strength is preferable. For example, a metal material, particularly stainless steel is preferable.

In the powder storage chamber 13 configured as described above, a gas phase portion 15 is formed above the stored raw material powder 14. The gas phase portion 15 is a gas phase portion that is divided into a raw material powder 14 and a gas phase when the powder storage chamber 13 is hermetically sealed.
For example, after the powder storage chamber 13 is sealed with atmospheric components, the gas phase unit 15 may be replaced by introducing a necessary gas (for example, when using a burner, for example, nitrogen gas or oxygen gas). .

Since the gas phase part 15 is kept airtight by the powder storage chamber 13, when the raw material powder 14 is discharged (when the raw material powder 14 is supplied to the use destination), the gas phase part 15 drops below a predetermined pressure set in advance. Go.
The predetermined pressure of the gas phase unit 15 can be set within a pressure range according to the pressure resistance design of the powder storage chamber 13. For safety reasons, for example, when 0.06 MPa is set as the upper limit pressure of the gas phase part 15, a safety valve (not shown) is provided to release the pressure of the gas phase part 15 by opening at a pressure of 0.06 MPa. Also good.

Here, the raw material powder 14 will be described.
Examples of the raw material powder 14 include powders made of an inorganic compound such as alumina powder, silica powder, iron oxide (magnetite), or a powder obtained by mixing these inorganic compounds.
As the raw material powder 14, for example, pellets such as a flake shape, a fine powder shape, a spherical shape, a hemispherical shape, and a cylindrical shape can be used.
The particle size of the raw material powder 14 can be appropriately set within a range of 1 μm to 500 μm, for example.

The pressure gauge 16 is provided on the lid 13-2 in a state where the pressure in the gas phase unit 15 can be measured. The pressure gauge 16 is electrically connected to the control device 37 via the pressure regulator 18, and continuously transmits data related to the measured pressure to the control device 37.
The lid 13-2 is provided with an open valve (not shown). The release valve releases the gas in the gas phase section 15 to the outside when the pressure in the gas phase section 15 rises above a preset pressure.

The rotary blade 21 is arranged at the bottom in the powder storage chamber 13. The rotary blade 21 is connected to the motor 22 and rotates (rotates) at the bottom in the powder storage chamber 13 to guide the raw material powder 14 to the opening 13-1A. As the rotating blade 21, for example, the rotating blade disclosed in Patent Document 2 can be used.
The motor 22 is a power source for driving the rotary blade 21 to rotate, and is disposed below the powder storage chamber 13.

 One end of the powder outlet 24 is connected to an opening 13-1 </ b> A provided in the powder storage chamber 13, and is disposed below the powder storage chamber 13. The powder derivation unit 24 is a cylindrical member, and is a member for deriving the gas that has passed through the raw material powder 14 and the gas supply line 41 from the powder storage chamber 13.

The gas supply unit 26 includes a gas supply line 41, a gas supply amount adjustment mechanism 43, and a flow rate adjustment valve 45.
One end of the gas supply line 41 is connected to the gas supply source 11, and the other end is connected to the gas blowing unit 28. The gas supply line 41 is a line for supplying gas to the gas blowing unit 28.

The gas supply amount adjustment mechanism 43 includes a flow meter 47, a flow rate adjustment valve 48, and a flow rate adjustment meter 49.
The flow meter 47 is provided in the gas supply line 41 located in the vicinity of the gas supply source 11. The flow meter 47 is electrically connected to the control device 37 via the flow rate controller 49. The flow meter 47 measures the flow rate of the gas flowing through the gas supply line 41.

The flow rate adjustment valve 48 is provided in the gas supply line 41 located at the rear stage of the flow meter 47. The flow rate control valve 48 is electrically connected to the control device 37 via a flow rate controller 49. The flow rate adjustment valve 48 adjusts the flow rate of the gas flowing through the gas supply line 41.
The flow controller 49 is electrically connected to the flow meter 47, the flow control valve 48, and the control device 37. Based on the deviation of the flow rate instruction value set in the flow rate controller 49, the operation of the flow rate adjustment valve 48 is controlled.

 The flow rate control valve 45 is provided in the gas supply line 41 located at the subsequent stage of the flow rate control valve 48. The flow rate adjusting valve 45 is electrically connected to the control device 37, and the operation is controlled by the control device 37. The flow rate adjustment valve 45 adjusts the flow rate of the gas supplied to the gas blowing unit 28.

