Treatment system and method with auxiliary gas flow

Abstract

A processing system and method for producing a product material are provided. The treatment system includes a system inlet connected to one or more gas lines, the one or more gas lines deliver one or more gases into the processing system, a buffer chamber, a dispersion chamber, a heating assembly, a reaction chamber, and a system outlet for delivering product material out of the processing system. The method includes delivering one or more gases into a buffer chamber of the processing system via a system inlet, injecting a liquid mixture into one or more streams of droplets in the processing system using one or more powered injection modules, delivering one or more streams of heated gas into the processing system through a heating assembly, and delivering the one or more streams of heated gas into the processing system via a system outlet. And forming a reaction mixture.

Description

[0001] This case is a divisional application of application number 202080043518.7 and named "Processing system and method with auxiliary gas flow".

[0002] Related References to Related Applications

[0003] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 62 / 868,843, filed on June 28, 2019, and U.S. Non-Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 16 / 914,458, filed on June 28, 2020, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0004] The present invention generally relates to the preparation of materials for battery applications. More specifically, the present invention relates to methods and systems for making structured cathode or anode active materials for secondary batteries. Background Art

[0005] Considerable efforts have been made to develop advanced electrochemical battery cells to meet the growing demands for high energy density, high power performance, high capacity, long cycle life, low price and excellent safety for various consumer electronics, electric transportation and grid energy storage applications. In most cases, miniaturized, lightweight and rechargeable (and thus reusable) batteries are required to save space and material resources.

[0006] In an electrochemically active battery cell, the cathode and anode are immersed in an electrolyte and are electrically separated by a separator. The separator is usually made of a porous polymer membrane material so that during battery charging and discharging, the metal ions released from the electrode into the electrolyte can diffuse through the pores of the separator and migrate between the cathode and the anode. The type of battery cell is usually named according to the metal ions transported between its cathode and anode electrodes. Over the years, a variety of rechargeable secondary batteries have been developed commercially, such as nickel-cadmium batteries, nickel-metal hydride batteries, lead-acid batteries, lithium-ion batteries, and lithium-ion polymer batteries. In order to be used commercially, rechargeable secondary batteries require high energy density, high power performance, and safety. However, there is a certain trade-off between energy density and power performance.

[0007] Lithium-ion battery is a secondary battery developed in the early 1990s. Compared with other secondary batteries, it has the advantages of high energy density, long cycle life, no memory effect, low self-discharge rate and environmental friendliness. Lithium-ion battery was quickly accepted and dominated the commercial secondary battery market. However, the cost of materials for commercial production of many types of lithium-ion batteries is much higher than that of other types of secondary batteries.

[0008] In lithium-ion batteries, the electrolyte is mainly composed of lithium salts (such as LiPF6, LiBF4 or LiClO4) in organic solvents (such as ethylene carbonate, dimethyl carbonate and diethyl carbonate) so that lithium ions can move freely therein. Typically, aluminum foil (such as 15 to 20 microns thick) and copper foil (such as 8 to 15 microns thick) are used as collectors for cathode electrodes and anode electrodes, respectively. For the anode, micron-sized graphite (with a reversible capacity of about 330 mAh / g) is often used as the active material covering the anode collector. Graphite materials are often prepared by solid-state processes, such as grinding and pyrolysis (such as graphitization at about 3000°C) in the absence of oxygen and at extremely high temperatures. As for active cathode materials, a variety of solid materials with different crystal structures and capacities have been developed over the years. Examples of good cathode active materials include nano- or micron-sized lithium transition metal oxide materials and lithium ion phosphates.

