High-purity gallium bead production equipment

Abstract

The present invention discloses a high-purity gallium bead production device, comprising a gallium storage box, a pumping system, and a condensation conveying system; the pumping system comprises a pump pipe and a peristaltic pump disposed on the pump pipe, the pump pipe feed port being connected to the bottom of the gallium storage box, and the discharge port extending above the condensation conveying system; the peristaltic pump intermittently pumps the gallium liquid in the gallium storage box to the condensation conveying system through the pump pipe; the condensation conveying system comprises a conveyor belt and a plurality of condensation blocks arranged on the conveyor belt to receive gallium liquid dripping from the pump pipe discharge port; the conveying end of the conveyor belt is docked with a receiving bucket for collecting the condensed gallium beads. The high-purity gallium bead production device provided by the present invention is simple to operate, capable of realizing automated batch production of gallium bead particles, and the resulting high-purity gallium beads have good uniformity and controllable particle size.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to a rare technology production technology, and specifically relates to a high-purity gallium bead production device and production method. Background Art

[0002] Gallium is a gray-blue or silvery-white rare metal with the element symbol Ga, atomic number 31, and atomic weight 69.72. Pure liquid gallium exhibits significant supercooling, solidifying only at -18°C after melting if undisturbed. However, the solidification rate is significantly accelerated under conditions such as condensation nuclei and vibration.

[0003] Gallium has a wide range of applications, earning it the reputation of being the "backbone of the electronics industry." It is primarily used in the preparation of semiconductors such as gallium nitride, gallium arsenide, and gallium phosphide, and is also used as a dopant in semiconductor materials such as silicon and germanium. Pure gallium and its low-melting-point alloys can be used as thermal media in nuclear reactions, fillers in high-temperature thermometers, and catalysts for diesterification in organic reactions. High-purity gallium also has widespread applications in solar cells, medicine, glass manufacturing, and the chemical industry.

[0004] In the polycrystalline silicon solar industry, high-purity gallium is primarily manufactured into gallium beads, used as a dopant in polycrystalline silicon. In actual production, gallium-doped polycrystalline silicon wafers exhibit a wide resistivity distribution. Meeting the production requirements for qualified solar wafers with resistivity ranging from 0.8-3Ω.cm is gaining increasing attention, leading to increasing production scale and demand for high-purity gallium beads. Given this background, the market urgently needs equipment and methods for automated production of high-purity gallium beads.

[0005] The existing production methods of high-purity gallium beads or high-purity gallium particles include casting production and dripping condensation.

[0006] Regarding the method of producing gallium beads by casting, Chinese patent application document No. 200820108905 discloses a granulation device for high-purity gallium particles. After the lower granulation mold body and the upper granulation mold body are fastened together, a production method similar to casting is performed. However, the size of the gallium particles produced by this production method is limited by the internal cavity of the mold, and gallium particles of different sizes cannot be produced.

[0007] The method of producing gallium particles by dripping and condensing is relatively common. For example, Chinese patent application document No. 200810155685 discloses an apparatus and method for preparing raindrop-shaped high-purity gallium spheres, Chinese patent application document No. 201120258486 discloses an apparatus for preparing micro-gallium particles of different sizes, and Chinese patent application document No. 201110423021 discloses a method for preparing gallium particles. All of these methods involve allowing liquid gallium to drip through a small channel under the action of its own gravity, and then condensing the dripping gallium droplets to form solid gallium particles. This method is simple in process, and the particle size of the gallium particles can be adjusted by adjusting the size of the dripping channel. However, the dripping process is slow, the production efficiency is low, and it cannot achieve automated large-scale production. Summary of the Invention

[0008] The technical problem solved by the present invention is: to address the problem of low efficiency in producing gallium particles by dripping condensation, and to provide a production device and a production method that can realize automated large-scale production of high-purity gallium beads.

