Device for treating pieces of a substrate at high pressure with a supercritical or near-critical treatment medium, piece by piece or in batches

Abstract

A device for treating pieces of a substrate at high pressure, piece by piece or in batches, with a treatment medium in the supercritical or near-critical state, comprising a first pressure chamber (2), a pipe system (5) for supplying and discharging the treatment medium, to and from the pressure chamber (2) under high pressure and an electric motor (7), which is fixed to the housing in the first pressure chamber or in a second pressure chamber coupled to the first pressure chamber under the high pressure, for driving an actuator to carry out a mechanical action in the treatment medium. The electric motor (7) is in this case open to the treatment medium and is disposed and designed to be accessible to the treatment medium, in such a manner that during the treatment of a substrate the treatment medium flows through and around the electric motor (7).

Description

[0001] This application claims the benefit of Dutch Patent Application No. NL1028037 filed January 14, 2005, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. technical field

[0002] The invention relates to a device for processing substrates one by one or in batches under high pressure in a pressure chamber using a supercritical or near-critical processing medium, wherein the processing medium contains, for example, CO 2 , N 2 O, lower carbon hydrocarbons (such as ethane and propane), or their mixtures, etc. Background technique

[0003] Various devices of this type have been disclosed in the prior art, in which an electric motor is used as the drive means for exerting the mechanical action. However, the treatment media described have the disadvantage of dissolving many polymers in them. If the polymer comes into contact with the processing media, it can cause problems with the polymer sticking, softening, swelling, and even burning. This problem become...

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