[0009] The cathode active material is the most expensive component in lithium-ion batteries and determines the energy density, cycle life, production cost and safety of lithium battery cells to a relatively large extent. When lithium batteries were first commercialized, lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2) material was used as the cathode material, and it still occupies a significant market share in the anion active material market. However, cobalt is toxic and expensive. Other lithium transition metal oxide materials, such as layered LiMeO2 (wherein metal Me = Ni, Mn, Co, etc.; for example LiNi 0.33 Mn 0.33 Co 0.33 O2, whose reversible / actual capacity is about 140-150 mAh / g), spinel-structured LiMn2O4 (whose reversible / actual capacity is about 110-120 mAh / g) and olive-tree-type lithium metal phosphates (such as LiFePO4, whose reversible / actual capacity is about 140-150 mAh / g) have recently been developed as active anion materials. When used as anion materials, spinel-structured LiMn2O4 materials exhibit poor battery cycle cycles, while olive-tree-type LiFePO4 materials suffer from low energy density and poor low-temperature performance. As for LiMeO2 materials, although their electrochemical properties are good, the existing preparation process of LiMeO2 will mainly produce agglomerates, making the electrode density of most LiMeO2 materials lower than that of LiCoO2. In any case, the existing processes for preparing battery application materials (especially cathode active materials) are too expensive because most of the processes consume too much time and energy, and the quality of existing materials is still inconsistent and the yield is low.

[0010] Conventional material preparation processes such as solid-state reactions (e.g., mixing solid precursors and then calcining) and wet chemical processes (e.g., treating precursors in a solution by coprecipitation, sol-gel or hydrothermal reaction, and then mixing and calcining) face significant challenges in producing nano- or micro-structured materials. It is difficult to consistently produce uniform solid materials (i.e., particles and powders) with the required particle size, morphology, crystal structure, particle shape, and even stoichiometric ratio. For complete reaction, isomorphism, and grain growth, most conventional solid-state reactions require long calcination times (e.g., 4-20 hours) and additional annealing processes. For example, spinel-structured LiMn2O4 and olive-tree-type LiFePO4 materials obtained by solid-state reactions require at least several hours of calcination and separate post-heating annealing processes (e.g., 24 hours), and still show poor quality consistency. An inherent problem of solid-state reactions is the presence of temperature and chemical (e.g., O2) gradients in the calcining furnace, which limits the performance, consistency, and overall quality of the final product.

[0011] On the other hand, wet chemical processes performed at low temperatures generally involve faster chemical reactions, but still require a separate high temperature calcination process or even an additional annealing process afterwards. In addition, the chemical additives, gelling agents and surfactants required in the wet chemical process will increase the material production cost (purchase of additional chemicals and adjustment of specific process sequences, rates, pH and temperatures), and may interfere with the final composition of the active material produced thereby (thus additional steps are generally required to remove unwanted chemicals or filter products). In addition, the primary particles of the product powders produced by wet chemistry are very small in size and tend to agglomerate into undesirable large-sized secondary particles, thereby affecting the energy storage density. In addition, the morphology of the powder particles produced thereby often exhibits undesirable amorphous agglomerates, multi-hole agglomerates, linear bodies, rod-shaped bodies, flake bodies, etc. Uniform particle size and morphology that allow high storage density are desirable.

[0012] The synthesis of lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2) materials is relatively simple, involving mixing lithium salts (e.g., lithium hydroxide (LiOH) or lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) with cobalt oxide (Co3O4) of the desired particle size, followed by calcination in a furnace at very high temperatures for a long time (e.g., 20 hours at 900°C) to ensure that the lithium metal diffuses into the crystal structure of the cobalt oxide to form a suitable final product of a layered crystal structured LiCoO2 powder. This method is not suitable for LiMeO2 because transition metals such as Ni, Mn, and Co cannot diffuse well into each other to form a uniformly mixed transition metal layer if the transition metal oxides or salts are directly mixed and reacted (solid state calcination). Therefore, before preparing the final active anion material (e.g., lithium NiMnCo transition metal oxide (LiMeO2)), the conventional LiMeO2 preparation process requires the purchase or preparation of transition metal hydroxide precursor compounds (e.g., Me(OH)2, Me=Ni, Mn, Co, etc.) from a co-precipitation wet chemical process.

[0013] Since these Ni(OH)2, Co(OH)2 and Mn(OH)2 precursor compounds have different water solubilities and they are usually precipitated at different concentrations, the pH of the mixed solution of these precursor compounds must be controlled, and ammonia (NH3) or other additives must be added slowly in small portions to ensure that nickel (Ni), manganese (Mn) and cobalt (Co) can be co-precipitated together to form micron-sized nickel-manganese-cobalt hydroxide (NMC(OH)2) secondary particles. The co-precipitated (NMC(OH)2) secondary particles are usually agglomerates of nanometer-sized primary particles. Therefore, the final lithium NMC transition metal oxide (LiMeO2) prepared from the NMC(OH)2 precursor compound is also an agglomerate. These agglomerates are easily broken under high pressure during the electrode calendering step and coating onto the collector foil. Therefore, when these lithium NMC transition metal oxide materials are used as cathode active materials, a relatively low pressure must be used in the calendering step, and the electrode density of the produced cathode is further limited.