[0009] The present invention is implemented by the following technical solutions:

[0010] A high-purity gallium bead production device includes a gallium storage box, a pumping system and a condensation transmission system;

[0011] The pumping system includes a pump tube and a peristaltic pump disposed on the pump tube. The pump tube feed port is connected to the bottom of the gallium storage box, and the discharge port extends above the condensation transmission system. The peristaltic pump intermittently pumps the gallium liquid in the gallium storage box to the condensation transmission system through the pump tube.

[0012] The condensation conveying system includes a conveyor belt and a condensation block arranged on the conveyor belt to receive gallium liquid dripping from the discharge port of the pump pipe. The conveying end of the conveyor belt is docked with a receiving bucket for collecting condensed gallium beads.

[0013] In a high-purity gallium bead production device in the above scheme, the gallium storage box includes a large box and a small box that are interconnected at the bottom. The bottom of the small box is connected to a pump pipe, and the large box is connected to a dropping funnel for adding gallium liquid through a dropper, and a control valve is provided on the dropper.

[0014] In the high-purity gallium bead production device in the above solution, the volume of the large box is at least ten times that of the small box.

[0015] In the high-purity gallium bead production device in the above solution, the outer walls of the gallium storage box and the dropping funnel are both provided with a thermal insulation layer.

[0016] In a high-purity gallium bead production device in the above solution, the condensation block adopts a condensing agent, a cold chain or a semiconductor refrigeration block, and a plurality of the condensation blocks are arranged at equal distances along the conveying direction of the conveyor belt.

[0017] In a high-purity gallium bead production device in the above scheme, the pumping system includes at least two pump pipes connected to the gallium storage box, the feed ports of all pump pipes are provided with discharge valves, and the discharge ports of all pump pipes are arranged above the condensation block along the transverse direction of the conveyor belt.

[0018] In a high-purity gallium bead production device in the above-mentioned scheme, the conveying end of the conveyor belt is also provided with a material blocking rod for moving the condensed gallium beads from the condensation block. The material blocking rod is arranged above the condensation block at an angle relative to the conveying direction. The gap between the material blocking rod and the condensation block is smaller than the height of the condensed gallium beads. The material receiving bucket is arranged near the end of the material blocking rod.

[0019] In the high-purity gallium bead production device in the above solution, the material blocking rods are two rods that are arranged to be inclined toward each other, and a conveying outlet is formed between the inclined ends of the two material blocking rods.

[0020] In a high-purity gallium bead production device in the above solution, the gallium storage box, pumping system and condensation transmission system are all provided with an inert coating that does not react with gallium or are made of an inert material that does not react with gallium at the locations where they come into contact with gallium.

[0021] In a high-purity gallium bead production device of the present invention, the conveying motor of the conveyor belt adopts a speed-regulating motor, and the rotation speed of the peristaltic pump and the rotation speed of the speed-regulating motor are set at a relatively constant speed.

[0022] The gallium bead forming control of the present invention is achieved through a pump tube and a peristaltic pump. The peristaltic pump divides the continuous gallium fluid inside the pump tube into several gallium liquid segments, ensuring the consistency of each gallium liquid segment. The final formed gallium beads have better uniformity. By selecting pump tubes of different diameters and the rotation speed of the peristaltic pump, the quality of the liquid gallium in the gallium liquid segment can be controlled, thereby achieving the purpose of controlling the size of the final formed gallium beads.

