KR101450807B1 - Arc plasma reactor for decomposition of inert gas - Google Patents

Abstract

An arc plasma reactor for decomposing inert gas is provided. An arc plasma reactor for decomposing inert gas according to the present invention includes: a reaction chamber; arc ground electrode and arc high voltage electrode which are installed inside the reaction chamber; a high voltage connection terminal for connecting high voltage to the arc high voltage electrode; a gas inlet which is connected to the reaction chamber and through which inert gas is inputted; a discharge outlet which is connected to the reaction chamber and through which inert gas inputted through the gas inlet is decomposed and discharged; and an inductor which is formed around the reaction chamber for generating a magnetic field by flowing current. A swirl is generated in a direction of discharge of plasma gas due to the inductor. According to the present invention, the power consumption can be reduced by reducing the consumption of arc current for generation of arc plasma by generating a magnetic field to the arc plasma electrode using a power conversion circuit of power device required for arch discharge in an arc plasma reactor, and expands the life time of electrode by avoiding local wear of the electrode by extending the arc discharge generated in the local area of general electrode due to a magnetic field formed to the arc electrode, and the processing process using the arc plasma can be efficiently done with lost costs by uniformly extending an arc plasma area using a magnetic field.

Description

[0001] ARC PLASMA REACTOR FOR DECOMPOSITION OF INERT GAS [0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an arc plasma reactor for decomposing inert gas, and more particularly, to an arc plasma reactor for decomposing inert gas or decomposing inert gas by generating plasma in a high frequency or high voltage arc plasma reactor .

Generally, plasma technology using arc discharge is widely used for high temperature pyrolysis, heat treatment melting, plasma welding and cutting.

Korean Patent No. 10-1173088 discloses a "plasma torch ". Specifically, when a high-voltage arc discharge occurs, foreign matter or dust adheres to the electrode to reduce the arc discharge effect A plasma torch capable of removing foreign substances from an electrode without disassembling the apparatus is disclosed.

Korean Patent No. 10-1272794 discloses a "high-voltage power supply for a plasma having a pulse output ", which is related to a power source for supplying a plasma to an arc plasma reactor, In implementing an inverter that generates pulses after the converter output stage of the device, the capacity of the power supply device is distributed by connecting a plurality of H-type inverter stacks in parallel to the structure of the inverter, and the switching elements of each H- So that the conduction loss of the switch for each H-type inverter stack can be reduced and the internal pressure and capacity of the switching element can be minimized.

On the other hand, due to the characteristics of the arc discharge, a large power source device is required by inducing insulation breakdown between the electrodes and continuously flowing a large current. In addition, since plasma using arc discharge utilizes local discharge of arc electrode, abrupt electrode wear is accompanied by a high temperature of 10,000 ° K, which is the electron exit temperature of the electron during arc discharge. Therefore, melting and pyrolysis devices using arc plasma can not operate for a long time due to high power consumption and frequent electrode replacement, resulting in high operating costs due to inefficiency.

In order to prolong electrode life due to local abrasion, there have been used methods in which a high-voltage power is physically applied or a complicated mechanical device is added around the electrode to rotate the electrode to slightly extend the local wear of the electrode. However, And the effect of prolonging the wear of the electrode due to the extremely large current applied to the electrode, which is relatively inevitable, is inevitably small.

On the other hand, in the power source apparatus used for the arc discharge, a power conversion apparatus is used to easily control the required power. Especially, in order to reduce the size of the power source apparatus and increase the control reaction rate, use. Active elements such as an inductor coil including a switching element are used in such a power conversion apparatus. Since losses are generated in each of the conversion units, the power loss at a high current such as an arc discharge is doubled even at the same magnitude of power .

Although general high-frequency arc plasma generators are widely used, the problem of abrupt abrasion of the electrode is not solved, and the process cost is increased due to high electricity consumption of the high-power power supply device which must output a high current.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a plasma processing apparatus capable of generating a magnetic field in an arc plasma electrode using a circuit element used in a power conversion unit of a power supply for supplying power to generate a plasma in a high frequency or high voltage arc plasma reactor, And to provide an arc plasma reactor for decomposing inert gas, which can reduce the local wear of the electrode by reducing the arc plasma power relatively while widening the reaction zone and reduce power loss.

