METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DRYING WET POROUS BODIES UNDER SUBCRITICAL TEMPERATURES AND PRESSURES

WIPO Patent Application WO1999009363

A8

An improved apparatus, and related method of operation, is described for rapidly drying large monoliths of glass, ceramic and/or composite material, under subcritical conditions, while minimizing the risk of cracking the monolith during the drying process. The apparatus incorporates a pressure chamber (15) for carrying the monolith (11) to be dried, with no significant limitation on the size of the monolith relative to the size of the chamber. The monolith (11) is initially immersed in a suitable drying solvent (23), and the temperature of the pressure chamber (15) is raised to a predetermined value below the solvent's critical temperature, which raises the pressure to a predetermined value, likewise below the solvent's critical pressure. At a selected time during the drying process the pressure chamber (15) is connected to a diffusion chamber (33), to draw away and condense solvent vapor. This drawing away of solvent vapor continues until the monolith (11) is dry, at which time the pressure chamber (15) is purged with an inert gas and then depressurized in a controlled manner. The apparatus thereby is configured to dry the monolith at an even lower subcritical pressure than previous apparatus of this kind, leading to increased safety and reduced operating expenses.

KIRKBIR FIKRET (US)
RAYCHAUDHURI SATYABRATA (US)
MEYERS DOUGLAS (US)
MURATA HIDEAKI (US)

PCT/US1998/014984

May 20, 1999

July 16, 1998

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YAZAKI CORP (JP)
KIRKBIR FIKRET (US)
RAYCHAUDHURI SATYABRATA (US)
MEYERS DOUGLAS (US)
MURATA HIDEAKI (US)

F26B7/00; F26B21/00; F26B5/16; F26B21/14; F26B25/00; (IPC1-7): F26B7/00; F26B21/14

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