[0023] The gallium storage box of the present invention comprises a large box and a small box of significantly different volumes. The bottoms of the two boxes are interconnected to form a communicating vessel structure. The entire gallium storage box is heated and insulated by an insulating layer. Liquid gallium raw material for producing gallium beads is added to the interior of the large box via a dropping funnel. When the small box is connected to a pump tube to produce gallium beads, the outflow of liquid gallium from the small box is large, causing the liquid level to drop rapidly. The large box replenishes liquid gallium into the small box at any time through a bottom connecting port. This maintains the liquid level in the small box at a substantially consistent level with that in the large box. The large box has a significantly larger volume than the small box, which can mitigate the rapid drop in the liquid gallium level in the small box. Furthermore, the volume of liquid gallium added by the dropping funnel is much smaller than the volume of liquid gallium in the large box. Therefore, the liquid gallium added to the large box does not significantly change the gallium level. Thus, the large box provides a buffer for the gallium level within the entire gallium storage box, maintaining a relatively constant level. This can prevent the pressure inside the gallium storage box from changing too much, which would cause the flow rate of the gallium liquid flowing into the pump tube to become turbulent and affect the size change of the gallium liquid droplets.

[0024] The present invention also integrates the condensation and transmission of gallium droplets to set up a condensation transmission system. The entire condensation transmission system is realized by transmission controlled by a speed-regulating motor. Condensation blocks are set on the conveyor belt. Liquid gallium beads falling on the conveyor belt are condensed into solid gallium beads under the action of the condensation blocks. The dripping gallium droplets are condensed to form gallium beads through the condensation transmission system. During the process of condensation of gallium droplets to form gallium beads, they are centrally transmitted and uniformly collected after condensation and formation. Through simultaneous production by multiple pump tubes, batch automated production of gallium beads can be realized.

[0025] In summary, the high-purity gallium bead production device provided by the present invention is simple to operate, can realize automated batch production of gallium bead particles, and the obtained high-purity gallium beads have good uniformity and controllable particle size.

[0026] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the overall structure of a high-purity gallium bead production device according to an embodiment.

[0028] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the gallium liquid segments formed inside the pump tube by the peristaltic pump in the embodiment.

[0029] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the gallium droplet condensation and transportation process on the conveyor belt in the embodiment.

[0030] Numbers in the figure: 11- dropping funnel, 111- insulation layer, 12- gallium storage box, 121- large box, 122- small box, 123- connecting port, 124- insulation layer, 13- dropping pipe, 14- control valve, 15- discharge valve,

[0031] 21- pump tube, 22- peristaltic pump,

[0032] 31- conveyor belt, 32- condensation block, 33- conveying motor, 34- blocking rod, 341- conveying outlet, 342- fixed seat,

[0033] 4- Material collecting barrel.

[0034] 100-Gallium liquid, 101-Gallium liquid segment, 200-Gallium liquid droplet, 201-Gallium bead. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0035] Example

[0036] See also Figure 1 The high-purity gallium bead production device shown in the figure is a specific implementation scheme of the present invention, including a dropping funnel 11, a gallium storage box 12, a dropping tube 13, a control valve 14, a discharge valve 15, a pump tube 21, a peristaltic pump 22, a conveyor belt 31, a condensation block 32, a conveying motor 33, a material blocking rod 34 and a material receiving bucket 4 and other components. The gallium storage tank 12 is mainly composed of three parts: a gallium storage tank 12, a pumping system, and a condensation and transmission system. The gallium storage tank 12 is used to store the raw material for producing gallium beads - gallium liquid 100. After the metallic gallium is heated into liquid gallium liquid 100, it is added to the gallium storage tank 12 through a dropping funnel 11. The pumping system includes a pump tube 21 and a peristaltic pump 22. The pump tube 21 draws the gallium liquid 100 from the inside of the gallium storage tank 12. The peristaltic pump 22 is arranged on the pump tube 21, which divides the continuous gallium liquid flow in the pump tube 21 into several intervals of gallium liquid segments, and pumps the gallium liquid segments one by one to drop onto the condensation and transmission system. The condensation and transmission system includes a conveyor belt 31 and several condensation blocks 32 arranged on the conveyor belt to receive the gallium liquid segments dripping. The condensation blocks 32 condense the gallium droplets 200 dripping thereon into solid gallium beads. The condensation blocks 32 and the gallium droplets 200 thereon are conveyed together with the transmission belt 31. The material receiving bucket 4 is arranged at the conveying end of the conveyor belt to collect the condensed solid gallium beads.