[0014] In the conventional preparation process of LiMeO2 active cathode material, precursor compounds such as lithium hydroxide (LiOH) and transition metal hydroxide (Me(OH)2) are mixed uniformly in solid form and stored in a thick Al2O3 crucible. Then, the crucible is placed in a furnace that is heated at a rate of 5-10°C / min until it reaches 900°C to 950°C and calcined for 10 to 20 hours. Since the precursor compound is heated at high temperature for a long time, adjacent particles are sintered together, so a grinding step is usually required after calcination. Therefore, particles of unwanted size need to be screened out after grinding, further reducing the overall yield. High temperature and long reaction time also lead to the gasification of lithium metal, so it is usually necessary to add up to 10% additional amount of lithium precursor compound during calcination to ensure that the final product has the correct lithium / transition metal ratio. In summary, the process time for this multi-stage batch production process will require up to one week, so it is very labor-intensive and consumes a lot of energy. Batch processing also increases the chance of introducing impurities, has poor batch-to-batch quality consistency, and has low overall yield.

[0015] Therefore, improved processes and systems are needed to prepare high quality, structured active materials for battery cells. Summary of the invention

[0016] The present invention generally relates to a processing system with an auxiliary gas flow in a reaction chamber, and a method for producing a product material from a liquid mixture. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and a processing system for producing material particles (e.g., active electrode materials, etc.) with a desired crystal structure, size, and morphology.

[0017] In one embodiment, a processing system for producing a particulate material from a liquid mixture is provided. The processing system includes one or more gas pipelines, a system inlet connected to the one or more gas pipelines, delivering one or more first gas streams into the processing system, one or more motive injection modules, adapted to inject the liquid mixture into one or more droplet streams, and injecting the one or more droplet streams into the processing system. The processing system further includes a reaction chamber for processing the reaction mixture into a product material, and a heating assembly.

[0018] In one aspect, the heating assembly includes a second gas line connected to an opening in a chamber wall of the reaction chamber for delivering one or more second gas streams into the reaction chamber, and a gas delivery assembly connected to the second gas line and disposed in the reaction chamber. In another aspect, the reaction mixture includes: one or more first gas streams, one or more second gas streams, and one or more droplet streams. In another aspect, a dispersion chamber is further included, the dispersion chamber being adapted to be connected to the one or more power injection modules and to disperse the one or more droplet streams into the one or more gas streams.

[0019] On the other hand, the processing system also includes a buffer chamber, which is suitable for conveying one or more gas streams from the system inlet to the dispersion chamber. In another embodiment, the buffer chamber includes a gas diverter, which has one or more channels for conveying the one or more gases as gas streams. In another embodiment, the shape of the gas diverter conforms to the inner circumference of the chamber wall in the buffer chamber. On the other hand, the dispersion chamber in the processing system further includes one or more gases and one or more droplet streams that meet each other at an angle between zero degrees and approximately 180 degrees. In one embodiment, the gas delivery component of the processing system mixes the gas stream with one or more droplet streams generated from one or more power injection modules, and the gas stream and the one or more droplet streams meet each other at an angle between zero degrees and approximately 180 degrees in the reaction chamber.

[0020] In another embodiment, a processing system for producing a product particulate material comprises one or more first gas pipelines, a system inlet connected to the one or more first gas pipelines to deliver one or more first gas streams into the processing system, one or more kinetic injection modules adapted to inject a liquid mixture into one or more liquid droplet streams and inject the one or more liquid droplet streams into the processing system, a dispersion chamber adapted to be connected to the one or more kinetic injection modules and disperse the one or more liquid droplet streams into the one or more first gas streams to form a gas-liquid mixture, wherein the one or more first gas streams and the one or more liquid droplet streams meet each other at a dispersion angle (α) between zero and about 180 degrees, a reaction chamber for processing the reaction mixture into the product material, and a heating assembly. In one aspect, the one or more second gas streams are delivered by the gas delivery assembly and mixed with the one or more gas-liquid mixtures to meet each other in the reaction chamber at a dispersion angle (β) between zero and about 180 degrees.

