KR101914974B1 - Apparatus and Method manufacturing carbon fiber - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for manufacturing a carbon fiber and, more specifically, to an apparatus and method for manufacturing a carbon fiber, which are capable of reducing manufacturing process time and reducing energy consumption by applying a plasma apparatus, which consumes a preheating standby time by microwave plasma of an optimal structure and consumes small energy, to manufacturing of a carbon fiber. To this end, the apparatus of the present invention comprises: a reaction furnace in which a carbon fiber is supplied and collected to carbonize or graphitize an oxidized and stabilized carbon fiber or to oxidize or stabilize a carbon fiber precursor; an upper cooling unit which is provided on the upper part of the reaction furnace to prevent heat of the reaction furnace from being leaked; one or more plasma generation units which are provided in the reaction furnace to generate microwave plasma; a gas supply unit which is activated by the microwave plasma of the plasma generation units to supply high-temperature heat to the reaction furnace; and a lower cooling unit which is provided on the lower part of the reaction furnace to cool a carbon fiber which is oxidized and stabilized, or which is carbonized and graphitized. A plasma apparatus for reducing preheating standby time by microwave plasma of optimal structure and consuming small energy is applied to manufacturing of a carbon fiber. Thus, it is possible to reduce manufacturing process time and reduce energy consumption.

Description

Technical Field [0001] The present invention relates to a carbon fiber manufacturing apparatus,

More particularly, the present invention relates to a carbon fiber manufacturing apparatus and a manufacturing method thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to a carbon fiber manufacturing apparatus and a manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly, To a carbon fiber manufacturing apparatus and a manufacturing method for reducing energy consumption.

In the case of the oxidation stabilization process, which is the most expensive energy in the process, the carbon fiber precursor must be exposed to the high temperature (200 to 300 ° C.) over 2 hours in the manufacturing of the carbon fiber, And the cost of manufacturing carbon fibers is high because of the increase in the manufacturing cost due to the high energy consumption and thus it is limited to the high price application fields such as aircraft and sporting goods.

Therefore, in the future, it is essential to lower the cost of manufacturing carbon fiber for various mass consumption of automobiles and building materials.

More than 90% of the commercial carbon fibers are obtained from the PAN precursor. The carbon fibers are produced through oxidization stabilization at 180-300 ° C in an air gas and carbonization at 1600 ° C or lower in an inert gas atmosphere, and carbon fibers such as high elastic modulus Graphitized carbon fibers are produced by graphitization (1600 ~ 3,000 ℃) for manufacturing purposes.

The PAN polymer forms a ladder structure with heat resistance through oxidation, dehydrogenation, and cyclization in the oxidation stabilization process.

This process is an important step in achieving high performance in carbon fiber manufacturing, but it is very slow and time consuming and energy consuming.

Specifically, the oxidation stabilization process is a process in which condensation is caused by oxygen introduced with hydrocarbons, and stabilization must be sufficiently performed at a slow heating rate and a long time stabilization so that combustion does not occur due to the introduced oxygen, Can be produced.

This oxidation stabilization is the most delayed step in the carbon fiber manufacturing process, so technological optimization is essential to increase productivity.

In order to reduce energy and process cost in oxidation stabilization and carbonization process for manufacturing carbon fiber, various researches such as plasma have been recently carried out. In the case of plasma application, ORNL developed a process by applying vacuum plasma. However, Has not yet achieved.

Carbonization and graphitization processes in carbon fiber manufacturing are performed at high temperature (600 ~ 3,000 ℃). In the existing electric furnace system, special heaters are used as heating elements to achieve such high temperatures. Heat transfer There is a loss of heat such as loss of heat radiation and heat absorption of peripheral devices, and it takes a long time to reach a high temperature, so that the initial preheating time is long and the energy efficiency is low due to indirect delivery method .

The conventional carbon fiber manufacturing apparatus (Korean Patent No. 10-1296719) manufactures carbon fibers by using RF plasma. In the case of RF plasma, however, it is required to proceed to a vacuum process, In the ICP method, plasma generation is difficult at atmospheric pressure, and the cost of the process is greatly increased.

Another conventional method for producing carbon fibers (Korean Patent No. 10-1219721, No. 10-1219724, No. 10-1395811) is a method for producing carbon fiber by microwave heating and microwave plasma heating As a patent, there is a problem that the structure or characteristic of a manufacturing apparatus differentiated from a conventional one or a specific manufacturing apparatus can not be presented.

