Inline plasma-based system and method for thermal treatment of continuous products

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10588183-B2
Application number	US-201515539325-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 9, 2015
Priority date	Jan 9, 2015
Publication date	Mar 10, 2020
Grant date	Mar 10, 2020

Abstract

An inline thermal treatment system for thermally treating a continuous product includes a gas supply system configured to supply a first gas flow and a power source configured to supply power. The system includes a plasma torch configured to receive the first gas flow from the gas supply system and power from the power source to form a plasma arc, wherein the plasma arc heats a portion of the continuous product disposed near the plasma arc.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An inline thermal treatment system for thermally treating a continuous product, comprising:
a gas supply system configured to supply a first gas flow;
a power source configured to supply power; and
a plasma torch configured to receive the first gas flow from the gas supply system and power from the power source to form a plasma arc; and
a target positioned a distance from the continuous product on a same side of a surface of the continuous product as the plasma torch, wherein the power source is configured to apply an electrical bias between an electrode of the plasma torch and the target to form the plasma arc between the plasma torch and the target, wherein the plasma arc between the plasma torch and the target thermally treats the continuous product to reduce an organic contaminant on a surface of the continuous product by heating a portion of the continuous product disposed near the plasma arc between the plasma torch and the target and vaporizing the organic contaminant from the surface of the continuous product by application of heat, via the thermal treatment system, to the surface of the continuous product.

2. The thermal treatment system of claim 1 , comprising a controller having a memory and a processor, wherein the controller is configured to control operation of the thermal treatment system based on instructions stored in the memory to achieve uniform heating of the portion of the continuous product.

3. The thermal treatment system of claim 2 , wherein the controller is configured to control at least one of a rate of advancement of the continuous product, the power supplied by the power source, a flow rate of the first gas flow, a position of the plasma arc relative to the continuous product, an orientation of the plasma arc relative to the continuous product, or a composition of an atmosphere near the continuous product.

4. The thermal treatment system of claim 3 , comprising one or more sensors communicatively coupled to the controller and configured to measure a temperature of the continuous product directly or indirectly, a temperature of the plasma arc directly or indirectly, the rate of advancement of the continuous product, the power supplied by the power source, the flow rate of the first gas flow, the position of the plasma arc relative to the continuous product, an orientation of the plasma arc relative to the continuous product, or the composition of the atmosphere near the continuous product.

5. The thermal treatment system of claim 1 , comprising a second plasma torch configured to receive the first gas flow from the gas supply system and power from the power source to form a second plasma arc, wherein the second plasma arc heats a second portion of the continuous product disposed near the second plasma arc.

6. The thermal treatment system of claim 1 , wherein the plasma torch is a transferred arc plasma torch.

7. The thermal treatment system of claim 1 , wherein the gas supply system is configured to provide a second gas flow to one or more gas nozzles of the thermal treatment system, wherein the one or more gas nozzles are configured to direct the second gas flow toward one or more surfaces of the continuous product at least one of during plasma heating or after the plasma heating.

8. The thermal treatment system of claim 7 , wherein the second gas flow comprises a reactive gas.

9. The thermal treatment system of claim 7 , wherein the first gas flow and the second gas flow consist of one or more of: argon, helium, or nitrogen.

10. The thermal treatment system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more gas nozzles are configured to direct at least a portion of the second gas flow toward the one or more surfaces of the continuous product to cool the continuous product after plasma heating.

11. The thermal treatment system of claim 1 , wherein the plasma torch and the target are both water-cooled.

12. The thermal treatment system of claim 1 , wherein the plasma torch is configured to temporarily establish a pilot arc between the electrode of the plasma torch and a nozzle of the plasma torch before forming the plasma arc between the plasma torch and the target.

13. The thermal treatment system of claim 1 , comprising a housing that includes a first opening and second opening respectively configured to allow the continuous product to enter and to exit the housing.

14. The thermal treatment system of claim 1 , wherein the continuous product comprises a continuous plate, solid wire, tubular wire, strip, or sheet.

15. The thermal treatment system of claim 6 , wherein the continuous product is a non-conductive continuous product.

16. A method, comprising:
advancing a continuous product through an inline thermal treatment system;
thermally treating a portion of the continuous product to reduce an organic contaminant on a surface of the continuous product by plasma heating, using one or more plasma torches and one or more corresponding targets positioned a distance from the continuous product on same respective sides of a surface of the continuous product as the corresponding plasma torches, the portion of the continuous product with one or more plasma arcs between the one or more plasma torches and the one or more corresponding targets disposed near the portion of the continuous product,
wherein the power source is configured to apply an electrical bias between an electrode of the plasma torch and the target to form the plasma arc between the plasma torch and the target;
wherein the organic contaminant is vaporized from the surface of the continuous product through application of heat, via the inline thermal treatment system, to the surface of the continuous product; and
supplying at least one gas flow to modify an atmosphere near the continuous product at least one of during or after plasma heating of the continuous product.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein supplying the at least one gas flow comprises directing a portion of the at least one gas flow toward the portion of the continuous product to cool the portion of the continuous product after plasma heating.

18. A continuous production system for manufacturing a continuous product, comprising:
an inline production system configured to receive a continuous material and to output a continuous product;
an inline thermal treatment system configured to receive the continuous product from the inline production system and to output a thermally treated continuous product, wherein the inline thermal treatment system comprises:
a plasma torch disposed near a portion of the continuous product;
a target positioned a distance from the continuous product on a same side of a surface of the continuous product as the plasma torch;
a power source configured to apply an electrical bias between an electrode of the plasma torch and the target to form the plasma arc between the plasma torch and the target, wherein the plasma torch is configured to thermally treat the portion of the continuous product to reduce an organic contaminant on a surface of the continuous product by forming a plasma arc between the plasma torch and the target that heats the portion of the continuous product near the plasma arc between the plasma torch and the target, vaporizing the organic contaminant from the surface of the continuous product through application of heat, via the thermal treatment system, to the surface of the continuous product; and
a controller comprising a memory and a processor, wherein the controller is configured to control the inline production system and the inline thermal treatmen

Assignees

• Illinois Tool Works

Inventors

• Tecco Dorival Goncalves

Classifications

• B65B63/08

  for heating or cooling articles or materials to facilitate packaging · CPC title

• H05B7/22

  Indirect heating by arc discharge · CPC title

• B08B7/0042

  by laser · CPC title

• H05H1/28

  Cooling arrangements · CPC title

• B65B35/10

  Feeding, e.g. conveying, single articles · CPC title