[0037] Specifically, the gallium storage box 12 in this embodiment is made of stainless steel, and a clean inert coating, such as polytetrafluoroethylene, is sprayed on the inner wall in contact with the gallium liquid to prevent the gallium liquid from reacting with the gallium storage box. The interior of the gallium storage box 12 is divided into two parts, a large box 121 and a small box 122, by a partition. The internal volume of the large box 121 is at least ten times the internal volume of the small box 122. A certain gap is maintained between the partition and the bottom plate of the gallium storage box 12 to form a communication port 123, which connects the bottoms of the large box 121 and the small box 122 to each other. A dropper 13 connected to the dropping funnel 11 is provided inside the large box 121 for adding gallium liquid 100 to the interior of the gallium storage box 121. The dropper 13 is provided with a control valve 14 for controlling the addition of gallium liquid 100. The bottom of the small box 122 is connected to the pump pipe 21, and the gallium liquid in the small box 122 flows into the pump pipe 21 under the action of gravity.

[0038] In order to improve production efficiency, multiple pump tubes are connected to the bottom of the small box 122 to produce gallium beads at the same time. In this way, the consumption of gallium liquid 100 inside the small box 122 is increased, and the liquid level of gallium liquid 100 in the small box 122 drops rapidly. If it is not controlled, the pressure inside the small box 122 will change greatly. Excessive pressure changes will affect the flow rate of the gallium liquid flowing into the pump tube 21, and then cause the peristaltic pump 22 to unevenly segment the gallium liquid in the pump tube, resulting in uneven size of the gallium liquid finally dripped and formed. This embodiment is combined with a large box 121 that is connected to a small box 122. The bottoms of the two boxes are connected by a connecting port 123 with a small gap. The internal volume of the large box 121 is much larger than the internal volume of the small box 122. After the gallium liquid level in the small box 122 begins to drop, due to the principle of communicating vessels, the gallium liquid 100 in the large box 121 is continuously replenished into the small box 122 through the connecting port 123, thereby reducing the speed at which the gallium liquid level in the small box 122 drops. At the same time, the molten gallium liquid 100 is injected into the large box 121 through the dropping funnel 11. The injection amount is balanced with the flow rate of the gallium liquid flowing into the pump tube, maintaining a constant gallium liquid level in the entire gallium storage box 12, thereby ensuring a stable gallium liquid flow rate in the pump tube 21.

[0039] To ensure that the gallium liquid 100 remains in a liquid state before dripping, an insulation layer 111 and an insulation layer 124 are provided on the outer wall of the dropping funnel 11 and the outer wall of the gallium storage box 12, respectively. The insulation layers are used to maintain the gallium liquid inside the dropping funnel 11 and the gallium storage box 12 at a temperature environment where it always melts into a liquid state.

[0040] One end of the feed port of the pump tube 21 of the pumping system is connected to the bottom of the small box 122 of the gallium storage box 12. The bottom of the small box 122 is configured as a funnel outlet that interfaces with the pump tube 21. One end of the discharge port of the pump tube 21 extends above the condensation transfer system. The pump tube 21 is entirely below the horizontal plane of the bottom of the small box 122 and is prevented from extending upward. The gallium liquid inside the small box 122 enters the pump tube 21 under the action of gravity. The peristaltic pump 22 is provided on the pump tube 21. The gallium liquid 100 before the peristaltic pump 22 is a continuous fluid that fills the interior of the pump tube 21. After passing through the peristaltic pump 22, the peristaltic pump 22 divides the continuous gallium liquid 100 inside the pump tube into a plurality of equally spaced gallium liquid segments 101, such as Figure 2 As shown in FIG, gallium liquid segments 101 are intermittently pumped to the outlet of pump tube 21. At the outlet, gravity and surface tension cause spherical gallium droplets 200 to fall onto the condensation and delivery system. The peristaltic pump 22 rotates at a constant speed, actively controlling the quality of each gallium liquid segment 101 to achieve more consistent quality. Compared to the prior art method of continuously dripping gallium liquid, this method produces more consistent gallium beads.

