Coating processes – With post-treatment of coating or coating material – Vacuum or reduced pressure utilized
Reexamination Certificate
2001-10-19
2003-02-04
Cameron, Erma (Department: 1762)
Coating processes
With post-treatment of coating or coating material
Vacuum or reduced pressure utilized
C427S354000, C427S369000, C427S389800
Reexamination Certificate
active
06514566
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the preparation and use of composite media for use in ion processing. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to the preparation and use of ion processing elements that include composite media dispersed in a porous substrate.
2. Related Technology
Effective and efficient ion processing is an important consideration in numerous chemical and industrial processes. In general, ion processing refers to those processes, and/or devices which implement such processes, that are used to facilitate neutralization, removal, concentration, or other processing, of one or more ions present in a fluid stream, examples of which include industrial waste and process streams. One example of such a process concerns the removal of materials such as cesium, strontium, and/or uranium from an industrial waste stream prior to the discharge of the fluid stream into the environment.
While ion processing components and processes are often employed to remove undesirable constituents of a fluid volume or stream, such components and processes may also be used to collect and concentrate one or more desirable constituents of a fluid volume or stream so that those constituents can then be reserved for future use.
One area where ion processing techniques, materials, and devices are particularly useful is in the industrial environment. Typical industrial waste and process streams present at least two significant challenges to ion processing efforts. The first challenge relates to the flow rates of such industrial waste and process streams. Because industrial waste and process streams are often characterized by relatively high flow rates, the associated ion processing materials, systems, and components must be capable of admitting and processing the high flow rate waste and process streams without introducing an undue pressure drop or other resistance to flow that would tend to compromise the flow rate of those streams, and thereby slow down the overall rate at which ion processing occurs.
Another challenge that must be considered when implementing the treatment of industrial waste and process streams relates to the level of cleanliness that must be attained in the processed stream. In particular, the streams produced in industrial environments are often required to meet stringent standards with regard to the permissible concentration of various contaminants or other materials that are ultimately discharged into the environment. Thus, the treatment systems and devices must not only be able to handle relatively high fluid flow rates, but they must do so at a high level of efficiency.
Generally, the effectiveness and efficiency of a particular ion processing material is at least partially a function of the total surface area of the active component that contacts the material or fluid to be processed. The surface area, in turn, is a function of the porosity, or pore volume, of the ion processing material, so that relatively more porous ion processing materials typically possess a relatively greater surface area than relatively less porous ion processing materials. Thus, when considering two ion processing materials equivalent in all other regards, an ion processing material with a relatively larger surface area is capable of removing a relatively greater amount of contaminants or impurities from a fluid stream than an ion processing material with a relatively smaller surface area. In light of this relationship, a number of ion processing materials, systems, and devices have been devised with a view towards providing a relative increase in the surface area of the ion processing material so as to improve its effectiveness.
Various methods may be used to prepare ion processing materials so as to provide a relative increase in the surface area of the active component, of the ion processing material, that comes into contact with the fluid stream to be processed. In one case, the ion processing material takes the form of a composite medium that generally includes a supporting matrix and one or more active components dispersed within the matrix. Typically, the matrix comprises a plurality of small, slightly porous particles, sometimes referred to as beads. As suggested above, the overall surface area of the ion processing material that contacts the fluid stream simply comprises the sum of the surface areas of each of the individual beads which, in turn, is a function of pore volume.
In order to form the ion processing material, the matrix material is mixed with a particular active component selected for its ability to remove one or more predetermined constituents from the fluid stream. The ion processing material thus produced is typically disposed in a column through which the fluid stream to be processed is passed. Because the beads of the matrix material often assume a somewhat spherical shape, a plurality of spaces are cooperatively defined by adjacent beads. Accordingly, the fluid stream is able to flow through the ion processing material by working its way through the spaces between the individual beads.
While the slight porosity of some beads allows for a relatively greater ion processing area than would be possible if the beads were simply solid, such matrix materials have, as a result of their relatively small pore volume, proven rather ineffective in providing the performance required for effective and efficient processing of high volume fluid streams. Of course, the surface area of such ion processing materials can be increased somewhat by increasing the number of beads present in a particular column. However, there are practical limits to the attainment of very small bead sizes. Furthermore, while an increase in the number of beads produces a desirable overall increase in pore volume, and thus ion processing area, the increase represents a tradeoff with respect to the flow rate that a particular ion processing material can effectively accommodate.
In particular, as bead size is reduced, the size of the air spaces between adjacent beads is correspondingly reduced. Reduction in the size of the air spaces has at least one unfavorable consequence with respect to the flow of the fluid stream. Specifically, assuming a constant flow velocity, the volume of fluid that can flow through an opening is primarily a function of the size or area of that opening. This idea is generally expressed in the relationship Q=Va, where “Q” is the volume of fluid flow per unit of time, “V” is the velocity of the fluid, and “a” is the area through which the fluid passes.
In general then, where two volumes of ion processing materials in the form of respective composite media, equal in all other respects, have different numbers of beads, the volume of the ion processing material with relatively more beads defines a relatively smaller space through which the process stream can flow. In view of the aforementioned flow relationship, this means that the volume of ion processing material with a relatively greater number of beads is relatively more resistant to the flow of the process stream. Accordingly, in the case of an ion processing material comprised of very small particles, a powdered ion processing material for example, the resistance of the ion processing material to fluid flow is significant.
Thus, in the case of ion processing materials comprised of a composite medium employing a bead type matrix, the surface area of the ion processing material can be readily increased by increasing the number of beads. However, due to the inverse relationship, discussed above, between the air volume defined by the ion processing material and the ability of a given volume of the ion processing material to pass a predetermined flow, there are practical limits to the extent to which the surface area may usefully be increased.
As suggested earlier, another common ion processing material configuration is designed along the same general principles as those ion processing materials formed as composite media, but takes on a somewhat
Mann Nick R.
Sebesta Ferdinand
Todd Terry A.
Tranter Troy J.
Bechtel BWXT Idaho LLC
Cameron Erma
Workman & Nydegger & Seeley
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