[0021] In another embodiment, a method for producing a product material from a liquid mixture is provided. The method includes: delivering one or more first gas streams to a buffer chamber in a processing system through a system inlet, delivering one or more second gas streams to a reaction chamber in the processing system through a heating element, spraying the liquid mixture into one or more droplet streams through one or more power injection modules in the processing system, delivering the one or more droplet streams into a dispersion chamber in the processing system through one or more power injection modules, and generating a reaction mixture in the reaction chamber, the reaction mixture comprising one or more first gas streams, one or more second gas streams, and one or more droplet streams. The method may include heating the reaction chamber in the processing system using one or more second gas streams, wherein the second gas streams may be heated to a temperature between 100°C and 1400°C; and processing the reaction mixture into the product material in the reaction chamber. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] In order to understand the above-mentioned features of the present invention in more detail, the present invention can be described in more detail by reference to embodiments, which are briefly summarized above, some of which are shown in the accompanying drawings. However, it should be noted that the accompanying drawings only show typical embodiments of the present invention and should not be considered as limiting the scope of the present invention, as the present invention may allow other equivalent embodiments.

[0023] Figure 1A is a perspective view of one embodiment of a processing system having an auxiliary gas flow in a reaction chamber.

[0024] Figure 1B is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of a processing system having an auxiliary gas flow in a reaction chamber.

[0025] Figure 1C is a cross-sectional view of an apparatus in a processing system that may be used for assisting gas flow in a reaction chamber.

[0026] Figure 2A is a cross-sectional view of a dispersion chamber of the apparatus, which may be used in a processing system having auxiliary gas flow inside a reaction chamber.

[0027] Figure 2B The angle between the gas flow and the droplet flow within the dispersion chamber is shown according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0028] Figure 3A is a cross-sectional view of the device in a reaction chamber, and the device can be used in a processing system with an auxiliary gas flow in the reaction chamber.

[0029] Figure 3B The angle between the gas-liquid mixture and the heated gas flow within the reaction chamber is shown according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] Figure 4 A method of producing a granular material is shown.

[0031] Figure 5 Velocity vectors within the device are shown that may be used in a processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0032] Figure 6 Velocity streamlines within the apparatus are shown that may be used in a processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0033] Figure 7 The temperature distribution of the device that can be used in a processing system with auxiliary gas flow inside the reaction chamber according to one embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0034] Figure 8 Velocity streamlines within the apparatus are shown that may be used in a processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0035] Fig. 9 The temperature distribution of the device that can be used in a processing system with auxiliary gas flow inside the reaction chamber according to one embodiment of the present invention is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] The present invention generally provides a processing system having an auxiliary gas flow inside a reaction chamber and a method for producing a granular material from a liquid mixture. The processing system can be used to perform a continuous process to manufacture granular materials, save material manufacturing time and energy, and solve the problems of high manufacturing cost, low output, poor quality consistency, low electrode density, and low energy density in traditional manufacturing processes for active materials. The processing system generally includes a system inlet for conveying one or more gases through one or more gas pipelines, a buffer chamber, a dispersion chamber connected to one or more power injection modules, a reaction chamber, a heating assembly in the reaction chamber, and a system outlet for outputting the granular material to the outside of the processing system.

[0037] On the one hand, a precursor compound such as a metal-containing precursor is mixed into the liquid mixture to adjust the desired ratio of different metal precursors and still obtain a uniformly blended precursor. The liquid mixture is then rapidly mixed with a gas to form a gas-solid mixture, which is continuously and uniformly mixed with the heated gas in the gas phase to react into dry granular solid particles in the reaction chamber.

[0038] On the other hand, the metal precursor compound is mixed into the liquid mixture in a uniform mixture in a desired ratio and sprayed from the buffer chamber into the dispersion chamber to receive one or more gases (e.g., carrier gas, reaction gas, oxidizing gas, oxygen, etc.), thereby forming droplets of the gas-liquid mixture in the dispersion chamber before entering the reaction chamber.

