DENSE FLUID CLEANING CENTRIFUGAL PHASE SHIFTING SEPARATION PROCESS AND APPARATUS

摘要

The present invention is an apparatus and process for cleaning substrates using dense fluids under the influence of a continuous centrifugal force. Dense fluid centrifugal separations resolve many problems associated with conventional dense fluid cleaning technology. These include elimination of pooling and supercooling of liquid carbon dioxide trapped within pores and cavities of a substrate - leading to formation of dry ice and recontamination of substrate, ability to precision clean using one unit volume of dense fluid per cleaning operation and ability to remove small insoluble particles from deep voids or cavities. The present invention can perform solvent-aided separation processes heretofore not possible using conventional dense fluid technology. These include liquid-liquid, liquid-supercritical-fluid, froth flotation and centrifugal phase-shift separations. Finally, the present invention embodies an alternative dense fluid centrifuge apparatus that can tilt from vertical to any angle of orientation to horizontal. This allows for a large variety of substrate cleaning and finishing applications using the dense fluid technology such as barrel finishing - deburring and cleaning in one single device and process.