Plasma reactor and methods for use

摘要

A plasma reactor comprises a working chamber that has at least one entry port. The working chamber is adapted to receive at least one article The entry port is adapted to receive a working gas into the working chamber. An electrical energy generator is provided. The plasma reactor includes at least one pair of electrodes which are positioned adjacent the working chamber entry port. The electrodes, which are connected to the generator, create an electric field adjacent the entry port that converts the working gas into a working plasma for interacting with a material of the article. The article to be processed is placed in a part of the working chamber which is free from electric fields. An electric field-free region downstream of the plasma generating region is provided in which the article is positioned. A plasma constraint member is provided to direct substantially all of the plasma flow through the articles held on said constraint member. The plasma reactor can be used to clean organic scums, films or epoxy glass from circuit boards and magnetic recording discs. With ammonia as the plasma, the reactor can be used to case harden alloys.