METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SHAPING PARTICLES BY ULTRASONIC CAVITATION

摘要

Method of shaping solid, particulate materials, which comprises forming a ra w slurry of the starting material, in a liquid which is a partial solvent of said material, and submitting the slurry to treatment by ultrasound generato rs to produce therein ultrasonic vibrations which shape and grind the starting, particulate material to produce a shaped slurry of ground and shaped particles. The shaped particles may be separated from their slurry by removi ng the partial solvent by decantation and/or filtration. The partial solvent ma y be a liquid in which the material to be shaped has a solubility comprised between 1 and 10, wherein the solubility is expressed as grams of material that are dissolved in 100 ml of the liquid at a temperature of 20 ~C. The partial solvent can be chosen from among acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, and mixtures of said solvents with one another or other solvents and/or a minor amount of water, and may also be an organic solvent.