The present invention is to solve the problems of the prior art, and it is possible to reduce the process time and energy consumption by applying the atmospheric pressure plasma apparatus and the process of low energy consumption to the carbon fiber manufacturing by drastically reducing the warm-up waiting time by the microwave atmospheric pressure plasma of the optimum structure And a method of manufacturing the same.

The apparatus for producing carbon fibers according to the present invention comprises a reaction furnace in which carbon fibers are supplied and recovered in order to carbonize or oxidize oxidized or oxidized carbon fibers of a carbon fiber precursor; An upper cooling unit provided on the reaction furnace to prevent the heat of the reaction furnace from flowing to the outside; At least one or more than one of the plasma generating units is provided in the reaction furnace to generate a microwave plasma; A gas supply unit which is activated by microwave plasma of the plasma generating unit and supplies high temperature heat to the reaction; And a lower cooling unit provided at a lower portion of the reactor for cooling oxidation stabilized or carbonized graphite carbon fibers to reduce the waiting time for preheating by the microwave plasma of the optimum structure and to reduce the energy consumption of the plasma apparatus, To reduce the manufacturing process time and energy consumption.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the reaction furnace has a reaction section on the upper part and at least one or more plasma inflow tubes that are inclined downwardly below the reaction section.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the reactor is provided in a cylindrical shape.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the reactor is provided as a cube.

In the present invention, the plasma generator may be configured such that a magnetron is mounted on a launcher, the launcher is connected to a matched tuner, the matched tuner is connected to a bending guide bent downward, and the bent end of the bending guide is an electric field The waveguide is connected to a waveguide of a tube shape which is narrowed so as to generate a higher electric field by compressing, and the waveguide is preferably provided so that its narrowed end is coupled to the reactor.

In the present invention, the gas supply unit may include a supply pipe provided at a position where the electric field is strongest in the plasma generation unit and supply the gas, an igniter for plasma discharge, and a cooling water supply unit for preventing overheat of the gas supply unit. It is preferable that a gas cooling member having an inlet and an outlet is provided.

In the present invention, it is preferable that at least two of the supply pipes are provided so as to face each other and the supplied gas is vortexed to be rotated.

In the present invention, the upper cooling portion is provided in the upper inlet of the reaction furnace and includes cooling water and cooling water inlets and outlets. The upper cooling portion is provided with a ring shape to surround the upper portion of the reactor, It is preferable that the cooling member is provided on the upper part with the entrance and exit rollers for guiding the entrance and exit of the carbon fibers so as to guide the supply and recovery of the carbon fibers.

In the present invention, the lower cooling portion includes a lower cooling member having cooling water and a cooling water inlet and an upper portion opened to enclose the lower portion of the reaction chamber, and a lower roller having a carbon fiber guide- It is preferable that at least one is provided.

In the present invention, the lower cooling unit is provided with a discharge port for discharging foreign substances and tar carried by the lower cooling member, and the discharge port is formed to have an "N" desirable.

In the present invention, it is preferable to provide a temperature control pipe for maintaining the temperature of the reactor at an appropriate temperature.

In the present invention, it is preferable that at least two temperature control tubes are provided so as to face each other and the supplied gas is vortexed to be rotated.

In the present invention, it is preferable that a gas recovery line for recovering and reusing the gas used in the reactor is provided in the upper cooling section and the lower cooling section.

In the method for producing a carbon fiber according to the present invention, A gas injecting step of injecting a gas for oxidizing or carbonizing or graphitizing the supplied carbon fibers; A plasma generating step of generating plasma by supplying power to the plasma generating part to drive the magnetron and the exciter; A temperature control step of controlling a temperature of the plasma; A cooling step for cooling the oxidation stabilized or carbonized or graphitized carbon fibers; And recovering oxidized or carbonized or graphitized carbon fibers. The plasma apparatus for reducing the preheating latency by the microwave plasma of the optimum structure and consuming less energy is applied to the carbon fiber manufacturing process, Shortening and energy consumption.

In the present invention, it is preferable that a gas recovery step of recovering and reusing the gas used in the reactor is provided.

In the present invention, carbon fiber stabilization, carbonization, or graphitization is preferably performed by the gas injection step and the temperature control step, respectively.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the oxidation stability, carbonization and graphitization of the carbon fibers are sequentially performed by respective carbon fiber manufacturing apparatuses.

