JPH01230984A - Hot static hydraulic pressurizing device and cooling operation for the same device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To control two flows of gas without applying any overload on a motor and permit quick and uniform cooling, by a method wherein a gas passage, capable of being opened and closed, is provided at a cold position in a cooling gas flow passage while the flow of the cooling gas is circulated only in the cold place. CONSTITUTION:The flow of gas A, which flows in a furnace chamber, is regulated by the rotating speed of a variable speed motor while the flow rate of another gas B, which flows down along the inner wall of a high-pressure cylinder, is regulated by a valve 40 provided in a lower gas passage 41. The flow of gas B is driven by a circulating fan 31 at the lower part of the title device and contacts directly with the flow of gas A at the lower part of the furnace chamber to effect heat exchange while the mixed flow deprives heat from a substance 7 to be processed while accending through the inside of a receiving casing 22 and one part of the mixed flow becomes the flow of gas B through passages 15, 10 to dissipate the heat into the high-pressure cylinder 1 while most of the balance of the mixed flow descends through the furnace chamber 20 and becomes the flow of gas A. In this case, a mixing fan 24 and the circulating fan 31 are connected directly to the same shaft, one set or a plurality of sets of the passage 41 and the valve 40 are provided to produce the flow of gas B' and employ the variable speed motor whereby the flow rates of the flows of gas A, B may be controlled and the substance to be processed may be cooled uniformly and quickly with a given speed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to hot isostatic pressing (hereinafter abbreviated as HIP).
Regarding the equipment, in detail, in the cooling process after HIP processing, the cooling time can be shortened and the HIP processing object can be cooled evenly, thereby improving the operating rate and stabilizing the quality of the HIP processing object. The present invention relates to the above-mentioned HIP device and a cooling operation method using the same.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, HIP equipment basically includes a high-pressure chamber defined by a high-pressure container, an upper lid, and a lower lid, a heat insulating layer, and a processing space surrounded by a heater inside the high-pressure chamber, that is, a furnace. The basic configuration is to treat the object to be treated at high temperature and high pressure in a chamber, and various improvements have been proposed in relation to heat insulation performance and heat uniformity, which are important.

On the other hand, this HIP process has the disadvantage that one cycle takes a long time, and one of the important factors is the cooling process.

This is due to the basic structure of the HIP equipment, which is to protect the components of the high-pressure vessel from the high-temperature heat required for HIP processing. This is due to the closed configuration, and the heat within the furnace chamber enclosed by the heat insulating layer during the cooling process is prevented from dissipating to the outside due to the heat blocking effect of the heat insulating layer.

Therefore, a so-called modular system is developed, in which the heat insulating layer and the furnace chamber containing the object to be processed are taken out of the high-pressure container as a unit, and the cooling process is imposed on a device installed outside the Hip device, thereby increasing the operating rate of the HIP device. Along with the development of type HIP systems and the like, attempts have been made to improve the cooling rate of the HIP apparatus by making various improvements to the internal structure and components of the HIP apparatus.

Generally, it is well known that there are three types of heat transfer methods: convection, radiation, and conduction, but convection is the main type of heat transfer, especially under high temperature and high pressure via the pressure medium gas of a HIP device.

Therefore, in order to shorten the cooling time in a HIP device, it is effective to utilize a convection flow of pressure medium gas or a forced flow of pressure medium gas.

On the other hand, if the object to be processed is cooled unevenly in the vertical direction during cooling, distortion will occur in the object. In addition, the difference in the cooling rate between the upper and lower parts of the object to be processed causes a difference between the internal and external structures, leading to deterioration in quality such as the desired product characteristics being only partially obtained.

The above disadvantages are exacerbated and become more noticeable as the object to be processed becomes larger and taller.

Therefore, in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, as an attempt to increase the cooling rate and uniformly cool the object to be processed using the flow of pressure medium gas, for example, Utility Model Application No. 61-2467 as shown in Fig. 5 was proposed.
The No. 6 device was proposed.

