U.S. patent number 3,893,845 [Application Number 05/365,925] was granted by the patent office on 1975-07-08 for method for reducing matter to constituent elements and separating one of the elements from the other elements.
This patent grant is currently assigned to The Boeing Company. Invention is credited to James E. Drummond, Derek W. Mahaffey.
United States Patent |
3,893,845 |
Mahaffey , et al. |
July 8, 1975 |
Method for reducing matter to constituent elements and separating
one of the elements from the other elements
Abstract
A method and apparatus for reducing matter, particularly
chemical compounds, to constituent species in a high temperature
environment (plasma) and separating one of the species from the
other species. Reduction is effected by raising the input compound
to a high temperature so that it is thermally dissociated.
Reduction can also be effected by chemically reducing the compound
to a gas consisting of a specie which can be more readily ionized
and another product of the chemical reduction reaction. Separation
is effected by partly ionizing one of the species to be separated
and moving the resultant mixture of gas and plasma through a
magnetic field (B). The magnetic field B is shaped so as to
increase in intensity in the direction of flow of the gas and
plasma. The plasma is squeezed by the magnetic field. Although the
plasma tends to follow the magnetic field lines, there is some
slippage across them. The net result is that the plasma is moving
at a velocity (v) through a magnetic field B having vector
components B.sub..vertline. perpendicular and parallel
B.sub..parallel. to the plasma velocity vector. The interaction of
the perpendicular (B.sub..vertline.) and parallel
(B.sub..parallel.) components of the magnetic field with the ions
and electrons in the plasma produces a separating force
perpendicular to the direction of plasma flow -- the force tending
to squeeze the plasma. The separating force acts upon the entire
specie which is significantly ionized even though it is only partly
ionized because of resonant charge exchange. The neutral or
un-ionized specie is not directly affected by the magnetic
field.
Inventors: |
Mahaffey; Derek W. (Bellevue,
WA), Drummond; James E. (Bellevue, WA) |
Assignee: |
The Boeing Company (Seattle,
WA)
|
Family
ID: |
26953807 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/365,925 |
Filed: |
June 1, 1973 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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269634 |
Jul 7, 1972 |
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172674 |
Aug 18, 1971 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
75/10.2; 250/298;
204/164; 96/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
C22B
4/005 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
C22B
4/00 (20060101); C22d 007/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;75/1R,1V,1P,68R,11
;250/298 ;55/100 ;204/164 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Rutledge; L. Dewayne
Assistant Examiner: Andrews; M. J.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Seidel, Gonda & Goldhammer
Parent Case Text
PRIOR PATENT APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation-in-part of patent application
Ser. No. 269,634 filed July 7, 1972 in the names James E. Drummond,
David B. Chang and Derek W. Mahaffey; said application Ser. No.
269,634 being a continuation-in-part of patent application Ser. No.
172,674 filed Aug. 18, 1971 in the name of James E. Drummond, David
B. Chang and Derek W. Mahaffey (now abandoned).
Claims
We claim:
1. A process for separating a constituent specie from the remaining
species in a gas, said gas being at a temperature where the specie
is partly ionized and the remaining species are insignificantly
ionized, comprising:
a. flowing said gas along a magnetic field B whose field intensity
increases in the general direction of gaseous flow, and the
direction of said magnetic field also being in the general
direction of said gaseous flow;
b. spacing the plasma of partly ionized specie at a position remote
from the wall structure of a containing vessel as it flows along
said magnetic field B;
c. applying a force F to said plasma to confine it to a region of
space, said force being created by the movement of the plasma at an
angle .beta. relative to the magnetic field;
d. permitting the current J created by the interaction of the
moving electrons of the ionized specie with the perpendicular
component of the magnetic field B.sub..vertline. to flow in a
closed path;
e. using said current J flowing in a closed path to interact with
the parallel component B.sub..parallel. of the magnetic field B to
generate the confining force F acting upon the partly ionized
specie; and
f. collecting the partly ionized specie apart from the remaining
species.
2. A process in accordance with claim 1 including collecting the
specie in a region of maximum field intensity.
3. The process of claim 1 wherein said plasma generally follows
said magnetic field and the movement of the plasma at an angle B
relative to the magnetic field is created by a random drift.