The gas blowing unit 28 is provided in the powder storage chamber 13 and is disposed above the rotary blade 21 and the powder outlet unit 24. The gas blowing unit 28 is for blowing the gas supplied via the gas supply line 41 in the direction toward the powder derivation unit 24. As the gas blowing unit 28, for example, a nozzle can be used.
By having the gas spraying part 28 having such a configuration, it is possible to suppress the aggregation of the raw material powder 14 guided to the powder lead-out part 24 by the rotary blade 21.

The powder supply unit 29 includes a powder supply line 52 and a bypass valve 53. The powder supply line 52 is branched from a gas supply line 41 located between the flow rate control valve 45 and the flow rate control valve 48, and is connected to a use destination (for example, a burner).
The powder supply line 52 is connected to the other end of the powder derivation unit 24 at the subsequent stage of the bypass valve 53. The raw material powder 14 and the gas that have passed through the powder outlet 24 are introduced into the powder supply line 52.
The powder supply line 52 is flexible from the viewpoint of accurately measuring the weight of the powder storage chamber 13, the raw material powder 14 stored in the powder storage chamber 13, and the gantry 33 using the weight measuring device 34. It is good to comprise with piping which has.

The bypass valve 53 is provided in the powder supply line 52 that is positioned upstream of the connection position of the powder outlet 24. The bypass valve 53 is electrically connected to the control device 37, and the operation is controlled by the control device 37.
When the bypass valve 53 is opened, a part of the gas supplied from the gas supply source 11 to the gas supply line 41 is supplied to the powder supply line 52.
The powder supply unit 29 uses a part of the gas supplied from the gas supply source 11 to the gas supply line 41 in a state where the bypass valve 53 is opened, and the raw material powder 14 that has passed through the powder derivation unit 24 and Supply gas to the user.

The pressure adjustment unit 31 includes a pressure adjustment line 55 and a pressure adjustment valve 56.
The pressure adjustment line 55 is branched from the gas supply line 41 at a position subsequent to the branch position of the powder supply line 52. The pressure adjusting line 55 is connected to the upper part of the powder storage chamber 13.
The pressure adjustment line 55 supplies a part of the gas flowing through the gas supply line 41 to the gas phase part 15 in the powder storage chamber 13 in a state where the pressure adjustment valve 56 is opened.
The pressure adjustment unit 56 is provided in the pressure adjustment line 55. The pressure adjustment unit 56 is electrically connected to the control device 37, and the operation is controlled by the control device 37.

The pressure adjusting unit 31 configured as described above introduces gas into the gas phase unit 15 to maintain the pressure of the gas phase unit 15 at a predetermined pressure (for example, a pressure slightly higher than the pressure at the use destination). Further, the pressure of the gas phase part 15 is set to a pressure higher than the predetermined pressure.
When the pressure at the use destination is atmospheric pressure, for example, pressure (positive pressure) obtained by adding 0.01 MPa to atmospheric pressure can be used as the predetermined pressure ("predetermined pressure A" described later).

The gantry 33 is provided at the lower end of the powder storage chamber 13. The gantry 33 is disposed on the weight measuring device 34.
The weight measuring device 34 is placed on the floor surface 35 and measures the weight of the gantry 33, the raw material powder 14 stored in the powder storage chamber 13, and the powder storage chamber 13. The weight measuring device 34 is electrically connected to the control device 37. The weight measuring device 34 transmits data regarding the measured weight to the control device 37.

The control device 37 includes a storage unit 61 and a control calculation unit 62. The storage unit 61 includes a program for operating the powder supply apparatus 10, a predetermined pressure of the gas phase unit 15 to be maintained in advance (hereinafter referred to as “predetermined pressure A”), the gantry 33 and the powder storage chamber. 13, the pressure of the gas phase part 15 is higher than the predetermined weight of the raw material powder 14 (hereinafter referred to as “supply amount C”) and the predetermined pressure. Data such as pressure (hereinafter referred to as “pressure D”) at the time of pressurization to increase is stored.
When the predetermined pressure A is a pressure obtained by adding 0.01 MPa to the atmospheric pressure, the pressure D can be set to 0.05 MPa, for example.

  The control calculation unit 62 supplies powder based on the above data stored in the storage unit 61, the pressure E measured by the pressure gauge 16, the weight measured by the weight measuring device 34 (hereinafter referred to as “weight F”), and the like. General control of the apparatus 10 is performed.

Specifically, the control calculation unit 62 supplies the gas from the gas supply amount adjustment mechanism 43 so that the pressure E that decreases as the raw material powder 14 is derived from the powder storage chamber 13 becomes the predetermined pressure A. Then, the gas is introduced into the gas phase section 15 by adjusting the opening of the pressure adjustment valve 56.
In this way, by adjusting the pressure E measured by the pressure gauge 16 to be a predetermined pressure A, the pressure of the gas phase part 15 is maintained at a constant pressure, so that the pressure is derived from the powder storage chamber 13. The amount of the raw material powder can be made constant.