The carbon fiber manufacturing apparatus and the manufacturing method according to the present invention can reduce the preheating time by the microwave plasma of the optimum structure and reduce the manufacturing time and energy consumption by applying the plasma apparatus consuming less energy to the carbon fiber manufacturing It is effective.

Further, in the oxidation stabilization process, a large number of oxygen radicals are generated by the microwave atmospheric pressure plasma, and the oxidation stabilization process time can be shortened within 2 hours to several tens of minutes.

In addition, by using the microwave atmospheric pressure plasma as the heat source in the oxidation stabilization process, it is possible to make the preheating time for a long time within several seconds within a few seconds by using the microwave atmospheric plasma as the heat source, thereby remarkably reducing the waiting time for preheating, .

In addition, in the carbonization or graphitization process, an independent microwave atmospheric plasma generation unit is provided, which provides an excellent effect of supplying stable plasma generation heat without plasma instability problem due to energy absorption imbalance caused by carbon fibers.

In addition, there is an advantageous effect that a plasma generating device having an independent microwave atmospheric plasma generating part in the carbonization and graphitizing process can be constructed without a problem that the plasma ignition due to the energy absorption by the carbon fiber does not occur.

In the carbonization and graphitization process, the microwave absorption technique mainly generates microwave absorption at the surface of the carbon fiber bundle, and generates a temperature difference with the inside of the carbon fiber bundle. An independent microwave atmospheric pressure plasma generation supply part is provided in the carbon fiber bundle, There is an excellent effect that a more uniform carbon fiber having no temperature difference can be produced.

In addition, in the carbonization and graphitization processes, even in the case of high temperature gas near 3,000 ° C by the vertical structure and the swirling gas, it does not damage the reactor, and the temperature distribution according to the height can be uniformly formed, There is an excellent effect.

Further, since the carbon fiber inlet and outlet are positioned at the upper part in the carbonization and graphitization process, air can be prevented from flowing into the inlet and outlet, and thus, there is an excellent effect that a minimum amount of gas can be used.

In addition, by using the microwave atmospheric plasma as a heat source in the carbonization and graphitization processes, it is possible to make several thousands of seconds within a few seconds compared to the conventional several tens of hours, thereby significantly reducing the waiting time for the preheating, It is effective.

Further, by using a microwave atmospheric plasma as a heat source in the oxidation stabilization process and carbonization and graphitization process, energy is directly given to the gas, and only the gas is heated and transferred to the carbon fiber, thereby saving energy.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a front view schematically showing an apparatus for producing carbon fiber according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Fig.
2 is an enlarged view of the main part of Fig.
3 is a front view schematically showing a carbon fiber manufacturing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a perspective view schematically showing a carbon fiber manufacturing apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a front view of a state in which carbon fibers are sequentially produced by the carbon fiber manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG.
6 is a flow chart of a method for manufacturing a carbon fiber according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, a carbon fiber manufacturing apparatus and a manufacturing method of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

In the following description of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

1 and 2, a carbon fiber manufacturing apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a manufacturing apparatus) 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention is a carbon fiber manufacturing apparatus in which carbon fiber precursors are oxidized or stabilized or oxidized and stabilized, A reaction furnace 20 in which a carbon fiber precursor or carbon fiber 12 is supplied and recovered is provided.

An upper cooling unit 40 provided on the reaction furnace 20 to prevent the heat of the reaction furnace 20 from flowing out to the outside of the reaction furnace 20 and at least one or more of the microwave atmospheric pressure And a plasma generating unit 60 for generating a plasma.

A gas supply unit 80, which is activated by microwave plasma of the plasma generating unit 60 and supplies high-temperature heat to the reaction, and a gas supply unit 80 provided below the reaction furnace to oxidize or stabilize carbonized or graphitized carbon fibers And a lower cooling unit 100 for cooling the cooling water.

It is preferable that the reaction furnace 20 is provided with a reaction section 22 at an upper portion thereof and at least one or more plasma inflow tubes 24 inclined downwardly below the reaction section 22 are provided.

Preferably, as shown in FIG. 1, the plasma inflow pipe 24 may be positioned on mutually symmetrical co-linear lines on both sides of the reactor or mutually variable in position.

In addition, the reactor 20 is preferably cylindrical.