4. The process of claim 1 wherein said gas is a dissociated
compound and the ionized specie is a metal.
5. The process of claim 4 wherein the compound is alumina and the
metal is aluminum.
6. The process of claim 4 wherein the dissociated compound includes
iron and the ionized specie is the iron.
7. The process of claim 4 wherein the dissociated compound includes
titanium and the ionized specie is the titanium.
8. The process of claim 4 wherein the dissociated compound includes
tin and the ionized specie is the tin.
9. The process of claim 4 wherein the dissociated compound includes
nickel and the ionized specie is the nickel.
10. The process of separating from each other a consituent specie
and the remaining species in a composition of matter,
comprising:
a. heating said composition of matter to a temperature where it is
in a gaseous state and a constituent specie is partly ionized;
b. flowing said gas along a magnetic field B whose field intensity
increases in the general direction of gaseous flow, and the
direction of said magnetic field also being in the general
direction of said gaseous flow;
c. spacing the plasma of partly ionized constituent specie at a
position remote from the wall structure of a containing vessel as
it flows along said magnetic field B;
d. applying a force F to said plasma to confine it to a region of
space, said force being created by movement of parts of the plasma
at a variety of angles .beta. relative to the magnetic field;
e. permitting the current J created by the interaction of the
moving electrons of the ionized specie with the perpendicular
component of the magnetic field B.sub..vertline. to flow in a
closed path;
f. using said current J flowing in a closed path to interact with
the parallel component B.sub..parallel. of the magnetic field B to
generate the confining force F acting upon the partly ionized
specie; and
g. collecting the partly ionized specie apart from the remaining
species.
Description
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for reducing
matter to dissociated species and separating the species each from
the other. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and
apparatus for reducing compounds, such as metal oxides, to
constituent elements or an element and chemical reduction reaction
product and separating the selected element or product (e.g.,
aluminum from oxygen) using high temperature plasmas.
At sufficiently high temperatures, compounds will dissociate into
their constituent elements, and if that temperature be high enough,
one or more of the elements will ionize. The degree of ionization
at a particular temperature varies from element to element. For
example, the ionization potential of aluminum is about 5.98 eV and
that of oxygen about 13.6 eV. The practical effect of differing
ionization potentials and other factors (e.g., degeneracy of the
lowest ionized state) is that certain elements of high ionization
potential do not ionize appreciably at the temperature where
significant ionization of other elements takes place. Examination
of equilibrium composition of a gaseous mixture at elevated
temperatures demonstrates that, for certain compounds, after
dissociation, one element is partly ionized but the other element
or elements are not significantly ionized.
The present separation process and apparatus operates upon a gas
containing only one significantly ionized specie. Moreover, that
specie is only partly ionized. Separation using only partial
ionization means that lower temperatures can be used and lower
temperatures mean less energy input. Analysis shows that throughput
rates of production for the selected specie, whether it be the
partly ionized specie or not, are little affected by ionization
fractions as little as several percent. This means that the process
can be operated at very small percentages of ionization (0.2- 20%)
and therefore significantly lower enthalpy relative to those
processes which require full ionization (Varney U.S. Pat. No.
1,954,900), while still producing greater output quantities of the
selected specie. This is made practical by the very rapid
(resonant) exchange of charge between atoms and ions of the partly
ionized specie.
The invented process separates the partly ionized specie from the
essentially un-ionized specie or species using a magnetic field. It
has been found that the separating force can be generated by
creating relative motion between the magnetic field and a partly
ionized gaseous specie where said relative motion is at an angle
.beta. to the magnetic field. Preferably, the plasma flows relative
to a fixed magnetic field, although other forms of relative motion
may be created. The large flow velocities permitted by the process
produce large throughput rates. In patent application Ser. No.
269,634 filed July 7, 1972, the separator uses an externally
generated magnetic field through which the entire plasma including
the ions, the electrons and the neutral elements are allowed to
flow. The magnetic field is oriented at an angle such that it has
both perpendicular and parallel components relative to the plasma
flow velocity. The interaction of the perpendicular component with
the plasma flow velocity produces a current density having both
magnitude and direction. The interaction of the current density and
the parallel magnetic field component produces a separating force
upon the ions and the neutral elements of the partly ionized
specie. So that a destructive space charge is not built up, the
current is allowed to close upon itself. For this reason, a
structure having axial symmetry is provided. The net result is a
separating force acting on the entirety of the partly ionized
specie.
