Fluid processing systems including a plurality of material tanks, at least one mixing tank, at least one holding tank, and recirculation loops

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11925912-B2
Application number	US-201816213160-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 7, 2018
Priority date	Mar 11, 2016
Publication date	Mar 12, 2024
Grant date	Mar 12, 2024

Abstract

The disclosure features a system that includes a plurality of material tanks, each of which includes at least one material for forming a chemical composition and includes a first recirculation loop; at least one mixing tank in which the materials from the material tanks are mixed to form a chemical composition, the mixing tank including a second recirculation loop; and at least one holding tank configured to continuously receive the chemical composition from the mixing tank, the holding tank including a third recirculation loop. The system may further include a plurality of fluid flow controller units and be configured to form material and chemical composition flows in an in-process steady state.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system, comprising:
a plurality of material tanks, each material tank comprising at least one material for forming a chemical composition and the chemical composition being a polishing composition prepared from components comprising a diluent, an acid, a base, and abrasive particles, each material tank comprising a first recirculation loop in fluid communication with a respective material tank, and the first recirculation loop is configured to recirculate a respective at least one material back to the respective material tank;
at least one mixing tank in which the materials from the material tanks are mixed to form the chemical composition, wherein the mixing tank is in fluid communication with the plurality of material tanks, the mixing tank is configured to continuously receive the materials from the material tanks and to continuously deliver the chemical composition downstream, the mixing tank has a volume of from about 10 liters to about 1500 liters, the mixing tank comprises a second recirculation loop in fluid communication with the mixing tank, and the second recirculation loop is configured to recirculate the chemical composition back to the mixing tank;
a plurality of fluid flow controller units, each respective fluid flow controller unit configured to adjust a flow rate of the respective at least one material from the respective material tank to the at least one mixing tank, wherein the flow rate is configured to provide a continuous flow of the respective at least one material and the chemical composition through the system;
at least one holding tank downstream from the mixing tank and in fluid communication with the mixing tank, wherein the holding tank is configured to continuously receive the chemical composition from the mixing tank, the holding tank comprises a third recirculation loop in fluid communication with the holding tank, and the third recirculation loop is configured to recirculate the chemical composition back to the holding tank;
optionally, at least one flow controller unit between the at least one mixing tank and the at least one holding tank, wherein the flow controller unit is configured to facilitate continuous transfer of the chemical composition between the at least one mixing tank and the at least one holding tank;
optionally, at least one filter apparatus in fluid communication with the mixing tank or the holding tank, the filter apparatus being configured to receive and filter the chemical composition; and
a packaging station downstream of the holding tank or the optional filter apparatus, the packaging station being configured to receive the chemical composition and package the chemical composition into a product;
wherein the system is configured to form material and chemical composition flows in an in-process steady state.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the mixing tank further comprises an agitator, a vortex, a turbulent mixer, or a combination thereof.

3. The system of claim 1 , further comprising at least one quality determination unit that is attached integrally to a system component.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the quality determination unit comprises a pH meter, a conductivity meter, a concentration meter, or a LPC (Large Particle Count) meter.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the mixing tank has a volume of from about 40 liters to about 1500 liters.

6. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a fluid transfer unit in fluid communication with each material tank, the fluid transfer unit being configured to continuously transfer the material in each material tank to the mixing tank.

7. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a fluid flow controller unit between each material tank and the mixing tank, the fluid flow controller unit being configured to adjust the flow rate of the material transferred from each material tank to the mixing tank.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system comprises a load cell in contact with each material tank, the load cell being configured to measure the content weight in each material tank.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the holding tank has a volume of from about 1,500 liters to about 20,000 liters.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system comprises the filter apparatus.

11. The system of claim 1 , further comprises a plurality of fluid transfer units, wherein each fluid transfer unit is configured to continuously transfer a material from a system component to another system component.

12. The system of claim 1 , further comprising at least one heating unit, wherein the heating unit is configured to independently heat a system component.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system comprises first, second, third, and fourth material tanks, the first material tank comprises a diluent, the second material tank comprises an acid, the third material tank comprises a base, and the fourth material tank comprises abrasive particles.

14. The system of claim 1 , wherein the second recirculation loop comprises a pipe connecting an outlet and an inlet of the mixing tank.

15. The system of claim 1 , wherein the third recirculation loop comprises a pipe connecting an outlet and an inlet of the holding tank.

16. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system is configured to perform a process of preparing the chemical composition in which the materials received by the mixing tank and the chemical compositions exiting the mixing tank form an in-process steady state.

Assignees

• Fujifilm Electronic Mat Usa Inc

Inventors

• Chou Shih-Pin
• Chang Wen-Hung
• Mahulikar Deepak
• Varga Tamas
• Mishra Abhudaya

Classifications

• B01F33/84 Primary

  Mixing plants with mixing receptacles receiving material dispensed from several component receptacles, e.g. paint tins · CPC title

• B01F23/45

  using flow mixing · CPC title

• B01F23/49

  Mixing systems, i.e. flow charts or diagrams · CPC title

• B01F23/511

  characterised by the composition of the liquids or solids · CPC title

• B01F23/53

  using driven stirrers · CPC title