A temperature control pipe 26 for maintaining a proper temperature of the reaction furnace is provided on the plasma inflow pipe 24 so that heat is supplied to the reaction furnace 20 at an appropriate temperature by the supply of the cooling gas .

In addition, it is preferable that at least two temperature control pipes 26 are provided so as to face each other, and the supplied gas is vortexed to be rotated.

The upper cooling section 40 is provided at the upper entrance of the reactor 20 and has cooling water and cooling water inlets and is provided in a ring shape to cover the upper part of the reactor 20, And the upper cooling member 42 is provided.

The upper cooling member 42 is provided on the upper portion of the upper cooling member 42 with an entrance roller 44 for guiding the carbon fibers in and out to guide the supply and recovery of the carbon fibers 12.

In addition, the upper cooling unit 40 may further include a recovery line 46 for recovering the used gas flowing into the reactor 20.

The magnetron 62 is mounted on the launcher 64 and the launcher 64 is connected to a matching tuner 66. The matching tuner 66 is connected to a bent guide (68).

The bent end of the bending guide 68 is connected to a tube-shaped waveguide 70 that compresses the electric field to generate a higher electric field. The waveguide 70 has a narrowed end, .

Preferably, a waveguide 70 is coupled to the end of the plasma inlet tube 24 of the reactor 20, as shown in FIG.

The gas supply unit 80 includes a gas supply pipe 82 provided at a position where the electric field is strongest in the plasma generation unit 60 to supply gas and is provided with an igniter 84 for plasma discharge, And a gas cooling member 86 provided with a cooling water inlet and outlet for preventing the gas supply unit 80 from overheating.

In addition, at least two gas supply pipes 82 are provided so as to face each other, and the supplied gas is vortexed to rotate.

The lower cooling unit 100 includes a lower cooling member 102 having cooling water and a cooling water inlet and an upper opening to enclose the lower portion of the reaction furnace, At least one or more lower rollers 104 are provided.

The lower cooling portion 102 is provided with a discharge port 106 for discharging foreign substances and tar carried by the lower cooling member 102. The discharge port 106 is formed in an "N" To block the inflow of air.

Further, it is preferable that the lower cooling unit 100 further includes a recovery line 108 for recovering the used gas that flows into the reactor 20.

The recovered gas is supplied to the gas supply pipe 82 or the temperature control pipe 26 through the recovery lines 46 and 108 in the upper cooling unit 40 and the lower cooling unit 100 to reuse the used gas desirable.

3 is a front view schematically showing a carbon fiber manufacturing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the first embodiment according to the present invention and its construction are the same, Is omitted.

3, a plurality of plasma inflow pipes 24 are provided in the lower portion of the reactor 20 and a plasma generating portion 60 and a gas supplying portion 80 are provided in each of the plasma inflow pipes 24, Respectively.

Therefore, by continuously supplying the carbon fiber manufacturing heat during the production of the carbon fiber, the carbon fiber can be rapidly produced in the shortest time without the need for the preheating time.

4 is a perspective view schematically showing a carbon fiber manufacturing apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the first and second embodiments of the present invention, A detailed description thereof will be omitted.

4, the reaction furnace 20 is provided as a cube, and the upper cooling unit 40 and the lower cooling unit 100 are provided as a cube corresponding to the reaction furnace 20, A plurality of plasma inlets 24, a plasma generator 60, and a gas supply unit 80 are provided on a front surface and a rear surface of the plasma display panel 20.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, a large number of carbon fibers can be uniformly produced.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a state in which carbon fibers are sequentially produced by the apparatus for producing carbon fibers according to the present invention, wherein the first to third embodiments of the present invention and their constitutions are the same. A detailed description thereof will be omitted.

However, as shown in FIG. 5, the carbon fibers 12 are sequentially oxidized, carbonized, and graphitized by the respective manufacturing apparatuses 10.

Therefore, a plurality of manufacturing apparatuses can be arranged in a plurality of processes at a time, so that the production of carbon fibers and the manufacturing time process can be shortened.

The method of manufacturing carbon fiber by the manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail as follows.

As shown in FIG. 6, the carbon fiber manufacturing method (hereinafter referred to as a manufacturing method) according to the present invention provides a supplying step (S10) of supplying the carbon fibers 12 to the reactor 20.

