Apparatus and Method for Radiation Processing of Materials

FIG. 1 is an end elevation view of a material processing apparatus in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the FIG. 1 apparatus showing an air supply manifold;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the electron beam radiation source of the FIG. 1 apparatus;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the processing vessel of the FIG. 1 apparatus;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the processing vessel of the FIG. 1 apparatus;

FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating the dose of radiation received by material to be processed at various depths;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view, taken along the view line VII--VII of FIG. 8, of a processing vessel similar to that shown in FIG. 1 but with certain alterations; and

FIG. 8 is a side view of the processing vessel shown in FIG. 7.

FIG. 1 is an end elevation view of an apparatus 10 for processing material in accordance with the present invention. Apparatus 10 is particularly useful for performing radiation degradation of polytetrafluoroethylene in order to degrade the material by reducing its molecular weight and render the material grindable into a powder.

Apparatus 10 includes a processing vessel 12, which comprises the vessel of a ribbon blender, shown in greater detail in FIGS. 4 and 5. Vessel 12 includes a longitudinal shaft 14 having attached thereto ribbon blending paddles 16. Processing vessel 12 and its associated equipment are enclosed in a radiation chamber 11, made of masonry or other radiation attenuating material. Chamber 11 has an access opening 13 which is closed by door 15 mounted on rollers 17. Door 15 is provided for equipment access, and other openings, such as a zig-zag hallway, may be provided for personal access. As may be more easily seen by reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, the paddles are arranged so that the material within the ribbon blender is moved axially back and forth in the longitudinal direction of shaft 14 when the shaft is continuously rotated in the direction of arrow 59, and therefore the material undergoes no average axial displacement within the vessel.

Shaft 14 is driven by reduction gear 18 which is driven by motor 24. In a typical embodiment the shaft rotates at a speed of approximately 40 revolutions per minute, stirring and agitating material 60 which has been placed on the inside of the vessel 12.

In one embodiment, the vessel 12 has paddles with a radius of 18 inches and is 72 inches in length. The vessel is provided with a remote control outlet opening 38 in the bottom, for use in draining material after processing. Opening 38 is arranged above material receiving chamber 19, so that upon opening processed material in vessel 12 will flow into the receiving chamber 19. The material is removed from the receiving chamber by a vacuum apparatus 27 which draws the material into nozzle 25 and through conduit 21. Air inlet conduit 23 is arranged concentric to nozzle 25 to provide an air supply for material removal by the vacuum apparatus. Alternately a screw conveyer might be used.

In addition, the vessel is provided with a cooling jacket 28 for the flow of cooling water in order to maintain the vessel and its contents a temperature below approximately 500.degree. F., preferably below approximately 250.degree. F. Water is provided through inlet and outlet conduits 30 and 32 and flows between separate portions of jacket 28 via conduit 61.

The cooling water is preferably supplied at a temperature which is above the dew point of the surrounding air to avoid condensation. Because the radiation processing of PTFE can release fluorine gas, which combines with water to form hydrofluoric acid, such condensation can cause acid formation and rapid corrosion of the equipment. One method of increasing supply water temperature is to use the cooling water to first cool the power supply of the electron beam apparatus, and thereafter use the same water at elevated temperature to cool the vessel. Instead of using the same water, a water-to-water heat exchanger can be used. Another technique is to use a conventional water heater to maintain water temperature above the dew point.

The apparatus of the present invention also includes mechanisms for supplying flowable solid material to the processing vessel 12. This equipment includes a generally vertical chute 29 leading into the processing vessel and communicating at its upper end with a horizontal screw conveyer 31, which is located within radiation chamber 11. Vertical chute 33 passes through the top of radiation chamber 11 and connects interior screw conveyer 31 with exterior screw conveyer 35. The region surrounding vertical shaft 33 is provided with additional radiation shielding structure 84, which may be fabricated out of bricks or the like. Exterior screw conveyor 35 receives granular material to be processed from the bottom of hopper 37, which is provided with a remote control valve 39, and a vibrator 41 operated by compressed air supplied over conduit 43. Granular material is supplied to hopper 37 by coundit 47 through which material is drawn by vacuum apparatus 45.

Processing vessel 12 is provided with a cover 40 and a vent conduit 42 though which air is exhausted under lower than atmospheric pressure in order to remove airborne material particles and fluorine gases from the processing vessel so that they do not accumulate and corrode the window of the electron beam source. An additional venting conduit 49, having lower end 82 with a nozzle 84, arranged near the outlet of the electron beam source, may also be provided.

Conduits 42 and 49 are connected to a cyclone separator 51, which separates airborne material particles from exhaust gases, which are vented through conduit 53. Particles which accumulate in separator 51 may be returned to the processing vessel over conduit 55 during initial stages of the processing. At later stages of the processing, the material collected by separator 51 is sufficiently degraded so that it may be provided over conduit 57 to output vacuum apparatus 27.