Having created a separating force that is active only upon the
partly ionized constituent specie, it is possible to isolate that
specie from the remaining neutral elements which are not affected
by the magnetic field. The specie upon which the separating force
acts undergoes forced diffusion through the other species and so
can be concentrated in one region of space. A scoop or cold wall
for condensation located in this region completes the separation
process. In the latter instance, for example, the ions and the
neutral elements of the partly ionized species are permitted to
strike a relatively cool surface and hence pass from the gaseous to
the molten state.
The present invention uses the same basic principles to create the
requisite separating force. Thus, a single constituent specie is
partly ionized and relative angular displacement of that specie
with respect to a magnetic field is created. The process used in
the present invention is to move the plasma through a magnetic
field having an intensity that varies in the general direction of
plasma flow. In particular, the field intensity increases in that
direction. The gaseous flow is relatively undirected, at least in
comparison to the directed flow velocity of the invention described
in patent application Ser. No. 269,634. The plasma, however, tends
to follow the magnetic field lines and is relatively squeezed
together as the field intensity increases. This tendency, however,
is by no means perfect and the plasma thus drifts across the
magnetic field lines. Accordingly, the plasma is in effect moving
at an angle relative to the magnetic field and this effect is
enchanced by reason of the increasing field intensity. Such angular
movement relative to the magnetic field necessarily generates the
requisite force described above which causes the plasma to move in
a defined region of space. Having confined the plasma to a
particular region of space, it is now possible to separate it from
the remaining un-ionized or neutral constituent species of the
gas.
The foregoing separation concept has certain advantages. In
particular, the high temperature plasma is maintained at a position
remote from the confining walls. Accordingly, there is no need to
provide large areas of walls which must withstand contact with
plasmas of about 3000.degree.K or higher. Another advantage of the
system is that it can be designed to more readily recycle material
which has not been separated into its constituent species.
These and other advantages will become apparent from what is
disclosed hereinafter.
The present invention is directed toward separating one constituent
species from another constituent species of a chemical compound in
a dissociated gaseous state. In the embodiments and examples given
herein, metals are separated from their compounds; e.g., aluminum
from alumina (Al.sub.2 O.sub.3). In such examples, it is the partly
ionized specie that is the desired product. However, it should be
understood that the invention is not limited to instances in which
only the partly ionized specie is to be recovered. The invention is
the separation process. This means that the un-ionized specie or
species may be recovered as a primary output of the process. It
should also be understood that the invention is applicable to
separating an element and molecule from each other if that is the
manner in which the input compound dissociates and there is partial
ionization of the element but not the molecule. Indeed, in one
example given herein, aluminum is separated from carbon monoxide
after first reducing the alumina to gaseous aluminum and carbon
monoxide.
The principal advantage of the invented process and apparatus is in
separating certain metals from the more electronegative elements;
oxygen in particular, but also sulfur and silicon. These elements
do not ionize appreciably at the temperatures where significant
ionization of the metals with which they are chemically combined
takes place.
The most common and economic process in current use for a wide
variety of metals is to separate the metal element from its ore by
chemical treatment yielding usually an oxide and then reducing the
oxide with carbon. However, certain other elements such as the
metals found in the III and IV columns of the Periodic Table tend
to form stable carbides so that reduction to pure metal by carbon
is not possible. The examples are aluminum (III), titanium (IV) and
zirconium (IV). The present invention makes possible the retrieval
of pure metal without forming carbides.
Separation of aluminum from its oxides is treated in detail herein.
Aluminum silicate is a more widely available source of aluminum
than Al.sub.2 O.sub.3. It is normally found in the form of clay. In
aluminum silicate at 5000.degree.K and 1 atmosphere of pressure
aluminum ions are more than 1000 times as abundant as silicon ions.
Accordingly, the present invention provides an apparatus and
process whereby abundant aluminum silicate clay is made to become a
source of fairly pure aluminum metal whereas it had not been so in
the past.