[0041] The pump tube 21 in this embodiment is made of clean PVC tubing, a material with a certain degree of elasticity and stretchability. The ball bearings of the peristaltic pump 22 rotate and compress the pump tube 21, causing the continuous gallium liquid 100 inside the pump tube to be separated at a certain distance within the pump tube, forming gallium liquid segments 101 of uniform quality. A peristaltic pump 22 with a precisely controlled rotation speed within 1-30 rpm is selected. By selecting pump tubes 21 with different inner diameters and adjusting the pumping speed of the peristaltic pump 22, the quality of the dripping gallium droplets can be controlled, achieving the desired particle size of the gallium beads after condensation. Peristaltic pumps are existing equipment, and this embodiment does not elaborate on the specific structure and operating principle of the peristaltic pump 22.

[0042] To achieve large-scale production of gallium beads, the pumping system can be equipped with two or more pump tubes 21, each connected to a small box 122 of the gallium storage tank. A discharge valve 15 is installed between the feed inlet of each pump tube 21 and the bottom outlet of the small box 122. This not only regulates the flow of gallium liquid entering the pump tube 21, but also allows for maintenance of each pump tube independently without affecting the normal production of other pump tubes 21. The discharge outlets of all pump tubes 21 are arranged horizontally along the conveyor belt, above the condensation block. Before condensing into a solid state, the gallium droplets dripping from each pump tube 21 are transported along their own conveying direction without affecting each other.

[0043] See also Figure 1 and Figure 3 The conveyor belt 31 of the condensation conveying system can be in various forms, such as a conveyor belt or a conveyor chain, to form at least one conveying plane, and the discharge port of the pump tube 21 is arranged above the conveying feed end of the conveying plane. The conveyor belt 31 of this embodiment is made of narrow and long stainless steel bars, or the stainless steel bars are welded to the conveying chain. The entire conveyor belt 31 is wound around the conveying wheel, and one of the conveying wheels is connected to the conveying motor 33 as a driving wheel. A central control groove is provided on the conveyor belt 31, in which a number of condensation blocks 32 are fixedly embedded. The condensation blocks 32 are equal in width to the conveyor belt 31. All the condensation blocks 32 are equidistantly distributed along the conveying direction of the conveyor belt 31 and are conveyed together with the conveyor belt 31.

[0044] The condensation block 32 can condense gallium droplets dripping onto it using a refrigerant, cold chain, or semiconductor cooling block. When a refrigerant or cold chain is used as the condensation block 32, a heat exchange structure can be fixed at the bottom conveyor section of the conveyor belt 31 to provide additional cooling for the refrigerant or cold chain. After being cooled by the heat exchange structure, the condensation block 32 is conveyed by the conveyor belt 31 to the upper conveyor surface, where it effectively condenses the gallium droplets. After the gallium beads are condensed and collected, the condensation block is transported back to the bottom of the conveyor belt 31 and further cooled by the heat exchange structure. This cycle achieves automated and continuous production of gallium beads. When a semiconductor cooling block is used as the condensation block 32, the semiconductor cooling block is actively maintained at the low temperature required for gallium liquid condensation through an integrated circuit. After the circuits of all the semiconductor cooling blocks are integrated, they can be connected to an external circuit via a transmission wheel and a rotary joint.

[0045] The surfaces of the entire conveyor belt 31 and the condensation block 32 are flat and are sprayed with a layer of clean inert material, such as polytetrafluoroethylene, to prevent the gallium liquid in contact therewith from reacting and affecting the quality of the gallium beads.