As shown in FIG. 5, this device has a high pressure cylinder (1).

and upper M (2), a furnace chamber l2I11 is formed by accommodating a heat insulating layer (4) and a heater (5) in a high pressure chamber (a) defined by a lower lid (3), The object to be processed (7) is on the adiabatic hearth (6) above the lower M (3)! ! ! The HIP process is performed by placing the device in a
4) Both outer and inner inverted cup-shaped casing (8)
(9) and the intermediate inverted cup-shaped casing (to) are airtightly connected to the metal ring (4A) at the lower end by welding or the like, and the space between each casing is filled with a heat insulating material, and further, A gas passage θ0) is provided on the upper surface of the outer casing (8), and a gas passage θω is provided on the upper surface of the intermediate casing Oa. A valve (It) attached to the lower end is moved up and down as the valve (It) moves up and down to open and close the passage 00, and at the lower end of the casing, the heat insulating layer (4) and the inside of the high pressure chamber filled with gas are connected. A gas passage 06) communicating with each casing (8) is supported by a pedestal (4B) on the lower lid.
9) It is provided at a position between the inner casing (9) and the intermediate casing circle of the metal ring (4A) that connects the lower end of (14).

In addition, the adiabatic hearth (6) on which the object to be processed (7) is mounted and held in the same apparatus is equipped with a pedestal (21) that is almost airtightly connected to the lower M (3) so that the required distance can be removed from the lower lid (3). A hole (26) is formed in the hole (26), which is supported in a space, and communicates with the space and extends in the vertical direction. A storage casing (22) for storing the object to be processed is placed and held to hold the object to be processed (7).
is housed in the casing (22) for HIP processing, and when the body is housed in the casing (22), there is a gas between the object to be processed (7) and the casing (22), which will be described later. The structure ensures a space for the flow of water.

Further, a furnace gas stirring fan (24) driven by a motor (25) is housed in the space below the adiabatic hearth (6), and the adiabatic hearth surrounding this fan (24) is provided. Furnace chamber C on the side of the mount (21) in (1)! 0 and the inside of the pedestal (21), and in addition to the agitation fan (24), a fan (31) for forcibly circulating the cooling gas in the heat insulating layer is used for stirring. The fan (24) is connected coaxially with the same drive device (24).
As shown in the figure, another pedestal (4B) is driven and attached by 5) and supports the metal ring (4A) at the lower end of the heat insulating layer and the lower end of the guide tube (23) on the lower cover.
A hole (32) is provided on the upper surface of the lower M (3) to block direct gas inflow to the opening 0ω at the lower end of the heat insulating layer (4), and a frame (21) for the hearth (6). is the partition board (34)
The opening (33) through which cooling gas flows is provided between the partition plate (34) and the lower lid (3).

Thus, in order to perform the required cooling using the above device, in FIG. 5, the gas flow (A) forced to flow through the furnace chamber QO by the stirring fan (24) and The gas flow (B) which rises inside the heat insulating layer (4) and flows down along the inner wall of the high pressure cylinder (1) via the passage Oω is exchanged with the gas flow (B) through the inner inverted cup-shaped casing (9), and the former The flow (A) achieves uniform heat in the furnace chamber I2Φ, and the latter flow (B) achieves a high cooling rate.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, when rotating the two fans (24) and (31) on the same axis as shown in FIG. 5 as described above, the furnace chamber Q (
It is difficult to independently control the flow rate of the gas flow (A) flowing inside D and the flow rate of the gas flow (B) flowing down the inner wall of the high-pressure cylinder (1). For example, at the beginning of cooling, the gas temperature of the latter gas flow (B) is high, and the flow rate may be minimized to prevent excessive temperature rise of the inner surface of the upper lid (2) and the inner wall of the high-pressure cylinder (1), or the 10 must be opened and closed intermittently.