[0039] In one embodiment, droplets of a gas-liquid mixture flow into a reaction chamber to be processed into a gas-solid mixture, wherein heated air or heated gas passes through a heating component and actively flows into an internal chamber of the reaction chamber, so that the heated gas can be used as a gas source and / or energy source at the same time for various reactions in the reaction chamber, such as drying reactions, oxidation reactions, heating reactions, etc.

[0040] The reaction products (e.g., particles, battery oxide materials, particulate materials, etc.) from the reaction chamber are discharged from the reaction chamber and cooled. After cooling, the reaction products include fine powders of solid material particles or oxidized forms of the precursor composition (e.g., metal oxide materials, such as fine powders of mixed metal oxide materials) and have the desired crystal structure, particle size, and morphology. Thus, high-quality and consistent active battery materials can be obtained with less time, labor, and monitoring than materials prepared by conventional manufacturing processes.

[0041] In one aspect, the heating assembly includes a gas line connected to an opening in the wall of the reaction chamber for delivering one or more heated gases (e.g., heated to a temperature of 100° C. to 1400° C.) into the reaction chamber. When the one or more heated gas streams are heated before entering the processing system, the one or more heated gases can be used as an energy source for reactants (e.g., reaction mixtures, gas-liquid mixtures, liquid mixtures, and other mixtures) to react in the reaction chamber. The heating assembly also includes a gas delivery assembly connected to the gas line and disposed in the reaction chamber for delivering one or more heated gases to an inlet region of the reaction chamber, which is connected to the dispersion chamber. In addition, the reaction chamber is connected to a system outlet for delivering particulate material outside the processing system.

[0042] In another aspect, one or more gas streams (e.g., carrier gas, oxygen, inert gas, nitrogen, etc. at a temperature of 200° C. to 400° C.) are introduced into the processing system from a system inlet in the processing system and used as a gas source for forming the liquid mixture into a gas-liquid mixture and as a carrier gas for transporting the gas-liquid mixture to the reaction chamber. If the gas is heated to 20° C. or higher (e.g., 100° C. to 400° C.) before entering the processing system, the gas can also be used as an energy source for the reaction of the gas-liquid mixture in the reaction chamber.

[0043] In another aspect, a liquid mixture, which may be a metal-containing liquid mixture, is rapidly sprayed into a droplet stream by one or more power injection modules connected to a dispersion chamber, and then sprayed into a dispersion chamber of a processing system. The droplet stream continues to mix with a gas to form a gas-liquid mixture, which is then transported to a reaction chamber.

[0044] In one embodiment, one or more heated gases are actively delivered to the reaction chamber and mixed with the gas-liquid mixture in the internal chamber of the reaction chamber to form a reaction mixture. In another embodiment, one or more heated gas streams delivered to the reaction chamber are heated to a desired reaction temperature, such as a temperature between 100°C and 1400°C, such as a temperature between 300°C and 1000°C, or a temperature between 400°C and 800°C. In another embodiment, the reaction chamber of the processing system can be heated to a reaction temperature by one or more gases heated to a temperature between 100°C and 1400°C. The reaction mixture in the reaction chamber is processed into a product material after a certain period of reaction at the reaction temperature in the reaction chamber and discharged from the reaction chamber. For example, the reaction mixture can include one or more liquids, one or more gases, one or more droplets and heated gas streams and mixtures thereof.

[0045] A processing system having an auxiliary gas flow inside the reaction chamber of the processing system

[0046] Figure 1A 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a processing system 100 provided in a method for producing a particulate material from a liquid mixture. The processing system 100 may generally include a system inlet 102, a system outlet 104, a reaction chamber 110, and a heating assembly 180. As described below, the heating assembly 180 is designed to provide auxiliary gas flow inside the reaction chamber 110 of the processing system 100.

[0047] The system inlet 102 delivers one or more gases (e.g., carrier gas and other gases) into the processing system 100 as a permeate gas pipeline 106. The system outlet 104 is connected to the reaction chamber 110 for delivering the particulate material out of the processing system 100 to form a product (e.g., battery particulate material, battery positive electrode material, battery negative electrode material, etc.) after processing the reactants such as the liquid mixture of chemical solution (e.g., the mixture of liquid battery reactant chemical solution, etc.).