[0046] The discharge port of the pump tube 21 is located 0.5-2 cm above the conveyor belt, so that the gallium droplets 200 can remain spherical when dripping onto the condensation block 32 on the conveyor belt, rather than being too flat.

[0047] At the same time, the timing of the gallium droplets 200 dripping from the discharge port of the pump tube 21 must be aligned with the timing of the conveyance of the condensate block 32 on the conveyor belt, ensuring that the gallium droplets 200 precisely land on the area of ​​the condensate block 32 and do not drip onto other locations on the conveyor belt 31. In this embodiment, the conveyor motor 33 driving the conveyor belt 31 uses a speed-controlled motor. This precisely controls the conveyor belt's speed and ensures that the rotation speeds of the peristaltic pump 22 and the conveyor motor 33 are relatively constant. This ensures that the gallium liquid segment 101 in the pump tube 21, segmented by the peristaltic pump 22, drips from the pump tube discharge port at the perfect timing to land on the condensate block 32 on the conveyor belt 31 controlled by the conveyor motor 33.

[0048] Since the peristaltic pump 22 also controls the pumping speed through a speed regulating motor, in actual applications, the speed regulating motor of the peristaltic pump 22 can also be synchronized through a transmission mechanism to control the conveyor belt 31, so as to achieve relatively constant speed matching between the conveying speed of the conveyor belt 31 and the peristaltic pumping speed of the peristaltic pump 22.

[0049] In addition, the conveying speed and conveying length of the conveyor belt 31 must match the condensation capacity of the condensation block 32 to ensure that the pump tube 21 can condense into solid gallium beads 201 before it is transmitted to the conveying end of the conveyor belt 31 after dripping onto the condensation block 32 at the conveying feed end of the conveyor belt 31.

[0050] As the conveyor belt 31 conveys the solid gallium beads 201 on the condensation block 32 to the conveyor end, they passively slide from the surface of the condensation block 32 into the receiving bucket 4 due to their own gravity during the downward conveyance of the conveyor belt 31. However, during the process of condensing into solid gallium beads 201, the gallium droplets 200 form a certain adhesion force with the condensation block 32, making it difficult for some solid gallium beads 201 to slide off the condensation block 32. In this embodiment, a fixed material blocking rod 34 is provided at the conveyor end of the conveyor belt 31. The material blocking rod 34, which is fixed relative to the conveyor belt 31, actively moves the condensed solid gallium beads from the condensation block 32 and collects them for output.

[0051] Specific as Figure 3 As shown, the blocking rod 34 is arranged above the conveyor belt 31 parallel to the conveying plane of the conveyor belt 31, and the gap between the blocking rod 34 and the condensation block 32 must be smaller than the height of the gallium beads 201 after condensation on the condensation block, so as to ensure that the gallium beads 201 conveyed together with the conveyor belt 31 are separated from the surface of the condensation block 32 after colliding with the blocking rod 34.

[0052] This embodiment also uses the blocking rod 34 to guide the conveying output of the gallium beads 201 on all conveying planes. The blocking rod 34 is set obliquely relative to the conveying direction above the condensation block. After the gallium beads 201 condensed on the conveyor belt 31 collide with the blocking rod 34 and separate from the condensation block, they continue to be conveyed forward with the conveyor belt 31 and are also guided along the inclined route of the blocking rod 34. After being output through the end of the blocking rod 34, they fall from the conveyor belt 31. The receiving bucket 4 is set close to the end of the blocking rod, and the fallen gallium beads 201 fall into the receiving bucket 4. In this embodiment, two blocking rods 34 are provided on the conveyor belt 31. The two blocking rods 34 are located in the same plane and are inclined toward each other, that is, the inclination directions of the two blocking rods 34 are opposite, and a V-shaped funnel structure is formed along the conveying direction of the conveyor belt. A conveying outlet 341 larger than the particle size of the gallium beads is formed between the two blocking rods 34. After the gallium beads at the conveying end collide with the blocking rod 34, they are conveyed along the two blocking rods 34 respectively, gathered at the conveying outlet 341, and uniformly collected into the receiving barrel 4.