However, even in this case, it is necessary to ensure a constant flow rate of the former gas flow (A), and the rotation speed of the stirring fan (24) cannot be reduced. Therefore, whether the valve (11) is opened and closed intermittently or a variable throttle is provided in the valve (II) or the gas flow path (B) to reduce the flow rate, the circulation fan (31) and the motor A large load is applied to (25), which shortens the life of the motor or, in the worst case, causes damage to the motor due to tripping.

Normally, the motor (25) is placed in a limited space inside the pressure vessel, and a design with a margin for output will lead to increased costs, which is undesirable. The method of lowering the temperature of the gas by installing a heat storage device in the space with the casing (8) and eliminating the need for opening and closing operations of a throttle or valve also reduces the effective area within the limited pressure vessel and reduces the QO of the furnace chamber. Furthermore, this method not only increases the thermal resistance but also reduces the flow rate of the two gases (A) and (B).
) is not controlled.

Thus, the present invention addresses the above-mentioned situation and allows the above-mentioned two gas streams (A
) The purpose is to control (B) and thereby achieve rapid and uniform cooling.

(Means for Solving the Problems) That is, the features of the present invention for achieving the above object are as follows: firstly, in terms of mechanism, as shown in FIG. 1, in addition to the structure shown in FIG. In the cooling gas flow path, a valve (40) is provided at an essentially cold position inside the frame (4B), and a gas passageway (41) that can be opened and closed is provided to direct part or all of the cooling gas flow to the cooling gas. An apparatus is provided that enables circulation through a passage only in an essentially cold place, and claim 2 further provides a device in which a driving device for driving a coaxial stirring fan and a circulation fan in the apparatus is made variable speed. It has a more effective configuration.

Claims 3 and 4 relate to a cooling operation method using the above device, and the former utilizes variable speed operation of the drive device to open the gas passage in the upper part of the outer casing, and simultaneously moves the drive device to circulate stirring gas and In the cooling process in which the stirring gas is circulated, the flow rate of the stirring gas is adjusted by variable speed operation of the drive device, and the flow rate of the cooling gas is adjusted by opening and closing gas passages provided at essentially cold positions. The purpose of the latter is to achieve cooling efficiency, and the latter is particularly important when the cooling gas exiting from the upper passage of the outer casing is too high in temperature at the beginning of the cooling process, and when this passage is closed, the lower part of the cooling gas is The purpose is to open gas passages in essentially cold locations.

(Function) According to the present invention, the gas flow (A) flowing inside the furnace chamber is adjusted by the rotation speed of the variable speed motor, while the flow rate of the gas flow (B) flowing down along the inner wall of the high-pressure cylinder is controlled by the lower gas flow. It is regulated by a valve (40) provided in the passage (41).

Therefore, to explain the cooling process below, in order to cool the inside of the furnace chamber at a constant rate, the two gas flows (8) and (B
) is required to be approximately constant over time. However, since the temperature difference between the two gas streams (A) and (B) decreases with time, the flow rate of the gas stream CB) must increase with time. On the other hand, in order to uniformly cool the inside of the furnace chamber, the flow rate of gas flow (8) must increase over time, but this increase in flow rate is generally smaller than the increase in flow rate of gas flow (B). It is possible to deal with this problem by increasing the rotation speed of the motor.

Therefore, the fan and flow path are designed so that a sufficient flow rate of the gas flow (B) can be obtained even near the end of cooling, and before that, one or more valves (40) at the bottom are sequentially closed. Adjust the flow rate.

Next, at the beginning of cooling, the gas flow (B) is at a high temperature, so the upper valve (usually designed to open and close repeatedly, but at this time, the valve 01) is closed. Open the lower valve (40) to avoid overloading the motor. Then, when valve 01) opens, valve (40)
Close. Note that the valve (40) may remain open while the valve (11) repeats opening and closing.

(Example) The present invention will be described in detail below with further reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 and 2 show an example of the HIP device according to the present invention, in which FIG. 1 shows a case where the upper valve is open, and FIG. 2 shows a case where the valve is closed.