The electron beam accelerator, which is used to provide a radiation source for the FIG. 1 apparatus includes a vacuum output passage 44 which is connected to a sectoral horn 50 by a beam steering section 46 (not shown in FIG. 1), which is provided with an electro-magnet 48, shown in FIG. 5. The electron beam source used has an electron acceleration of 1 million volts, and can provide beam current of up to 100 milli-amperes. Beam steering section 46 causes the beam to oscillate back and forth in the sectoral horn 50 to assume beam paths 52, 54 and 56, illustrated in FIG. 5, thus spreading the radiation along the length of vessel 12. The electron beam exists from the vacuum portion of sectoral horn 50 through primary window 58 and optional secondary window 66, respectively, which are shown in detail in FIG. 3. The space 68 between the primary and secondary windows is provided with a flow of cooling air through conduits 70 and 72. In addition, conduits 74 and 76 are provided on flange 62, and possibly also on flange 64, to provide water cooling of the windows. Cooling water is supplied through conduits 78 and 80 and preferably has a temperature above the dew point of the surrounding air to avoid condensation and possible formation of hydrofluoric acid as described above. Windows 58 and 66 comprise thin sheets of titanium, with a thickness of between 0.00075 inch and 0.002 inch. Primary window 58 has a preferred thickness of 0.0015 inch in order to support vacuum pressure. Secondary window 66 does not require the same mechanical strength, but a comparable thickness is preferred in order to provide corrosion resistance.

In connection with the processing of materials, such as PTFE in accordance with the present invention it is desirable to supply a flow of air to the material in the processing apparatus. The air flow serves three functions: (1) the supply of air tends to provide fluidizing of the flowable solid material so that it flows easily when agitated by stirrer paddles 16; (2) the supply of air tends to promote the degradation reaction, which requires oxygen; (3) the supply of air into the reaction vessel and out through conduit 42 tends to promote cooling of the material, as a supplement to the cooling provided by water jacket 28.

In the embodiment shown in detail in FIG. 2, air is provided to the reaction vessel through manifold 34, which has air outlet passages 35 directed into the material contained in the vessel. Compressed air is supplied over conduit 36.

In a typical process, flowable solid material such as virgin or scrap polytetrafluoroethylene, in course powder or chip form is placed into the vessel 12 and subjected to agitation by the rotation of stirrers 16 while undergoing irradiation by means of electron beams supplied from electron source 44. The electron beam from source 44 is steered in vacuum passage 46 by alternating currents applied to electromagnet 48 so that the electron beam diverges in sectoral horn 50 into paths which are spread out in one angular direction along the length of the vessel 12 as indicated by beams 52, 54 and 56. The action of stirrers 16 rotating in direction 59 tends to circulate the material for uniform irradiation. The electron beams exit from the sectoral horn vacuum through windows 58 and 66. The irradiation by the electron beam, in combination with the stirring action of stirrer 16 of the ribbon blender causes the degradation of the material to lower its molecular weight from around 5,000,000 to 10,000,000 to less than 1,000,000 and probably less than 100,000. When the molecular weight of the material is thus lowered, it becomes grindable into a powder. In order to promote the reaction by supply of oxygen, provide further cooling of the material during the irradiation process, while the material is undergoing reaction, and in order to make the material more fluid and easier to stir, air may be provided by conduit 36 into manifold 34 which has outputs 35 distributed along the length of vessel 12.

By reason of the agitating action of the stirrers 16, in addition to the air provided to conduit 34, the process may produce a considerable amount of airborne particles. These particles are constrained within dust cover 40, which is provided with an outlet conduit 42, which is positively ventilated through dust collector 51, whereby the recovered material can be recycled into the process vessel or collected as degraded, low molecular weight product through conduits 55 and 57.

It should be noted as shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 4 that the action of the stirrers 16 rotating in the direction of arrow 59 will cause the process material 60 to build up on one side, for example, the right side, of the reaction vessel 12. In order to provide the most effective radiation treatment, the sectoral horn 50 is directed to a selected region of irradiation at this side of th reaction vessel, so that the electron beams intercept the maximum amount of material to be processed. By directing radiation into the portion of the vessel having a larger depth of material, the efficiency of tne process is enhanced, since essentially all of the incident radiation is intercepted by material, rather than passing through without reaction. Further, overradiation which might normally occur for material close to the surface upon which the radiation is incident is avoided by reason of the agitation of the material by the paddles 16.