Titanium is commonly prepared by converting it to titanium
tetrachloride and then purifying the tetrachloride by fractional
distillation. The purified tetrachloride is reduced with magnesium
or sodium. It is the reduction which is expensive and which makes
titanium a relatively costly metal even though it is one of the
most abundant in the earth's crust. The present invention has the
advantage of being able to reduce titanium tetrachloride without
the use of magnesium or sodium residues.
Zirconium is manufactured by essentially the same process as
titanium. Pure zirconium tetrachloride is prepared and then
reduced. The present invention can be used to reduce zirconium
tetrachloride to retrieve pure zirconium.
As previously stated, the invention takes advantage of the concept
that certain constituent species of a dissociated gas may be partly
ionized at temperatures where there is no significant ionization of
the remaining species. In the case of metal ores, certain metal
elements are partly ionized at temperatures where there is no
significant ionization of the more electro-negative elements such
as oxygen, sulfur and silicon which combine to make up the ores.
This provides a means whereby ionized metals can be separated from
their compounds; aluminum from alumina (Al.sub.2 O.sub.3); aluminum
from aluminum silicate (Al.sub.2 SiO.sub.5); iron from ferric oxide
(Fe.sub.2 O.sub.3); tin from cassiterite (SnO.sub.2); copper from
various copper ores; nickel from nickelous oxide (NiO); or chromium
from chromite (CR.sub.2 O.sub.3).
At temperatures high enough for alumina, by way of example, to be
completely dissociated and the aluminum partly ionized in a gas,
the negative charge carriers are electrons rather than ions. In a
plasma, any current I flowing in a region having a magnetic field B
experiences a force I .times. B at right angles to I. The electrons
are therefore forced in a new direction by their current. The
electrons tend to pull the ions with them. They both move in the I
.times. B direction with a speed proportional to the large electron
current and proportional to the mobility of the ions and the hot
gas. The current I is created by flowing the plasma gas through the
magnetic field. The gaseous plasma therefore sees an effective
electric field whose lines of force make closed loops. Thus, if
walls do not intersect these lines of force, the current produced
by this electric force never has to leave the gaseous plasma. It is
necessary to provide axial symmetry for the structure containing
the plasma so that the current flows freely.
The direction of the magnetic field in respect to the direction of
flow of the plasma is significant to the separation process. A
parallel magnetic field can be used to separate the ions from the
neutral particles since charged particles spiral around magnetic
field lines, whereas the neutral particles are uneffected. This
works efficiently but very slowly because relatively low pressures
are required to avoid deleterious particle collision. On the other
hand, providing the effect of a magnetic field at an angle to the
flow generates a separating force that operates well at high plasma
pressures and large flow velocities so that large throughput rates
are possible.
For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there are shown in
the drawings forms which are presently preferred; it being
understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the
precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an apparatus in
accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the apparatus taken along the line
2--2 in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the apparatus taken along
the line 3--3 in FIG. 1.
The principal aspects of the present invention are heating matter
from which a constituent specie is to be separated until the matter
dissociates into a gaseous state and is at a temperature at which
that specie or a remaining constituent specie is partly ionized. At
such temperature, there is no significant ionization of any species
except one. The gas and plasma is passed at a high velocity through
a magnetic field whose intensity varies in the direction in which
the plasma is flowing. In particular, the intensity increases. As
the gaseous material flows through the apparatus, the partly
ionized specie is squeezed by the resultant forces into a fixed
region of space from which it may be removed.
Referring now to the drawings, wherein like numerals indicate like
elements, there is shown an apparatus 10 for accomplishing the
process. The apparatus 10 includes a vessel 12 supported on a base
14. The walls of vessel 12 are preferably cooled in any
conventional manner so that it may withstand the relatively high
temperatures within its confines.
The base 14, in addition to supporting the vessel 12, also supports
apparatus 15 for preheating and vaporizing the matter from which
the constituent species is to be removed. In the example given,
aluminum is removed from alumina. It should be understood, however,
that this is by way of example and other constituent species of
matter may be removed by the same process.
A pair of cylindrical carbon electrodes 16 and 18 are
concentrically mounted within the base 14 and define an annulus 20
between them. Appropriate vacuum seals 22, 24 and 26 are provided
at the joints between base 14 and the carbon electrodes 16 and 18.