In these figures, the configuration of the device is substantially the same as that of the device shown in FIG. 5 described above, except for the lower gas passage which is the essential part of the present invention, and the same parts are designated by the same reference numerals and details will be omitted. However, in these figures, the partition plate (42) that forms the opening (32) in the upper part of the lower M (3) is located in the essentially cold position partitioned by the partition plate (34) inside the frame (4B).
a gas passageway (41) with one or more valves (40);
is provided, and the aperture (33) is provided to communicate between the partition plate (34) and the partition plate (42) and the aperture (32).
A part or all of the cooling gas flow coming out from the gas passage (
41) to circulate through the aperture (32).

Thus, when the stirring fan (24) is activated by the motor (25), the adiabatic hearth (6) blooms (26) and the opening provided in the lower surface of the storage casing (22) for the object to be treated (7) is caused. (27), the gas inside the furnace passes through the object to be treated (7) and the storage casing (22) as shown in the arrow view (A) in Figure 1.
), heat is taken away through the side surface of the object to be processed (7), and the cooling is reversed at the top of the furnace chamber c2 (Il) and passed through the heat insulating layer at the inner casing (4) of the heat insulating layer (4). The gas flows down while exchanging heat with the gas, and the pedestal (
21) through the opening (28) into the space below the hearth where the fan (24) is housed.

On the other hand, it passes through the insulation N (4) and removes heat, and the high pressure cylinder (1
) The stirring cooling fan, which cools the air while flowing down along the inner wall of the furnace, passes through the opening (32) provided in the lower cover (3) as shown by the arrow (B), separately from the gas in the furnace shown in FIG. The air flows into the fan section by the action of the circulation fan (31), and is forcibly circulated through the opening (33) at the bottom of the partition plate (34) toward the opening θ0 at the bottom of the heat insulating layer. At this time, the flow rate of this gas flow (B) flows as another gas flow (B') by opening and closing the lower valve (40), and the iJR clause is established.

That is, in order to cool the inside of the furnace chamber Q[D at a constant rate,
It is necessary that the amount of heat exchanged between the gas streams (A) and (B) is approximately constant with respect to time. However, typically both gas streams (A
) Since the temperature difference in (B) decreases with time, the flow rate of the gas stream (B) must increase with time.

On the other hand, in order to uniformly cool the inside of the furnace chamber, the gas flow (A)
Although the flow rate of the gas flow (B) must increase with time, this flow rate increase is generally smaller than the flow rate increase of the gas flow (B), and can be handled by increasing the rotational speed of the motor (25).

Therefore, the fan (31) and the flow path are designed so that a sufficient flow rate of the gas flow CB) can be obtained even near the end of cooling.
Before that, the flow rate is regulated by sequentially closing one or more valves (40).

That is, by opening the valve (40), the flow shown in the figure (
B') occurs, reducing the flow rate of the gas flow (B). When a plurality of valves (40) are provided, the flow rate of the gas flow (B) can be adjusted in several stages.

In addition, at the initial stage of cooling, the temperature of the gas flow (B) is high, and therefore the valve θl) is normally configured to repeatedly open and close in order to prevent the inner wall of the high pressure cylinder (1) from rising excessively. However, at this time, as shown in Figure 2, the valve (1
1) is closed, the valve (40) is opened, and the gas flow by the circulation fan (31) is made as shown by the arrow (B') in the figure, thereby applying an overload to the motor (25). There can be no. In addition, the valve (when the river opens, close the valve (40). Alternatively, the valve (40) may be left open while the valve (11) repeats opening and closing; whichever method is chosen is necessary. It depends on the flow rate of the gas flow (B). However, the latter generally has a lower flow rate.

Next, a third example of operation in which cooling is performed by arranging eight valves (40) concentrically at equal intervals in the example shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 above is shown.
As shown in the figure.

That is, after cooling starts, valve 01) is repeatedly opened and closed for a while, and after the temperature of the gas flow (B) decreases and valve (11) is left open, valves (40) are opened symmetrically in four and six valves. , 8, and the flow rate of the closed gas flow (B) is increased one after another to ensure a constant cooling rate as shown in the upper diagram.