The supplying step S10 is guided by the entrance and exit rollers 44 of the upper cooling unit 40 of the manufacturing apparatus 10 so that the carbon fibers 12 are supplied to the reaction furnace 20 through the upper cooling unit 40 .

Then, a gas injection step (S20) of injecting a gas for oxidation stabilization, carbonization or graphitization of the supplied carbon fibers (12) is carried out.

In the gas injecting step S20, gas is supplied through the gas supply pipe 82 of the gas supply unit 80, as shown in Figs.

At this time, the gas supplied to the gas supply pipe 82 is injected with a known gas containing oxygen to stabilize the oxidation of the carbon fiber 12.

In addition, when the carbon fiber 12 is carbonized or graphitized, a known gas not containing oxygen is injected.

The plasma generating step S40 is a step of generating a plasma by supplying power to the plasma generating part 60 and driving the magnetron 62 and the igniter 84 to generate plasma.

The plasma generating step S40 generates an electric field by supplying power to the Madnetron 62 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The generated electric field is transmitted to the reactor 20 through the waveguide 70, To the plasma inflow pipe (24).

The inlet electric field generates plasma by the igniter 84 and activates the gas supplied from the gas supply unit 80 to a high temperature so that the reaction of the reaction furnace 20 through the upper part of the plasma inflow pipe 24 Section 22 as shown in FIG.

In addition, a temperature control step (S60) for controlling the temperature of the plasma is performed.

This is because the high temperature gas introduced along the plasma inflow pipe 24 is supplied to the temperature control pipe 26 provided on the plasma inflow pipe 24 to maintain the proper temperature for manufacturing the elastic fiber 12 to be manufactured, And the temperature of the high temperature plasma and gas is introduced into the reaction zone 22 of the reaction furnace 20 while maintaining an appropriate temperature for producing the carbon fiber 12.

In addition, the temperature of the plasma can be controlled by controlling the amount of electric field generated in the magnetron 62 in the temperature control step S60.

The high temperature plasma is generated by the gas supply unit 80 and the plasma generation unit 60 through the gas injection step S20, the plasma generation step S40 and the temperature control step S60, and the generated plasma and the high temperature Is introduced into the reaction zone 22 of the reaction furnace 20 at a proper temperature for producing the carbon fibers 12 by the temperature control step S60 so that the carbon fibers 12 supplied into the reaction furnace 20 The carbon fiber 12 can be oxidatively stabilized, carbonized and graphitized by the carbon fiber 12 to be produced.

Then, a cooling step (S80) for cooling the oxidation stabilized or carbonized or graphitized carbon fibers is carried out.

The cooling step S80 cools the carbon fibers 12 heated by the high temperature through the upper cooling part 40 and the lower cooling part 100 provided in the reactor.

Then, a recovery step (S100) for recovering oxidized stabilized, carbonized or graphitized carbon fibers (12) is obtained.

The carbon fiber 12 supplied through the upper cooling unit 40 passes through the reaction zone 22 of the reaction furnace 20 and is oxidized and stabilized by high temperature plasma and gas, Passes through the lower roller 104 of the lower cooling unit 100 and returns to the reaction zone 22 of the reaction furnace 20 and is guided through the upper cooling unit 40 to the inlet / And is recovered.

In addition, it is preferable to perform a gas recovering step (S120) in which the gas used in the reaction furnace 20 is recovered and reused.

The gas recovering step S120 is a step of recovering the gas used in the reaction furnace 20 through the recovery lines 46 and 108 provided in the upper cooling part 40 and the lower cooling part 100, Through the supply pipe 82 and the temperature control pipe 26, thereby reusing the already heated gas, thereby achieving energy saving.

The carbon fiber 12 is stabilized or carbonized or graphitized by the gas injection step S20 and the temperature control step S60, respectively.

This is because the carbon fiber 12 to be manufactured can be manufactured through one manufacturing apparatus 10 by the kind of gas injected in the gas injecting step S20 and the temperature controlled by the temperature controlling step S60 .

For example, a fiber precursor used as the carbon fiber 12 may be prepared from polyacrylonitrile (hereinafter referred to as PAN), pitch asphalt or rayon which is a petroleum-based hydrocarbon residue, Carbon fibers are formed by an oxidative stabilization process performed at 200 to 300 ° C under an air gas.

The oxidation stabilization may mean a step of forming a ladder structure having heat resistance through oxidation, dehydrogenation, cyclization or the like by oxygen introduced with the polymer forming the precursor.