Further, since the gas supply amount supplied from the gas supply source 11 is additionally supplied by the amount corresponding to the reduced pressure, the gas supply amount supplied to the user can always be kept constant.
Thus, the raw material powder 14 supplied to the user and the supply amount of the gas are constant. For example, when the user is a burner, a spheroidized powder having a desired shape and size is stably manufactured. be able to.

 Based on the weight F measured by the weight meter 33, the weight B of the powder storage chamber 13 and the gantry 33, and the supply time of the raw material powder 14, the control calculation unit 62 calculates the supply amount of the raw material powder 14 to the use destination. When the supply amount of the raw material powder 14 falls below a predetermined supply amount set in advance for a predetermined time (for example, 30 seconds), the opening degree of the bypass valve 53 is narrowed and the opening degree of the pressure adjustment valve 56 is increased, The gas phase portion 15 is pressurized at a pressure higher than the pressure A.

In this way, when the supply amount to the use destination falls below the predetermined supply amount C for a certain time, the gas phase portion 15 is pressurized with a pressure D higher than the predetermined pressure A, for example, above the rotary blade 21. When the raw material powder 14 is agglomerated (for example, when a mass of the bridge-shaped raw material powder 14 is formed so as to extend over the opposing inner walls of the powder storage chamber 13), the agglomerated raw material powder 14 is crushed. The raw material powder 14 can be dropped on the bottom surface of the powder storage chamber 13.
Thus, a certain amount of raw material powder 14 can be led out from the powder storage chamber 13 using the rotary blade 21.
Therefore, the powder supply apparatus 10 is effective also when the raw material powder 14 contains a water | moisture content or an oil component, or when it is easy to get wet.

  According to the powder supply apparatus of the present embodiment, the gas supply source is controlled by controlling the opening degree of the pressure adjustment valve 56 so that the pressure of the gas phase section 15 measured by the pressure gauge 16 becomes the predetermined pressure A. The supply amount of the raw material powder 14 and the gas supplied to the user can be made constant while equalizing the supply amount of the gas supplied from 11 and the supply amount of the gas supplied to the user.

In the present embodiment, the case where the opening of the pressure adjustment valve 56 is adjusted so that the flow rate of the gas supplied from the gas supply source 11 and the flow rate of the gas supplied to the user are equal to each other is taken as an example. Although described above, the opening degree of the flow rate adjusting valve 45 may be adjusted as necessary.
Even in this case, the supply amount of the gas supplied from the gas supply source 11 is equal to the supply amount of the gas supplied to the user.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining another example of the weight measuring device. 2, the same components as those in the structure shown in FIG.

Next, the weight measuring device 67 will be described with reference to FIG.
Referring to FIG. 2, the weight measuring device 67 is disposed on the floor surface 35 and is fixed to the lower surface of the portion facing the floor surface 35 of the gantry 66 having a substantially U-shape. The weight measuring device 67 has a hook portion 67A for suspending the powder storage chamber 13.
Instead of the weight measuring device 34 shown in FIG. 1, the weight measuring device 67 shown in FIG. 2 may be used to electrically connect the weight measuring device 67 and the control device 37 shown in FIG. 1.

Next, with reference to FIG. 1, the powder supply method of this Embodiment using the powder supply apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 is demonstrated.
In the powder supply method of the present embodiment, the rotary blade 21 disposed at the bottom of the powder storage chamber 13 that stores the raw material powder 14 in an airtight interior is rotated, and the gas disposed in the powder storage chamber 13 is rotated. The gas and raw material powder 14 are led out from the powder lead-out part 24 provided at the lower end of the powder storage chamber 13 by blowing the gas from the spraying part 28, and the pressure of the gas phase part 15 formed in the powder storage chamber 13 The first step of supplying gas to the gas phase unit 15 and the gas and raw material powder 14 derived from the powder deriving unit 24 to the gas supplied to the powder supply line 52 so that the pressure A becomes a predetermined pressure A A second step of using and supplying to the user, and the total flow rate of the gas used in the first and second steps and supplied to the user is a constant flow rate. To do.

According to the powder supply method of the present embodiment, the supply amount of gas supplied from the gas supply source 11 is equal to the supply amount of gas supplied to the user, and then the raw material supplied to the user is used. The supply amount of the powder 14 and the gas can be made constant.
Thereby, for example, when the use destination is a burner, a spheroidized powder having a desired shape and size can be stably produced.