Each of the seals 22, 24 and 26 is surrounded by an inert gas
maintained within the chamber 28 defined by the base 14. The gas is
at approximately 0.1 atmospheres and serves both as a coolant and
to assist in completing the seal.
The annular inner support 30 for the electrode 16 as well as the
top wall 32 of base 14 are preferably made of a refractory material
such as alumina since these are the hottest regions of the entire
apparatus and this material is capable of maintaining structural
integrity and strength at temperatures in excess of 2000.degree.K.
The remaining portions of the vessel are preferably made of
stainless steel with appropriate cooling means (not shown).
The material from which a constituent specie is to be removed is
introduced into the annulus 20, preferably in a finely ground form
so as to be able to readily heat the same. The electrodes 16 and 18
are connected to a source of electrical (A.C. or D.C.) power (not
shown). Current flows between the electrodes and the temperature of
the material is raised by ohmic heating. The amount of ohmic
heating is sufficient to cause the material to vaporize when it
reaches the annular space 36 formed by the inner support 30. In the
example shown, alumina is introduced into the annulus 20 and is
vaporized when it reaches the annular space 36.
Many electrodes 38 are mounted at equidistant points around the
circumference of base 14 as best shown in FIG. 2. An appropriate
seal 40 is provided for each of the electrodes 38. As shown in FIG.
1, the electrodes extend up to a point spaced from the electrode
18. Each of the electrodes 38 is connected to another source of
alternating or direct current power and is opposite in phase or
polarity to the electrode 18. Accordingly, an arc 42 is struck
between each of the electrodes 38 and the electrode 18. This arc
heats the vapors to a temperature where they are dissociated and
the aluminum is partly ionized. Such partial ionization takes place
at a temperature of approximately 5000.degree.K for alumina.
Thus a gaseous mixture consisting of partly ionized aluminum
(0.2-20%) and oxygen which is essentially un-ionized enters the
vessel 12.
Supported within the vessel 12, is a collecting structure which
includes conical wall 46 and 48 which define an aperture 50 opening
into annulus 47 into which the ionized specie is directed. Walls 46
and 48 diverge and are connected to duct 52 through which the
ionized specie of the constituent material is exhausted. In order
that the flow of plasma be unimpeded by the magnetic field in
annulus 47 fins 44 are located so as to prevent the occurrence of
the closed current loops which previously confied the plasma in
lower section 45. Duct 52 is connected to an appropriate pump for
maintaining the flow of the ionized specie through the duct. The
inner side of wall 48 provides communication with the duct 54
through which the un-ionized specie may flow. The un-ionized specie
also flows between the walls 46 and the walls of the vessel 12 as
shown. The un-ionized specie is exhausted from the vessel 12
through the duct 56 which also is connected to an appropriate
pumping means for maintaining the flow of such un-ionized species.
By way of example, by not limitation, the pressure within the
vessel 12 is maintained at approximately 0.01 atmospheres by the
aforementioned pumping means.
The vessel 12 is surrounded by an electromagnet 58 which preferably
is of the superconductive type so as to be capable of generating an
appropriate magnetic field. Electromagnet 58 is designed so as to
provide a magnetic field B whose intensity varies along the axis of
the vessel 12. A magnetic field of significant intensity extends
from just below the arc 42 up to a level beyond aperture 50. Its
intensity increases in the direction such that it is a maximum
(saddle point) at level near 50.
The pumping action at the ducts 52 and 56 allows the mixture of gas
and plasma to flow through the vessel 12. Thus, the example given,
a mixture of partly ionized aluminum and substantially un-ionized
oxygen atoms are now within the magnetic field. Partly ionized
aluminum tends to follow the magnetic field lines and thus retain
its annular shape as it flows past the arcs 42. On the other hand,
the un-ionized oxygen or other constituent species is unaffected by
the magnetic field and hence diffuses away from the plasma 60 into
the much larger volumes 43 and 45 available to it within chamber
12.