[0053] One end of the blocking rod 34 is fixed by a fixing seat 342 fixed to the side of the conveyor belt 31, and the other end forms a cantilever set above the conveyor belt 31. The blocking rod 34 adopts a stainless steel railing, and the surface in contact with the gallium beads is sprayed with a layer of inert polytetrafluoroethylene coating that does not react with gallium. The fixing seat 342 adopts a lifting seat structure, which can adjust the height of the blocking rod 34 relative to the conveying plane to adapt to gallium beads of different particle sizes.

[0054] The specific process of producing high-purity gallium beads in this embodiment is described in detail below.

[0055] First, molten high-purity gallium liquid 100 is poured into the gallium storage tank 12 and the dropping funnel 11. The insulation layers of each are activated to maintain the gallium liquid 100 at a liquefied temperature. During gallium bead production, the control valve 14 on the dropper 13 is opened to adjust the flow rate so that the amount of gallium liquid added from the dropping funnel 11 to the large tank 121 of the gallium storage tank 12 is consistent with the amount of gallium liquid flowing out of the pump tube 21.

[0056] The gallium storage box 12 and dropping funnel 11 are made of stainless steel. The inner walls that come into contact with the gallium liquid are all spray-coated with clean, inert polytetrafluoroethylene to prevent contamination of the gallium liquid. The control valve 14 is also made of polytetrafluoroethylene. The gallium storage box 12 and dropping funnel 11 are wrapped in an insulating layer and electrically heated. The temperature of the gallium liquid is adjusted and controlled by a control system. The volume of the large box 121 inside the gallium storage box 12 is at least ten times that of the small box 122. They are connected by a connecting port 123 at the bottom. The principle of a communicating vessel ensures that the gallium liquid level inside the small box 122 remains relatively stable and consistent during the production process.

[0057] Then, the condensation block 32 is started to cool, and the conveying motor 33 is started to make the conveyor belt 31 convey at a certain speed. The pump tube 21 is connected to the discharge valve 15 at the bottom of the conical discharge port of the small box 122 of the gallium storage box 12. The discharge valve 15 is first closed, and the pump tube 21 is passed through the peristaltic pump 22 to ensure that the pump tube 21 has a certain pressure and elasticity. After opening the discharge valve 15, the peristaltic pump 22 is started and the speed of the peristaltic pump 22 is adjusted to drive the gallium liquid segments 101 formed in the intervals of the pump tube 21 to drip at regular intervals at the end of the pump tube 21 in the form of spherical gallium droplets 200 due to surface tension.

[0058] The pump tube 21 is made of a clean PVC material having a certain elasticity and stretchability, and the discharge valve 15 is made of a clean polytetrafluoroethylene material.

[0059] Start the conveying motor 33 and the condensation block 32. The gallium droplets 200 dripping from the pump tube 21 are slowly condensed into solid gallium beads 201 on the conveyor belt 31 under the condensation action of the condensation block 32. Adjust the height of the material blocking rod 34. The solid gallium beads are loosened and collected by the material blocking rod 34 at the end of the conveyor belt 31 and enter the receiving barrel 4. The receiving barrel 4 is made of plastic or stainless steel, and the surface of the inner wall in contact with the gallium beads is sprayed with a layer of clean inert material polytetrafluoroethylene.

[0060] The technical effects of the present invention are described below with reference to a specific production example.