  Further, in the powder supply method of the present embodiment, when the supply amount of the raw material powder 14 falls below a predetermined supply amount C for a predetermined time (for example, 30 seconds), the gas phase portion 15 has a pressure higher than the predetermined pressure A. After pressurizing with D, the pressure in the gas phase section 15 may be returned to the predetermined pressure A.

In this way, when the supply amount to the use destination falls below the predetermined supply amount C for a certain time, the gas phase portion 15 is pressurized with a pressure D higher than the predetermined pressure A, for example, above the rotary blade 21. When the raw material powder 14 is agglomerated (for example, when a mass of the bridge-shaped raw material powder 14 is formed so as to extend across the inner walls facing each other in the powder storage chamber 13), the agglomerated raw material powder 14 is crushed. Thus, the raw material powder 14 can be dropped on the bottom surface of the powder storage chamber 13.
Thus, a certain amount of raw material powder 14 can be led out from the powder storage chamber 13 using the rotary blade 21.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, but the present invention is not limited to such specific embodiments, and within the scope of the present invention described in the claims, Various modifications and changes are possible.

  Hereinafter, although an example is described, the present invention is not limited to the following example.

(Example)
In the examples, the following tests were performed using the powder supply apparatus 10 shown in FIG.
First, 25 kg of alumina powder having an average particle size of 2.7 μm is introduced into a powder storage chamber 13 having an internal volume of 40 L in an air atmosphere, and then the lid 13-2 is closed to close the powder storage chamber. The inside of 13 was sealed.
Next, the gas phase portion 15 was replaced with a gas supplied from the gas supply source 11. At this time, oxygen gas was used as the gas. Moreover, the burner was used as a usage destination. Next, the gas flow rate adjustment mechanism 43 was used to set the gas flow rate to 7.5 Nm ³ / h.

Next, the pressure regulating valve 56 is used to set the pressure of the gas phase section 15 to a pressure (0.07 MPa) slightly higher than a threshold value 0.06 MPa at which the safety valve (not shown) opens and closes, and gas is supplied from the safety valve. Replacement work was performed while opening.
After the replacement of the gas was completed, the gas supply from the gas supply amount adjusting mechanism 43 was stopped. In this example, the pressure at the use destination was atmospheric pressure, and the predetermined pressure A of the gas phase part 15 at the time of supplying the raw material powder 14 was a pressure obtained by adding 0.01 MPa to the atmospheric pressure.
Since the gas remained at 0.06 MPa, which is the open / close threshold value of the safety valve (not shown), the residual pressure was released in the gas phase portion 15.

Subsequently, the gas flow rate adjustment mechanism 43 was used to adjust the gas flow rate, and the bypass valve 53 was opened to supply the gas. In this example, the gas supply amount was set to 5.0 m ³ / h.
Further, the rotary blade 21 was rotated at a rotation speed of 20 Hz. When the gas starts to flow from the gas supply amount adjusting mechanism 43, the raw material powder 14 is led out from the powder storage chamber 13 together with the gas without being agglomerated by the gas ejected from the gas blowing unit 28, and flows through the powder supply line 52. The gas was supplied to the user.

As the raw material powder 14 is led out from the powder storage chamber 13, the volume of the gas phase portion 15 increases. Therefore, in order to maintain the predetermined pressure A, the volume of the gas phase portion 15 increases. It is necessary to add a gas for depressurizing the gas phase portion 15.
Therefore, gas is supplied from the gas supply amount adjustment mechanism 43, the opening of the pressure adjustment valve 56 is adjusted, and the pressure of the gas phase unit 15 is adjusted to be constant, thereby supplying the gas supplied to the user. After making the amount constant, the pressure in the gas phase part 15 was controlled to be a predetermined pressure A.
The supply amount per unit time of the raw material powder of the Example which performed the said process was 12.0-15.0 kg / h.

(Reference example)
In the reference example, a test similar to that of the example was performed using an apparatus excluding the pressure adjusting unit 31 from the configuration of the powder supply apparatus 10 illustrated in FIG.
As a result, the supply amount per unit time of the raw material powder 14 was 2.4 to 6.0 kg / h, and fluctuated drastically.