The oxygen radical means oxygen which is more active and unstable than a general oxygen (stable state) and has a high energy. Typical examples of the oxygen radical include superoxide, hydrogen peroxide, hydroxly radical ).

That is, by the oxygen radical, the oxidation stabilization of the precursor can proceed quickly and stably.

The oxidation reaction of the precursor and the oxygen radical occurs first in the aliphatic side chain of the polymer constituting the precursor, and mainly proceeds with the hydrogen accompanied by the orientation and cross-linking of H2, H2O, CO, CO2, CH4 and the like are produced.

In order to remove various kinds of gas and tar as described above, the lower cooling part 100 is provided with a discharge port 106, and the discharge port 106 is formed in an "N"

Further, a valve is provided at the end of the discharge port 106 to discharge foreign matter, gas, and tar loaded on the discharge port 106.

That is, in the production of the carbon fiber 12 for achieving oxidation stabilization, the gas containing oxygen is introduced in the gas inflow step S20 and is activated at the high temperature by the plasma generating step S40, The carbon fibers 12 are supplied to the reaction furnace 20 at an appropriate temperature of 200 to 300 ° C, so that the oxidation stabilized carbon fibers 12 can be easily produced.

The inert gas (N2, Ar, Ne, He, etc.) is introduced into the gas supply pipe 82 at the gas injection step S20 and is activated at a high temperature by the plasma generation step S40, The carbon fiber 12 can be easily produced by carbonizing and graphitizing the oxidation stabilized carbon fibers 12 by supplying the carbon fibers 12 with an appropriate temperature of 600 to 3000 ° C in the reactor 20.

5, oxidation stabilization, carbonization and graphitization of the carbon fibers 12 are sequentially performed by the respective manufacturing apparatuses 10, so that one manufacturing apparatus 10 is connected to each of the users, The required carbon fiber 12 can be easily produced.

In addition, in the oxidation stabilization process, a plurality of oxygen radicals are generated by the microwave atmospheric pressure plasma, and the oxidation stabilization process time can be shortened within 2 to 10 minutes.

In addition, by using the microwave atmospheric plasma as a heat source in the oxidation stabilization process, it is possible to make the preheating time required for a long period of time within several seconds within a few seconds, thereby drastically reducing the waiting time for preheating, thereby reducing the carbon fiber manufacturing time.

Further, by providing an independent microwave atmospheric plasma generation unit in the carbonization or graphitization process, it is possible to supply stable plasma generation heat without the problem of plasma instability due to the energy absorption imbalance caused by the carbon fibers.

In addition, in the carbonization and graphitization processes, it is possible to constitute a plasma generating device which has no microwave atmospheric plasma generating part, which does not cause plasma ignition due to energy absorption by carbon fibers.

In the carbonization and graphitization process, the microwave absorption technique mainly generates microwave absorption at the surface of the carbon fiber bundle, and generates a temperature difference with the inside of the carbon fiber bundle. An independent microwave atmospheric pressure plasma generation supply part is provided in the carbon fiber bundle, More uniform carbon fibers having no temperature difference can be produced.

In addition, in the carbonization and graphitization processes, even in the case of high temperature gas near 3,000 ° C by the vertical structure and the swirling gas, it does not damage the reactor, and the temperature distribution according to the height can be uniformly formed, have.

Further, since the carbon fiber inlet and outlet are positioned at the upper part in the carbonization and graphitization process, air can be prevented from flowing into the inlet and outlet, and a minimum working gas can be used.

In addition, by using the microwave atmospheric plasma as a heat source in the carbonization and graphitization processes, it is possible to make thousands of degrees within a few seconds compared with the conventional several tens of hours, thereby reducing the warm-up waiting time and reducing the carbon fiber manufacturing time.