[0061] Examples

[0062] Gallium liquid was poured into the gallium storage box and dropping funnel, maintaining a relative height of 10 cm. The insulation layers of the gallium storage box and dropping funnel were opened to maintain the liquid temperature at 38°C. A 1.2 mm ID PVC pump tubing was pressed onto the peristaltic pump, and the discharge port at the end of the tubing was adjusted 8 mm from the conveyor belt. The peristaltic pump speed was set to 5 rpm. The condensation block on the conveyor belt was turned on and the cooling temperature was set to 4°C. The conveyor motor was started and set to 1 rpm, with a relative horizontal speed of 0.2 m / min. The conveyor belt was 3 meters long per side. The discharge valve was opened and the peristaltic pump was started, allowing the gallium liquid in the pump tubing to drip onto the condensation block on the conveyor belt. After 14 minutes of condensation and conveyance, the solid gallium beads were collected by a barrier. The resulting gallium beads had a spherical upper surface and a flat surface. The mass of each bead was 0.65 g, ±0.1 g, and the particle size was 0.6 mm, ±0.1 mm, meeting customer requirements.

[0063] It can be seen that the production of high-purity gallium beads in this embodiment is simple to operate, can achieve batch automated production, and the quality and particle size of the high-purity gallium beads are controllable and uniform.

[0064] The above embodiments describe the basic principles and main features of the present invention and the advantages of the present invention. Those skilled in the art should understand that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. The above embodiments and descriptions only illustrate the specific working principles of the present invention. Without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, the present invention may have various changes and improvements, and these changes and improvements fall within the scope of the present invention to be protected. The scope of protection of the present invention is defined by the attached claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. High-purity gallium bead production device, characterized by: Includes gallium storage tank, pumping system and condensate delivery system; The pumping system includes a pump tube and a peristaltic pump disposed on the pump tube. The pump tube feed port is connected to the bottom of the gallium storage box, and the discharge port extends above the condensation transmission system. The peristaltic pump intermittently pumps the gallium liquid in the gallium storage box to the condensation transmission system through the pump tube. The condensation conveying system includes a conveyor belt and a condensation block arranged on the conveyor belt to receive gallium liquid dripping from the pump pipe outlet. The conveying end of the conveyor belt is connected to a receiving bucket for collecting condensed gallium beads. The gallium storage box includes a large box and a small box with interconnected bottoms. The bottom of the small box is connected to the pump pipe, and the large box is connected to the dropping funnel for adding gallium liquid through a dripping tube. The dripping tube is provided with a control valve. The pumping system includes at least two pump pipes connected to the gallium storage box, the feed ports of all pump pipes are equipped with discharge valves, and the discharge ports of all pump pipes are arranged above the condensate blocks in the transverse direction of the conveyor belt; the discharge ports of the pump pipes are located above the conveyor belt at a distance between 0.5 and 2 cm; The volume of the large box is at least ten times that of the small box; The conveying end of the conveyor belt is also provided with a blocking rod for pushing the condensed gallium beads from the condensation block. The blocking rod is arranged above the condensation block at an angle relative to the conveying direction. The gap between the blocking rod and the condensation block is smaller than the height of the condensed gallium beads. The receiving bucket is arranged near the end of the blocking rod.

2. The high-purity gallium bead production device according to claim 1, wherein the outer walls of the gallium storage box and the dropping funnel are both provided with a thermal insulation layer.

3. The high-purity gallium bead production device according to claim 1, wherein the condensation blocks are made of a condensing agent, a cold chain or a semiconductor refrigeration block, and a plurality of the condensation blocks are equidistantly arranged along the conveying direction of the conveyor belt.

4. The high-purity gallium bead production device according to claim 1, wherein the material blocking rods are two rods arranged to be inclined toward each other, and a material delivery outlet is formed between the inclined ends of the two material blocking rods.

5. The high-purity gallium bead production device according to claim 1, wherein the gallium storage box, pumping system and condensation transfer system are all provided with an inert coating that does not react with gallium or are made of an inert material that does not react with gallium at locations where they come into contact with gallium.

6. The high-purity gallium bead production device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the conveying motor of the conveyor belt is a speed-regulating motor, and the rotational speed of the peristaltic pump and the rotational speed of the speed-regulating motor are set at a relatively constant speed.

Images