(Summary of results of Examples and Reference Examples)
From the results of Examples and Reference Examples, in the Examples, the supply amount of the raw material powder 14 increased by 58% at the maximum value as compared with the Reference Examples. In the reference example, the uncontrollable width was ± 43%, but in the example, the uncontrollable width was improved to ± 11%, and good results could be obtained.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is applicable to a powder supply apparatus and a powder supply method that store raw material powder and has an airtight powder storage chamber for a user.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Powder supply apparatus, 11 ... Gas supply source, 13 ... Powder storage chamber, 13-1 ... Storage chamber main body, 13-1A ... Opening part, 13-2 ... Cover body, 14 ... Raw material powder, 15 ... Gas phase part , 16 ... pressure gauge, 18 ... pressure regulator, 21 ... rotary blade, 22 ... motor, 24 ... powder derivation unit, 26 ... gas supply unit, 28 ... gas spraying unit, 29 ... powder supply unit, 31 ... pressure adjustment unit , 33, 66 ... frame, 34, 67 ... weight measuring device, 35 ... floor surface, 37 ... control device 41 ... gas supply line, 43 ... gas supply amount adjustment mechanism, 45 ... flow rate adjustment valve, 47 ... flow meter, 48 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS ... Flow control valve, 49 ... Flow controller, 52 ... Powder supply line, 53 ... Bypass valve, 55 ... Pressure adjustment line, 56 ... Pressure adjustment valve, 61 ... Memory | storage part, 62 ... Control calculating part, 66 ... Mount , 67A ... Hook part

Claims (4)

A powder storage chamber for storing raw powder in an airtight interior;
A powder derivation unit connected to the lower end of the powder storage chamber and deriving the raw material powder stored in the powder storage chamber;
A rotating blade that is arranged at the bottom of the powder storage chamber and rotates to guide the raw material powder to the powder outlet part;
A gas supply line that supplies a gas, and a gas supply unit that is provided in the gas supply line and includes a gas supply amount adjustment mechanism that adjusts the supply amount of the gas;
A gas spraying part that is disposed in the powder storage chamber and connected to the gas supply line, and that blows the gas supplied through the gas supply line to the powder lead-out part;
Branched from the gas supply line located downstream of the gas supply amount adjusting mechanism, connected to the powder derivation unit, and using the raw material powder using a part of the gas supplied to the gas supply line A powder supply line that includes a bypass valve that is provided in the powder supply line that is supplied first, and that bypasses the powder storage chamber;
The gas supply is branched from the gas supply line at a position after the branch position of the powder supply line, and is connected to the upper part of the powder storage chamber, and is supplied to the gas phase section formed in the powder storage chamber. A pressure adjustment line including a pressure adjustment line for supplying a part of the gas flowing to the line, and a pressure adjustment valve provided in the pressure adjustment line;
A pressure gauge for detecting the pressure of the gas phase part;
The opening degree of the pressure control valve is controlled so that the pressure of the gas phase section that is electrically connected to the bypass valve, the pressure control valve, and the pressure gauge is detected by the pressure gauge becomes a predetermined pressure. A control device;
The powder supply apparatus characterized by having. A weight measuring device electrically connected to the control device, continuously measuring the weight of the powder storage chamber storing the raw material powder, and transmitting data on the measured weight to the control device;
The control device calculates the supply amount of the raw material powder per unit time based on the weight measured by the weight meter, the weight of only the powder storage chamber, and the supply time of the raw material powder, and the raw material powder When the supply amount of the gas falls below a predetermined supply amount for a certain time, the opening of the bypass valve is reduced, the opening of the pressure regulating valve is increased, and the gas phase part is moved at a pressure higher than the predetermined pressure. 2. The powder supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein pressurization is performed. A powder supply method using a powder supply apparatus for supplying raw material powder together with gas to a use destination of the raw material powder,
By rotating a rotary blade arranged at the bottom of the powder storage chamber for storing the raw material powder in an airtight interior, and blowing gas from a gas blowing section arranged in the powder storage chamber, the powder storage chamber The gas and the raw material powder are led out from the powder lead-out portion provided at the lower end, and the gas-phase portion is gas-filled so that the pressure of the gas-phase portion formed in the powder storage chamber 13 becomes a predetermined pressure. A first step of supplying
A second step of supplying the gas and the raw material powder derived from the powder deriving unit to a user using a gas;
Have
The powder supply method, wherein a total flow rate of the gas used in the first and second steps and supplied to the use destination is a constant flow rate.   When the supply amount of the raw material powder falls below a predetermined supply amount for a certain time, the gas phase part is pressurized at a pressure higher than the predetermined pressure, and then the supply amount of the raw material powder is set to the predetermined supply amount. 4. The powder supply method according to claim 3, wherein the pressure in the gas phase part is returned to a predetermined pressure in the returning stage.

Images