As the mixture of aluminum and aluminum ions within the plasma 60
flows toward the aperture 50, the magnetic field strength
increases. This tends to squeeze the plasma since the force is
acting on both sides of the plasma. The squeezing force is
developed because the plasma does not rigorously follow the
magnetic field lines. Rather, it tends to slip across the field. In
doing so, it is moving at a velocity v having a vector that has an
angle .beta. with respect to the direction of the magnetic field B.
The electrons within the plasma 60 flow around the axis of the
vessel 12 within section 45 by reason of the fact that they are
being forced to move at right angles to the perpendicular component
of the magnetic field B.sub..vertline.. This motion produces
electron current densities J circulating around the axis of the
machine. These circulating currents, close upon themselves, and
interact with the parallel component of the magnetic field
B.sub..parallel., producing another force on the electrons. This
force density F is the squeezing force acting upon the plasma.
As the electrons are squeezed together, an electric field arises
due to the separation between the ions and the electrons. This
field pulls the ions after the electrons.
The magnetic force acting on the plasma varies depending upon the
direction in which it slips. However, in greatly simplified form,
it can be stated as follows: ##EQU1## where: M = Mach No.
v.sub.s = speed of sound
B = magnetic field of any particular point in the plasma
.beta. = the angle between the direction of flow and the magnetic
field B at any particular point
.eta. = plasma resistivity
F = the force density.
The forces acting upon the plasma tend to squeeze it, that is, they
tend to act laterally with respect to the direction of flow. This
squeezing effect enhances the rapid diffusion of the oxygen away
from the plasma. By properly shaping the magnetic field B, the
plasma is caused to enter the aperture 50. It should be noted that
although the ions tend to slip across the magnetic field B, this
natural diffusion is offset by the effect of the convergence of the
"lines" of magnetic field.
As used herein, the term "plasma" is intended to mean that portion
of a partly ionized gas or vapor of such extent that within it
static charges are statistically screened by charges of opposite
sign with a distance small compared to the extent of the gas.
It should be recognized that it is not necessary to entirely ionize
the specie which is to be separated. There is a rapid (resonant)
charge exchange between neutral atoms of the partly ionized specie
and the ions of that specie. An electron may jump from an atom to
an ion tens of angstroms distant, thus converting that ion back
into an atom. For example, electrons may jump from aluminum atoms
to aluminum ions more rapidly than those atoms collide with oxygen
atoms. An atom that just lost an electron is now an ion which feels
the pull of the electrons being acted upon by the magnetic field.
By averaging out this exchange between neutral atoms and ions over
a given time scale, any given atom appears to have a positive
charge which is less than the electron's charge. Thus, all of the
atoms can be regarded as "partial ions". The electric field created
by the electrons pulls all of the partly ionized specie. Stated
otherwise, the resonant charge exchange is important to the
fulfillment of the process. Typically, the resonant charge transfer
cross section is approximately 10.sup.-.sup.14 cm.sup.2. This means
that at several percent ionization a given atom changes its
ionization state approximately 10.sup.7 to 10.sup.8 times per
second at a temperature of several thousand degrees K and a
pressure of the order of 1 atmosphere. Accordingly, an aluminum
atom, for example, can move only about a tenth of a millimeter
before changing its ionization state. This fact means that the
whole body of a plasma having a very small percentage of ionization
can be moved.
The atoms and ions within the plasma 60 are guided into aperture 50
by the magnetic field B and flow through the duct 52 to a point
where they are condensed into aluminum. The oxygen passes through
the duct 54 and through the channel defined by the wall 46 and
vessel 12 into the duct 56 where it is collected.
In the operation of the process, some of the alumina may not be
fully dissociated. Accordingly, it may condense on the walls of the
vessel 12. Such liquid alumina is permitted to flow down the walls
and onto the base 32. From there, it is exhausted through the
conduit 64. From that point, it may be recirculated to be mixed
with the incoming alumina within the annulus 20 and thus act as a
preheater.
The duct 52 is preferably cooled so as to rapidly lower the
temperature of the aluminum or other constituent species within its
interior and thus permit the aluminum or other constituent specie
to de-ionize.
A high intensity magnetic field is desirable. Current technology
permits the production of a magnetic field of approximately up to
12 telsa. Accordingly, that should be the strength of the magnetic
field above the aperture 50 at the level 51.