The object is achieved by a reaction chamber comprising: a reaction chamber; An arc ground electrode and an arc high voltage electrode provided inside the reaction chamber; A high voltage connection terminal for connecting a high voltage to the arc high voltage electrode; A gas inlet communicating with the reaction chamber to introduce an inert gas; A discharge port communicating with the reaction chamber, through which the inert gas introduced through the gas inlet is decomposed and discharged; And an inductor which is formed around the reaction chamber and generates a magnetic field in the reaction chamber while a current flows, wherein a swirl is generated in the plasma gas discharge direction by the inductor. Arc plasma reactor.

The inductor may be configured to constitute a circuit element of a power supply device that supplies power.

The power supply unit includes: a commercial power rectifier for receiving an AC commercial power source and converting the AC commercial power source to a DC voltage; A converter for adjusting a magnitude of the DC voltage converted by the commercial power rectifier; An inverter unit for converting the DC voltage adjusted by the converter unit into high frequency; And a high voltage generating unit for increasing the high frequency output through the inverter unit to a high voltage necessary for arc discharge, and the inductor may be configured to configure the converter unit.

The inductor may be formed toward a plasma gas discharge direction at a point where the arc ground electrode and the arc high voltage electrode are formed.

Wherein the arc ground electrode is in the form of a pipe, the arc high voltage electrode is disposed apart from the arc ground electrode, and a gas introduced through the gas inlet is connected to the arc ground electrode and the arc high voltage electrode A gas nozzle hole can be formed.

The arc high voltage electrode is connected to the arc high voltage electrode. The high voltage connecting terminal is connected to the arc high voltage electrode through the insulating block.

A connection block is formed to surround the upper side of the arc ground electrode and fixed to the reaction chamber, and the inductor may be formed around the connection block.

And a heat insulating block enclosing all or a part of the reaction chamber.

According to the present invention, it is possible not only to reduce the power consumption by reducing the arc current required for arc plasma generation by generating a magnetic field in the arc plasma electrode by using the power conversion circuit of the power supply unit necessary for arc discharge in the arc plasma reactor The arc discharge generated in a general electrode due to the magnetic field formed on the arc electrode is expanded by the magnetic field swirl phenomenon, thereby preventing the local wear of the electrode, thereby prolonging the life of the electrode, It is possible to efficiently process the process using the arc plasma at a low cost.

In addition, according to the present invention, the arc plasma is generated by the arc plasma power source device, and the generated plasma gas is expanded by using the magnetic field swirl, so that it can be utilized for the plasma process at a low cost.

FIG. 1 is a control block diagram illustrating a rotary arc plasma power source apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of a rotary arc plasma power supply apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
3 is a circuit diagram showing a rotary arc plasma power source device in which a step-down type converter section is used;
4 is a circuit diagram showing a rotary arc plasma power source apparatus using a step-up converter section,
5 is a circuit diagram showing a rotary arc plasma power source apparatus including a high voltage rectifier in a high voltage generating section,
6 is a view showing an arc plasma reactor according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description of the present invention, the well-known functions or constructions are not described in order to simplify the gist of the present invention.

First, before describing the arc plasma reactor 500 for decomposing an inert gas according to the present invention, the power supply device 1 for supplying power to the arc plasma reactor 500 will be described.

FIG. 1 is a control block diagram showing a rotary arc plasma power source device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a control block diagram showing a rotary arc plasma power source device 1 according to another embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a circuit diagram showing a rotary arc plasma power source device 1 in which a step-down type converter unit 200 is used, and FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing a rotary arc plasma power source device 1, and FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing a rotary arc plasma power supply device 1 including a high voltage rectifier in the high voltage generator 400. As shown in FIG.

The rotary arc plasma power supply apparatus 1 according to the present invention includes a commercial power rectification unit 100, a converter unit 200, an inverter unit 300 and a high voltage generating unit 400.

The commercial power rectifying unit 100 is a part that receives the AC commercial power and converts it into a DC voltage. The rectifier 107, the initial charging circuit 103, and the relay 108 may be included. The commercial power rectification unit 100 also includes a main power switch 111 for turning on / off the input power, and a filter 102 for removing noise. This form is shown in Fig.

In the commercial power rectifying unit 100, a single-phase or three-phase AC voltage is applied through the commercial power input unit 101, and a voltage of 220 V as a single phase, 220 V, 380 V, or 440 V as three phases is applied.