In addition, by using microwave atmospheric plasma as a heat source in the oxidation stabilization process and carbonization and graphitization process, energy is directly supplied to the gas, and only the gas is heated and transferred to the carbon fiber, thereby saving energy.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but may be modified and changed without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as claimed in the appended claims. It will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

10; Manufacturing apparatus 12: carbon fiber
20: reaction furnace 22: reaction section
24: Plasma inflow pipe
26: Temperature control tube
40: upper cooling part 42: upper cooling member
44: exit roller 46: return line
60: Plasma generator
62: Magnetron 64: Launcher
66: Matching tuner 68: Bending guide
70: Wave Guide
80: gas supply unit 82: gas supply pipe
84: Magnetor 86: Gas cooling member
100: Lower cooling section
102: lower cooling member 104: lower roller
106: outlet 108: return line

Claims (17)

A reaction furnace in which a carbon fiber precursor or an oxidation stabilized carbon fiber is injected and discharged for carbonizing or graphitizing the carbon fiber precursor oxidatively stabilized or oxidatively stabilized carbon fiber;
An upper cooling unit provided on the reaction furnace to prevent the heat of the reaction furnace from flowing to the outside;
At least one or more at least one reactor in the reactor for generating a microwave atmospheric pressure plasma;
And a gas cooling member having a supply pipe provided at a position where the electric field is strongest in the plasma generating unit to supply gas, an igniter for plasma discharge, and a cooling water inlet / outlet for preventing overheat of the gas supply unit, A gas supply unit for supplying high temperature heat activated by the microwave plasma of the plasma generating unit to the reaction furnace;
And a lower cooling part provided below the reaction furnace to cool oxidation stabilized carbon fibers in the reactor or carbonized or graphitized carbon fibers in the reactor.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the reaction furnace is provided with a reaction section at an upper portion thereof and at least one plasma inflow tube arranged at an upper portion of the reaction section in an inclined downward direction.
3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
Wherein the reactor is provided in a cylindrical shape.
3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
Wherein the reactor is provided as a cube.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the magnetron is connected to a launcher, the launcher is connected to a tuning tuner, the tuning tuner is connected to a bending guide bent downward, and the bent end of the bending guide compresses an electric field, Wherein the waveguide has a narrowed end coupled to the reaction furnace, wherein the narrowed end of the waveguide is coupled to the reaction tube.
delete The method according to claim 1,
Wherein at least two of the supply pipes are mutually opposed to each other so that the supplied gas forms a vortex.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the upper cooling part is provided at the upper inlet of the reaction furnace and includes cooling water and cooling water inlets and outlets and is provided in a ring shape to cover the upper part of the reaction furnace so that carbon fibers enter and exit the reaction furnace, Wherein the inlet and outlet rollers for guiding the fibers in and out are provided so as to face each other so as to guide the inflow and outflow of the carbon fibers.
The method according to claim 1,
The lower cooling unit includes a lower cooling member having cooling water and a cooling water inlet and an upper opening to enclose a lower portion of the reaction furnace and at least one lower roller for guiding carbon fibers through the center of the lower cooling member Wherein the carbon fiber manufacturing apparatus comprises:
10. The method of claim 9,
And a discharge port for discharging foreign matter and tar buried by the cooling member provided in the lower cooling part. The discharge port is formed to have an "N" shape so as to block the inflow of outside air. .
The method according to claim 1,
And a temperature control pipe for maintaining the temperature of the reactor at an appropriate temperature.
12. The method of claim 11,
Wherein at least two of the temperature control tubes are mutually opposed to each other so that the supplied gas forms a vortex.
10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
Wherein the gas recovery line for recovering and reusing the gas used in the reactor is provided in the upper cooling section and the lower cooling section.
A method for producing a carbon fiber by using the apparatus for producing carbon fiber according to claim 1,
A supply step (S10) of supplying a carbon fiber precursor or oxidatively stabilized carbon fiber to the reaction furnace;
A gas injection step (S20) of injecting a gas for oxidizing or stabilizing the supplied carbon fiber precursor or carbonizing or graphitizing the oxidized and stabilized carbon fiber;
A plasma generating step (S40) for generating microwave atmospheric plasma by supplying power to the plasma generating unit to drive the magnetron and the magnetizer;
A temperature control step (S60) of controlling the temperature of the microwave atmospheric plasma;
A cooling step (S80) of cooling carbon fibers oxidized and stabilized in the reactor or carbonized or graphitized carbon fibers in the reactor;
And a recovering step (S100) of recovering the oxidized stabilized carbon fiber that has been cooled or the carbonized or graphitized carbon fiber that has been cooled.
15. The method of claim 14,
And a gas recovering step (S120) for recovering and reusing the gas used in the reaction furnace.
15. The method of claim 14,
Wherein the carbon fiber precursor is oxidized or stabilized by the gas injection step (S20) and the temperature control step (S60), or carbonization or graphitization of the oxidation stabilized carbon fiber is performed.
delete

Images