In order to provide processing of polytetrafluoroethylene in accordance with the method of the present invention using the apparatus of FIG. 1, scrap or virgin polytetrafluoroethylene in flowable solid form such as coarse powder or chips, either sintered or unsintered, is supplied to the vessel through chute 29. Typically, during processing the volume of the charge of material provided to the reaction vessel is reduced as the bulk density of the material is increased during processing. Processing of a batch of material (approximately 3200 lbs.) may use an electron beam accelerated at 1 million volts with a current of 20 to 100 milliamps for six or seven hours. As an alternate to the use of an electron beam accelerator, a radioactive material, such as Cobalt-60, can provide the radiation. Typically, only a portion of the full load of material is initially supplied to vessel 12, for example, one-third to one-half the load. Since the bulk density of chip form PTFE is generally low, this fills the volume of the vessel. Following initial irradiation, additional material can be added because of the increase in bulk density and consequent reduction of material volume during irradiation. After the full load of material is provided, radiation, agitation and cooling continues until the material receives a does of 125 to 150 Mrad per pound. During this processing, the temperature of the material is monitored by thermal sensor 88, which is connected by wire 89 to remote meter 90. When the temperature of the mateiral exceeds a selected value, the radiation beam current is reduced. The maximum temperature should be below 500.degree. F., preferably below 250.degree. F.

It has been found that the polytetrafluoroethylene can be cooled and an improved product obtained by supplying water to the processing vessel 12 during processing. Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8 which show processing vessel 12, a pipe 91 supplies cooling water to a manifold 92 from which extend tubes 93. This arrangement facilitates the addition of water to the material 60 being processed in the vessel 12. In this preferred embodiment, the cooling jackets 28 shown in FIG. 4 have been removed and cooling jackets 94 supplied with cooling water through inlet and outlet conduits 95 and 96 have been added to the ends of the vessel 12. Water flows between the jackets through a conduit, not shown, joining them together. In addition, conduits 97 and 98 have been affixed to the edges surrounding the opening in cover 40 to provide water cooling of the cover to prevent warping due to the high temperatures otherwise encountered. As explained heretofore, all of the cooling water supplied has a temperature within the dew point of the surrounding air to avoid condensation and the formation of hydrofluoric acid.

Instead of using the conduit 91 and manifold 92 to supply water to the vessel, a manifold can be positioned above the vessel 12 and four tubes extended downwardly therefrom through the cover 40 to supply water to the material being processed. The manifold above the vessel is fed cooling water through a suitable inlet conduit.

It was anticipated that the addition of water to the material being processed would provide cooling by evaporation. It was discovered, however, that the initial amounts of water added to the polytetrafluoroethylene caused an increase in temperature of the material, contrary to expectations. While the reasons for the temperature increase are not completely understood, it is believed that the water undergoes a reaction with the polytetrafluoroethylene. It is suspected that this reaction includes the combining of water with free fluorine in the vessel to form hydrofluoric acid.

The temperature increase caused by the reaction of water with the material is greatest when the material being processed is that known as virgin polytetrafluoroethylene. When that material is being processed, it has been found that water should be added to the vessel when the material reaches a temperature of about 260.degree. F. With a batch of polytetrafluoroethylene of about 3000 pounds in the vessel, a water flow of 1/2 liter to 2 liters per minute has been found satisfactory. When the temperature of the processed material is lowered to about 245.degree. F., the water flow is diminished or interrupted until the temperature again increases to about 260.degree. F., at which time water is again supplied to the vessel.

Experiments have shown that if the temperature of virgin polytetrafluoroethylene is permitted to rise as high as 265.degree. F., the addition of water will cause the temperature to increase further, due to the reaction of water with the materials in the vessel, and it then becomes necessary to interrupt the processing to cool the mixture and maintain it in a stable condition, thereby preventing discoloration.

When the polytetrafluoroethylene processed is what is called "hard stock," i.e., sintered scrap polytetrafluoroethylene which has already had a heat treating history, the increase in temperature caused by the addition of water is less than with the virgin polytetrafluoroethylene. In processing this material, it has been found that its temperature can be allowed to rise to about 390.degree. F., at which point water is added and the material cooled to about 375.degree. F. before the water supply is diminished or interrupted.

As a further example, when processing the materials known as (1) granular polytetrafluoroethylene (also known as "white tails"), (2) scrapped teflon tape or (3) non-virgin polytetrafluoroethylene, or a combination of these materials, the temperature can be allowed to rise to about 265.degree. F. before water is supplied to the material. After cooling to about 250.degree. F. the water supply is diminished or interrupted until the temperature again rises to about 265.degree. F.

It has been unexpectedly found that the addition of water to the process material causes an improvement in the oil absorption characteristics of the resulting powder, i.e., its oil absorption characteristic is lowered. A powder with lower oil absorption when mixed in a carrier such as an oil or solvent for paint, provides a flowable consistency like honey with low thickening properties. This is generally desirable. A material with higher oil absorption when mixed with a carrier, provides a consistency more like peanut butter, i.e., higher thickening properties, and is less desirable as a product. The material produced when cooling water is added to the polytetrafluoroethylene during processing has the desirable low oil absorption property, and this is a superior product for many applications.

While there has been described what is believed to be the preferred embodiment of the present invention, those skilled in the art will recognize that other and further modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is intended to claim all such embodiments as fall within the true scope of the invention.