The rectifier 107 may be a general diode that rectifies the input AC power. A full-wave rectifier or half-wave rectifier can be used as the rectifier 107. It is advantageous to use full-wave rectification when the ripple of the power conversion circuit and the DC power supply at the subsequent stage should be small, and the output DC voltage is 1.414 The value of the multiplication is output.

The main power switch 111 is turned on so that the capacitor of the converter unit 200 is separated from the capacitor of the DC smoothing capacitor 106 (DC link capacitor (first capacitor, converter unit 200) (Hereinafter, referred to as a capacitor 204), a resistor R is formed in the initial charging circuit 103, and a power source voltage initially applied through the resistor R according to the RC time constant is gradually applied to the DC smoothing capacitor 106 .

Thereafter, the relay 108 drives the circuit to supply power.

In the case of the conventional power supply device, the initial charging circuit 103 is not used, which causes damage due to an inrush current. In the present invention, this problem is solved through the initial charging circuit 103.

In the rotary arc plasma power supply apparatus 1 according to the present invention, the commercial power rectifying unit 100 may include a thyristor rectifier 104 instead of the relay 108 described above. This form is shown in Fig.

In the case of using the relay, the problem of lifetime due to the noise of the noise contact and the number of operations may be caused due to the contact driving, and this problem can be solved by using the thyristor rectifier 104 which is a semiconductor.

As shown in FIG. 2, the thyristor rectifier 104, which is a unidirectional control rectifier, is used instead of a relay to detect and control the input power source to stably control the rush current.

In the commercial power rectification section 100, a thyristor rectifier control circuit 105 is formed for controlling the thyristor rectifier 104.

The converter unit 200 is a part that changes the magnitude of the direct current voltage to control the required output power of the arc plasma from the direct voltage output from the commercial power rectifier unit 100.

The converter unit 200 includes a converter power conversion switch 201, a converter gate driver 202, and a second capacitor 204.

The converter power conversion switch 201 is configured to turn ON / OFF the circuit of the converter unit 200. [ The converter power conversion switch 201 may be formed of a semiconductor device such as a transistor, a MOSFET, or an IGBT used in a switching circuit such as a Half Bridge or a Full Bridge, and the gate of the converter gate driver 202 The semiconductor device turns ON / OFF according to the signal (Gate signal). The ratio of the ON / OFF time is referred to as a duty ratio, and the output value changes according to the duty control.

Meanwhile, in the rotary arc plasma power supply device 1 according to the present invention, the converter unit 200 may be a Buck, a boost type, or a boost-buck type.

3, when the converter unit 200 is a buck converter, a converter power conversion switch 201 is placed in front of the input unit. When the converter power conversion switch 201 is turned ON / OFF, The energy of the coil (inductor 203, OFF) is caught by the output terminal, the output is determined by the duty ratio, and the voltage gain is 1 or less, so that the output becomes smaller than the input.

4, when the converter power conversion switch 201 is positioned behind the inductor 203, the input terminal is always connected when the converter power conversion switch 201 is ON / OFF, and when the converter power switching switch 201 is OFF The energy accumulated in the input terminal and the inductor 203 are combined and transmitted to the output terminal, so that the output becomes larger than the input.

The converter gate driver 202 (Gate Driver) is a pulse signal supply circuit for operating the converter power conversion switch 201 according to a duty ratio required, and is required to be isolated from the switching device The magnitude of the voltage / current of the signal to be operated must be changed according to the characteristics of the power converter (the converter power conversion switch 201), and a protection circuit function for determining whether the operation of the switching element is abnormal is required.

The inductor 203 of the converter unit 200 controls the direct current according to the switching operation of the converter power conversion switch 201. DC current flows in the inductor 203 according to the duty ratio output from the converter power conversion switch 201 of the converter unit 200. [

In the present invention, the inductor 203 of the power conversion converter unit 200 is installed in the arc plasma reactor 500 of FIG. 6 using the magnetic field generating principle for the magnetic field coil to generate a magnetic field during arc plasma discharge .

That is, in the present invention, the inductor 203 is formed in the arc plasma reactor 500 by using the current flowing in the inductor 203, thereby forming a magnetic field between the electrodes and between the electrodes during the plasma discharge to expand the plasma generation region, Thereby forming a swirl so as to expand and rotate the plasma.