There are several advantages to operating a separation process in
accordance with the foregoing. The primary advantage is that the
plasma is remotely positioned with respect to the walls of the
apparatus. The temperature outside the plasma decreases rapidly to
levels below 3000.degree.K. Accordingly, the problem of walls
capable of withstanding plasma temperatures is avoided. Rather, the
structural walls can be cooled using conventional cooling
means.
The process of the present invention has been described in
connection with the direct reduction of alumina to aluminum and
oxygen and has been explained that other materials can be similarly
directly reduced. However, such direct reduction of metallic ores
is not entirely necessary. To further reduce the operating
temperatures of the process, it is entirely possible to first
chemically reduce the matter and then separate the products of such
chemical reduction.
There are several methods employed for the extraction of metals
from the ores, in more or less pure condition. The choice of
process in any particular instance depends upon the chemical nature
of the ore and the properties of the metal concerned. Some metals,
such as iron, are readily reduced by the application of heat in the
presence of carbon, a classical oxidation-reduction process.
Aluminum and certain other metals, unfortunately, are not so
readily reduced. The problem is that certain metals, particularly
those in the III and IV columns of the periodic table tend to form
carbides. Accordingly, any attempt to reduce the ores of those
metals with carbon means that there must be some further process to
separate the metal from the carbide to obtain pure metal. Such
processes are usually quite disadvantageous in that they require
the consumption of large amounts of energy.
Just the same, there are advantages to reducing alumina and certain
other metal ores, such as titanium dioxide by classical reduction
processes. Among these would be reducing a large amount of
electrical power required by, for example, the Hall process for
converting alumina into aluminum. Another advantage would be
increase throughput rates. These advantages can be realized if pure
aluminum or other metals can be separated from the products in a
chemical reduction process.
The present invention can accomplish the foregoing result. At high
temperatures, carbon can be reacted with alumina to produce
aluminum and carbon monoxide in a gaseous state. Aluminum carbides
are produced only if the carbon reacts with the alumina at lower
temperatures. Given the foregoing, it becomes possible to produce
pure aluminum if a gaseous aluminum can be separated from the
gaseous carbon monoxide. The same applies to other high temperature
reduction reactions which result in a gaseous vapor of the metal
and the products of reduction or can be converted to such gaseous
state.
The foregoing process can be accomplished by introducing a mixture
of alumina (Al.sub.2 O.sub.3) and carbon (C) in the annulus 20.
This mixture is forced through the annulus and the carbon is
reacted with the alumina in the arc 42. The reduction of aluminum
with carbon produces aluminum and carbon monoxide. Greatly
simplified, the equation (reversible) is:
3C + Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 .revreaction. 2Al + 3CO
Carbon monoxide is a very stable molecule at high temperatures and
does not dissociate easily. Hence, the process can be operated as
close to the boiling point of aluminum as possible without getting
much reaction between the aluminum and the carbon monoxide. High
temperatures favor the reaction towards the right and low
temperatures favor the reaction toward the left. It is only when
the reaction moves toward the left that carbides such as Al.sub.4
C.sub.3 are formed. Upon completion of the reaction, the aluminum
will be partly ionized and can be separated from the carbon
monoxide in accordance with the process described above with
respect to the separation of the aluminum from oxygen.
In operating the apparatus, it may be necessary, at least at
start-up, to use a neutral carrier gas until the compound being
treated has vaporized and the neutral species thereof can be
substituted for the carrier gas. In some instances, it may be
necessary to maintain the flow of the carrier gas which may be
helium, argon or some other relatively stable and neutral gas. At
startup, the carrier gas provides a means for striking the arcs as
required.
The carrier gas may be inserted between the electrodes 16 and 18
from an appropriate source or, if desired, may flow in through
appropriate conduits 80 and 81 as shown. Still further, the carrier
gas could be brought in at a still different position and velocity
than the plasma. For example, it could be brought in through the
walls of the vessel 12. This would drive the plasma at the
requisite angle to the magnetic field thus initiating the
separating force. In other words, the carrier gas can be used as
yet another means for providing a flow of the plasma at an angle to
a magnetic field to effect separation between dissociated
species.
The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms
without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof
and, accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims,
rather than to the foregoing specification as indicating the scope
of the invention.
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