Note that thermal uniformity is achieved by measuring the temperatures of the upper and lower parts of the furnace chamber, and increasing the rotational speed of the motor (25) so that the difference between them is within a certain range.

Of course, the above operations can be performed manually, but preferably, it is useful to set the cooling rate and thermal uniformity in advance and to configure the system to be automatically operated according to these settings.

Note that the valve (40) only needs to be small in shape, and a DC solenoid or the like is used since it is basically placed in a low temperature region, usually in a region of about 100°C.

And even if the drive mechanism of this valve (view) is on the lower lid side,
There is no problem even if it is on the furnace room side.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the device according to a modification of FIG. 1 and FIG.
Place the object to be treated (7) on the lower M (3) and lower the insulation part (43a).
The heater is placed on a support member (43) equipped with a heater for HIP processing, and the guide tube (23) outside the heater is eliminated.

In this case, unlike in Fig. 1, the flow of the gas stream (B) is driven by a circulation fan (31) located at the lower part of the furnace chamber, where it comes into direct contact with the gas stream (A), exchanges heat, and mixes. While the flow rises inside the storage casing (22), heat is taken away from the object to be processed (7), and some of the heat is absorbed into the upper passage 05), (lω
It becomes a gas flow (B) and radiates heat to the high pressure cylinder (1), with most of the remaining heat flowing into the furnace chamber C! It descends through Φ and becomes a gas flow (A).

Compared to the device shown in FIG. 1, this device has two gas flows (
Since A) and (B) are directly mixed, the efficiency of heat exchange is good and a faster cooling rate can be obtained, but even in this configuration, the stirring fan (24) and the circulation fan (
31) are directly connected to the motor (25) on the same shaft, and as shown in the figure, one or more sets of passages (41) and valves (4o) are provided to create a gas flow (B'). By using the variable speed motor, the flow rates of the gas flows (A) and (B) can be adjusted, and the object to be processed can be quickly cooled at a uniform and constant speed.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, the present invention provides a stirring fan and a circulation fan coaxially, and the cooling gas forcibly circulated by the circulation fan and the stirring gas circulated by the stirring fan. A HIP device that allows heat exchange, is further equipped with a valve at the bottom and a gas passage that can be opened and closed, and by using a variable speed motor, it is possible to control the flow rate of the gas flow inside the furnace chamber and the high pressure cylinder. It makes it easy to adjust the flow rate of the gas stream flowing down along the inner wall, and controls the flow of the gas stream without overloading the motor during cooling of the HIP device, ensuring uniform cooling at a constant rate. It has a remarkable effect that can be quickly achieved.

In particular, in the apparatus proposed in Utility Model Application No. 61-24676, the heat of the object to be treated is transmitted from the gas flow (A) to the inner inverted cup-shaped casing to the reflux gas flow (B) to the high-pressure cylinder. The thermal resistance is large (although in the present invention, the heat of the object to be processed is transferred from the gas flow (A) to the gas flow (B) to the high-pressure cylinder, so the thermal resistance is small and the cooling rate is higher.

Moreover, in the case of the present invention, the direction of the gas flow (B) is the same as the direction of natural convection in which cold gas is warmed and rises.
When the same flow rate is forced to flow back, it has the advantage of requiring less driving force than flowing in the opposite direction, and the gas flowing to the bottom of the furnace is already cooled by the cylindrical wall, and the bottom surface of the top lid is There is also the advantage that heat dissipation through the top lid can be carried out efficiently because of the presence of relatively high temperature gas.

Furthermore, according to the operation of claim 3.4, the increase in the flow rate of the gas flow (A) for uniformly cooling the inside of the furnace chamber is responded to by increasing the rotational speed of the motor, and the flow rate valve of the gas flow (B) is increased. By closing, it is possible to sequentially adjust the gas flow, and at the beginning of cooling, the gas flow by the circulation fan can be made as shown in (B') to prevent overloading the motor.