The inverter unit 300 converts the DC voltage converted by the converter unit 200 into an AC voltage.

The inverter unit 300 may include an inverter power conversion switch 301 and a resonance tank 303. Further, it may further comprise an inverter gate driver 302 for controlling the switching operation of the inverter power conversion switch 301.

The inverter power conversion switch 301 is configured to turn ON / OFF the circuit of the inverter unit 300. [ The inverter power conversion switch 301 may be a semiconductor device such as a transistor, a MOSFET, or an IGBT used in a switching circuit such as a half bridge or a full bridge. These semiconductor devices perform ON / OFF operations in accordance with a gate signal.

The inverter power conversion switch 301 causes the DC power input to the inverter unit 300 to be outputted as an AC square wave, and the pulse width is converted and output according to the duty ratio.

The inverter gate driver 302 alternately drives the upper and lower switches of the alternating current in the inverter power conversion switch 301 of the inverter unit 300 and generates a pulse width modulation pulse width modulation Wide Modulation) control operation signal. The upper switching signal is isolated to prevent short-circuiting.

The resonance tank 303 (Resonant Tank) is constituted by a resonance circuit, and a sine wave of the converted frequency is outputted. In order to increase the power conversion efficiency of the power supply device 1 according to the present invention, the resonance tank 303 needs impedance matching with the load device of the arc plasma reactor 500, and the zero voltage / ZVS / ZCS), which can be either a series connection (current resonance) or a parallel connection (voltage resonance). A sinusoidal wave of the converted frequency is output through the resonance tank 303, which is a resonance circuit.

The frequency required for impedance matching can be changed by using the current sensor formed at the output terminal of the resonance tank 303. [

The high voltage generating unit 400 boosts the high frequency output through the inverter unit 300 to a high voltage necessary for arc discharge.

To this end, the high voltage generating unit 400 includes a high voltage transformer 401 and a high voltage sensing unit 402.

The high voltage transformer (401) boosts the AC voltage output from the inverter unit (300) to a high voltage.

The high voltage sensing unit 402 is configured to detect the high voltage output voltage and current.

The high voltage generating unit 400 may further include a high voltage rectifier 404 as shown in FIG. 5 to output a DC high voltage.

FIG. 6 is a view showing an arc plasma reactor 500 for decomposing inert gas according to the present invention.

The arc plasma reactor 500 according to the present invention is for decomposing refractory or inert gases such as ammonia and SF6.

The arc plasma reactor 500 includes an arc plasma reaction chamber 501, an arc ground electrode 502 installed inside the reaction chamber 501, an arc high voltage electrode 503, an arc high voltage electrode And a high voltage connection terminal 505 for connecting a high voltage to the high voltage connection terminals 503 and 503.

The arc ground electrode 502 may be formed in the shape of a pipe, and the arc high voltage electrode 503 may be disposed within such an arc ground electrode 502.

At this time, a gas nozzle hole 507 for discharging the introduced gas between the arc ground electrode 502 and the arc high voltage electrode 503 may be formed in the arc ground electrode 502.

An insulating block 504 coupled to the lower side of the arc ground electrode 502 and the arc high voltage electrode 503 for securing and insulating the arc ground electrode 502 and the arc high voltage electrode 503 is provided and the high voltage connecting terminal 505 is connected to the insulating block 504 And is connected to the arc high voltage electrode 503.

The arc plasma reactor 500 includes a connection block 506 for connecting the arc electrode (the arc ground electrode 502 and the arc high voltage electrode 503) with the reaction chamber 501, And is fixed to the reaction chamber 501 while covering the upper side of the arc ground electrode 502.

The arc plasma reactor 500 further includes a gas inlet 508 for introducing an arc plasma, an inert gas for introducing an arc plasma, an outlet 509 for discharging the arc plasma reaction gas, a reaction chamber 501 for insulating the reaction chamber 501, And a heat insulating block 510 surrounding all or a part of the heat insulating block 501.

An inductor 203 is formed together with the arc plasma reactor 500 according to the present invention and the inductor 203 is formed around the reaction chamber 501 to generate a magnetic field in the reaction chamber 501 while current flows.

