The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 04, 1998
Filed:
Sep. 03, 1996
Shahid Pirzada, Tucson, AZ (US);
Tapesh Yadav, Tucson, AZ (US);
Nanomaterials Research Corporation, Tucson, AZ (US);
Abstract
A thermal reactor system that produces nanoscale powders by ultra-rapid thermal quench processing of high-temperature vapors through a boundary-layer converging-diverging nozzle. A gas suspension of precursor material is continuously fed to a thermal reaction chamber and vaporized under conditions that minimize superheating and favor nucleation of the resulting vapor. According to one aspect of the invention, the high temperature vapor is quenched using the principle of Joule-Thompson adiabatic expansion. Immediately after the initial nucleation stages, the vapor stream is passed through the nozzle and rapidly quenched through expansion at rates of at least 1,000.degree. C. per second, preferably greater than 1,000,000.degree. C. per second, to block the continued growth of the nucleated particles and produce a nanosize powder suspension of narrow particle-size distribution. According to another aspect of the invention, a gaseous boundary-layer stream is injected to form a blanket over the internal surface of the nozzle to prevent vapor condensation in the throat of the nozzle and its potential failure.