[0048] like Figure 1A As shown, the processing system 100 may also include at least one buffer chamber 130 connected to the system inlet 102 and connected to one or more gas splitters or gas splitter mechanisms (e.g., one or more channels), wherein one or more gas flows (e.g., such as Figure 1B One or more gases F1 as shown are transferred into multiple uniform gas flows flowing inside (e.g., Figure 1B The one or more gases F2 shown). The one or more gases flowing in the buffer chamber 130 can be selected from gas sources such as air, oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, hydrogen, inert gas, rare gas and combinations thereof.

[0049] In addition, the processing system 100 may also include a dispersion chamber 120, which is connected to one or more power injection modules (e.g., power injection modules 140A, 140B, 140C, etc.). One or more power injection modules are provided to receive one or more chemical reactants, mix the chemical reactants into one or more liquid mixtures, and inject the one or more liquid mixtures into the dispersion chamber 120, thereby delivering one or more liquid mixtures into the dispersion chamber 120 of the processing system 100.

[0050] The power jet modules 140A, 140B, 140C, etc. can be connected to a portion of the dispersion chamber to utilize air pressure to spray the liquid mixture and convert it directly into a mist containing small particle size droplets, which is directly dispersed inside the dispersion chamber. Alternatively, the mist can be generated outside the dispersion chamber 120 and transported into the dispersion chamber 120. The appropriate droplet size can be adjusted based on the power jet module used, the liquid mixture composition, the temperature of the dispersion chamber 120, the flow rate of the gas, and the residence time in the dispersion chamber. For example, a mist with a droplet size between one tenth of a micron and one millimeter is generated in the dispersion chamber.

[0051] There is no limit to the number of power injection modules that can be coupled to the dispersion chamber 120, and can be customized or based on demand, and there can be one, two, three or any number of power injection modules coupled to the dispersion chamber 120. In one aspect, two or more power injection modules are disposed around the periphery of the dispersion chamber 120. Each power injection module can inject the liquid mixture into the dispersion chamber 120 as one or more liquid droplet streams, so that the one or more liquid droplet streams are mixed with one or more gases in one or more channels of the gas diversion mechanism in the buffer chamber 130, thereby forming one or more gas-liquid mixtures in the dispersion chamber 120 for delivery to the reaction chamber 110.

[0052] In one embodiment, the power jet module 140A is coupled to a portion of the dispersion chamber 120 to generate a mist of the liquid mixture (e.g., a large number of small-sized droplets) directly in the dispersion chamber. Typically, the power jet module 140A is capable of generating a mist of droplets of a single size. In another embodiment, the dispersion chamber 120 is coupled to one or more power jet modules 140A, 140B, and 140C for receiving a plurality of uniform gas streams from the buffer chamber 130, which will meet one or more droplet streams ejected from the array of one or more power jet modules 140A, 140B, and 140C.

[0053] In addition, in one embodiment, a liquid mixture is prepared from two or more precursor compounds and then converted into droplets, each droplet of which will evenly distribute the two or more precursors together. Then, the water of the liquid mixture is removed by passing the droplets through a dispersion chamber, and the permeating gas flow can be used as a carrier mist, allowing the mist to stay in the dispersion chamber for an appropriate time. It is also expected that the concentration of the precursor compound in the liquid mixture and the droplet size of the mist of the liquid mixture can be adjusted to control the chemical composition, particle size and particle size distribution of the final product particles of the battery material.

[0054] In one embodiment, the reaction chamber 110 of the processing system 100 is configured to receive a droplet flow of one or more gas-liquid mixtures and process the one or more gas-liquid mixtures delivered from the dispersion chamber 120. The gas-liquid mixture is reacted with one or more heated gases, oxidized and heated to form a final reaction product, such as a battery particle material, an oxidized metal oxide material, etc.

[0055] In another embodiment, the reaction chamber 110 is connected to a heating assembly 180 having an auxiliary gas flow to deliver a heating gas in a gas line 186 connected to the heating assembly 180, and a portion of the heating assembly 180 is located in the interior chamber space of the reaction chamber 110. The heating assembly 180 is interconnected with the reaction chamber 110 through an opening 119 in a chamber wall 118 of the reaction chamber 110.