(Thus, the present invention reduces vertical temperature nonuniformity that occurs in the furnace chamber during the cooling process during HIP processing, promotes averaging, and enables more efficient cooling through gas circulation. It is expected that the cooling process will be streamlined, which is required for the practical application of HIP equipment, and that it will have a significant effect on the general use of HIP equipment.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 are cross-sectional schematic diagrams showing one example of the device according to the present invention, in which FIG. 1 shows a state in which the upper valve is open, and FIG. 2 shows a state in which the opposite valve is closed. FIG. 3 is a chart showing an example of operation of the above device, FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a modified embodiment of the device of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an example of a conventional HIP device. (1)...High pressure container, (2)...Top lid. (3)...Lower lid, (4)...Insulating layer. (5)... Heater, (6)... Hearth. (7)...Object to be processed. (8)...Outside inverted cup-shaped casing. (9) Inner inverted cup-shaped casing. (14)...Intermediate inverted cup-shaped casing. (10) (15) ...Casing cooling gas passage. (11)...Valve. (16) Gas passage for cooling the lower end of the heat insulation layer. (20)... Furnace chamber, (23)... Guide cylinder. (24)...Fan for stirring gas inside the furnace. (25)...Drive transmission. (26) (27) (28) (29) Furnace chamber gas circulation holes. (31)...Fan for forced circulation of cooling gas. (32) (33) ...Opening holes for cooling gas circulation. (40)...Valve, (41)...Gas passage Patent applicant Kobe Steel, Ltd. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. In a high pressure chamber defined by a high pressure cylinder, an upper cover, and a lower cover, a heat insulating layer and a heater are provided around the inner side of the high pressure chamber to form a furnace chamber, and the heat insulating layer is connected to an airtight outer casing and an inner casing. A gas passageway is provided in the upper part of the outer casing, and the gas flowing out from the passageway radiates heat to the upper lid and the high-pressure cylinder while flowing down along the inner wall of the high-pressure cylinder. On the other hand, a fan for stirring the gas in the furnace is installed below the hearth in the furnace chamber where the object to be processed is installed, and the hearth is airtightly placed below the object to be processed. A storage casing cylinder connected to the stirring fan is disposed to create a gas flow of the stirring gas, and a circulation fan is located below the stirring fan and is driven coaxially with the stirring fan by the same drive device. The cooling gas, which is forcibly circulated by the circulation fan, flows down along the inside of the high-pressure cylinder through the gas passage provided in the outer casing, and while it reverses and rises, the cooling gas flows outside the cylinder. In a hot isostatic pressurizing device that enables heat exchange through direct or indirect contact with flowing stirring gas, at least one gas passage that can be opened and closed is provided in an essentially cold position in the cooling gas flow path. A hot isostatic pressurizing device, characterized in that the cooling gas flow is provided so that part or all of the cooling gas flow can be circulated through the gas passage only in an essentially cold place. 2. 2. A hot isostatic pressurizing device according to claim 1, wherein the same drive device driving the coaxial stirring fan and circulation fan has variable speed. 3. Using the device according to claim 2, during the cooling process, the flow rate of the stirring gas is driven in the step of opening the gas passage in the upper part of the outer casing and simultaneously operating the drive device to circulate the stirring gas and the circulation gas. Due to the variable speed operation of the device,
On the other hand, a hot isostatic pressurizing device characterized in that the flow rate of the cooling gas is adjusted by opening and closing gas passages provided at essentially cold positions, thereby cooling the object to be processed uniformly and at a constant rate. cooling operation method. 4. Using the apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, during the cooling process, at least at the beginning of the step of opening the gas passage in the upper part of the outer casing and simultaneously operating the drive device to circulate the stirring gas and the cooling gas. Cooling of the hot isostatic pressurization device in which when the cooling gas exiting from the passage in the upper part of the outer casing is too high temperature and this passage is closed, the passage provided in an essentially cold position is opened in conjunction with the cooling gas. how to drive.