Method for the densification and spheroidization of solid and solution precursor droplets of materials using microwave generated plasma processing

摘要

A method for processing feed material to produce dense and spheroidal products is described. The feed material is comprised of powder particles from the spray-drying technique or solution precursor droplets from ceramic or metallic materials. The feed material is processed using plasma generated from a microwave. The microwave plasma torch employed is capable of generating laminar flow during processing which allows for the production of spheroidal particles with a homogenous materials distribution. This results in products having improved thermal properties, improved corrosion and wear resistance and a higher tolerance to interface stresses.

主权项

1. A method of producing spheroidal and dense powder products which comprises:
introducing feed material through a materials feeder into a microwave plasma torch, wherein the feed material includes ceramic or metallic materials; entraining said feed material using an axis-symmetric laminar entrainment flow towards a microwave generated plasma; guiding said feed material towards the microwave generated plasma using an axis-symmetric laminar cooling flow; processing said feed material within the microwave generated plasma; quenching a plasma exhaust gas of said microwave generated plasma; and extracting powder products from the quenched plasma exhaust gas.