The inductor 203 may also be formed around a connection block 506 between the arc electrode (arc ground electrode 502 and arc high voltage electrode 503) and the reaction chamber 501, And may be an inductor 203 constituting the converter unit 200.

The inductor 203 of the converter unit 200 as the power conversion circuit element of the rotary arc plasma power supply device 1 is configured in the arc plasma reactor 500 so that the current flowing in the inductor 203 causes the magnetic field Electrons and ions generated between the arc high voltage electrode 503 and the arc ground electrode 502 are accelerated and rotated by the magnetic field when the arc plasma discharge occurs and the arc plasma is swirled toward the reaction chamber 501 swirl.

Therefore, the arc generated between the arc electrode (the arc ground electrode 502 and the arc high voltage electrode 503) due to the high voltage supplied from the power source device does not stay between the electrodes but develops as a magnetic field, It is possible to remarkably reduce the power consumption of the arc discharge.

In the case of forming the heat exchange device in the arc plasma reaction chamber 501 to heat the process gas or the substance to be treated, the arc power consumption can be further reduced, and the contact area and reaction residence time can be extended by the magnetic field swirl Can be obtained.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, It is obvious to those who have. Accordingly, it should be understood that such modifications or alterations should not be understood individually from the technical spirit and viewpoint of the present invention, and that modified embodiments fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention.

1: rotating arc plasma power supply device 100: commercial power rectifying part
101: commercial power input unit 102: filter
103: initial charging circuit 104: thyristor rectifier
105: thyristor rectifier control circuit 106: DC smoothing capacitor
107: Rectifier 108: Relay
111: main power switch 200: converter section
201: converter power conversion switch 202: converter gate driver
203: inductor 204: second capacitor
300: inverter unit 301: inverter power conversion switch
302: inverter gate driver 303: resonance tank
400: High voltage generating unit 401: High voltage transformer
402: high voltage sensing part 404: high voltage rectifying part
500: arc plasma reactor 501: reaction chamber
502: arc ground electrode 503: arc high voltage electrode
504: Isolation block 505: High voltage connector
506: connecting block 507: gas nozzle hole
508: Gas inlet 509: Gas outlet
510: Insulation block

Claims (8)

A reaction chamber;
An arc ground electrode and an arc high voltage electrode provided inside the reaction chamber;
A high voltage connection terminal for connecting a high voltage to the arc high voltage electrode;
A gas inlet communicating with the reaction chamber to introduce an inert gas;
A discharge port communicating with the reaction chamber, through which the inert gas introduced through the gas inlet is decomposed and discharged; And
And an inductor which is formed around the reaction chamber and generates a magnetic field in the reaction chamber while a current flows,
A swirl is generated in the plasma gas discharge direction by the inductor,
Wherein the inductor constitutes a circuit element of a power supply device for supplying electric power. delete The method according to claim 1,
The power supply device includes:
A commercial power rectification part for receiving an AC commercial power source and converting it into a DC voltage;
A converter for adjusting a magnitude of the DC voltage converted by the commercial power rectifier;
An inverter unit for converting the DC voltage adjusted by the converter unit into high frequency; And
And a high voltage generating unit for raising the high frequency output through the inverter unit to a high voltage necessary for arc discharge,
And wherein the inductor constitutes the converter unit. The method according to claim 1 or 3,
Wherein the inductor is formed in a plasma gas discharge direction at a point where the arc ground electrode and the arc high voltage electrode are formed. The method according to claim 1 or 3,
Wherein the arc ground electrode is in the form of a pipe,
Wherein the arc high voltage electrode is disposed apart from the inside of the arc ground electrode,
Wherein the arc ground electrode is formed with a gas nozzle hole through which gas introduced through the gas inlet is discharged between the arc ground electrode and the arc high voltage electrode. 6. The method of claim 5,
An insulating block coupled to a lower side of the arc ground electrode and the arc high voltage electrode to separate the arc ground electrode and the arc high voltage electrode,
And the high-voltage connection terminal is connected to the arc high-voltage electrode through the insulating block. 6. The method of claim 5,
A connection block is formed which surrounds the arc ground electrode and is fixed to the reaction chamber,
Wherein the inductor is formed around the connection block. ≪ RTI ID = 0.0 > 18. < / RTI > The method according to claim 1 or 3,
Further comprising a heat insulating block enclosing all or a part of the reaction chamber.

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