[0056] The heating assembly 180 includes a gas delivery assembly 184 within the interior chamber space of the reaction chamber 110. In one embodiment, the gas delivery assembly 184 is designed to provide a dry heat source and / or a gas source to the reactants within the reaction chamber 110. It is contemplated that the opening of the gas delivery assembly 184 is positioned proximate to the connection between the dispersion chamber 120 and the reaction chamber 110 in order to process the gas-liquid mixture received from the dispersion chamber 120 within the reaction chamber 110.

[0057] The wall 188 within the gas delivery assembly 184 of the heating assembly 180 serves to guide the gas flow of the heating gas received from the gas pipeline 186, and the gas passes through the gas delivery assembly 184 to reach the entry area between the reaction chamber 110 and the dispersion chamber 120, so that the heating gas delivered from the gas delivery assembly 184 of the heating assembly 180 will then flow out of the gas delivery assembly 184 of the heating assembly 180 to fill the internal chamber space of the chamber wall 118 of the reaction chamber 110.

[0058] In one embodiment, the gas delivery assembly 184 is preferably placed upward within the reaction chamber 110. In another embodiment, the gas delivery assembly 184 can be positioned at any angle from 0 to 90 degrees relative to the ground. In one aspect, the gas delivery assembly 184 is perpendicular to the ground. In another aspect, the gas delivery assembly 184 can be at any angle to the ground, ranging from 0 to 90 degrees.

[0059] Figure 1B 2 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of a processing system 200 that can be used to perform a fast, simple, continuous and low-cost manufacturing process to produce battery particulate materials. The processing system 200 includes a system inlet 202 for delivering one or more gases into the processing system 200, a buffer chamber 230 connected to the system inlet 202, a dispersion chamber 220 connected to the buffer chamber 230, a heating assembly 280, and a reaction chamber 210 connected to the dispersion chamber 220, and a system outlet 204 connected to the reaction chamber 210 for delivering the resulting particulate matter to the outside of the processing system 200.

[0060] The system inlet 202 is used to deliver one or more gases F1 into the buffer chamber 230, and pressurize one or more gases F1 downward. The gas will flow through the gas diverter 232 of the buffer chamber 230 at a certain gas speed, so as to guide and distribute the one or more gases F1 into multiple uniform airflows F2, so that it enters the dispersion chamber 220 from the buffer chamber 230. The gas diverter 232 can have one or more circularly arranged channels 234 to guide the airflow; for example, the channels 234 of the gas diverter 232 can be arranged in a manner like a nozzle, so that the gas flow F1 can be diverted into multiple uniform gas flows F2. In one embodiment, the one or more gases F1 can be pumped into the air filter to remove any particles, droplets or pollutants, and the flow rate of the gas F1 can be adjusted by a valve or other means. In one embodiment, the flow rate of the multiple uniform gas flows F2 coming out of the channel 234 will be higher than the flow rate of the one or more gas flows F1. In addition, the directions of the multiple uniform gas flows F2 will be collected and unified.

[0061] Figure 1C is an example of a cross-sectional view of the buffer chamber 230 according to one embodiment of the present invention (by Figure 1B The gas diverter 232 of the buffer chamber 230 is located at the bottom of the buffer chamber 230, and includes a plurality of channels 234 on the inner side of the chamber wall 238 of the buffer chamber 230, and serves to guide the gas flow F1 received from the system inlet 202 into a plurality of uniform gas flows F2. The channels 234 of the gas diverter 232 provide for one or more gases to pass through in a uniform direction and at a desired uniform flow rate.

[0062] The one or more gases F1 may be one or more carrier gases, such as air, oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, hydrogen, inert gases, rare gases, and combinations thereof. The one or more gases may be selected to be one or more gases that are fully mixed with the droplet stream of the battery metal precursor and do not react with the droplet stream. In some cases, depending on the temperature of the gases F1 and / or F2 and the chemical composition of the droplet stream, the chemical substances in the droplet stream may react to a certain extent with the gases F1 and / or F2 during the mixing and / or other reactions in the dispersion chamber. In addition, the residence time of the gas-liquid mixture with fully mixed droplet compounds in the dispersion chamber 220 is adjustable, and may be, for example, between one second and one hour, depending on, for example, the flow rate of the one or more gases F1 and F2, and the length of the path that the droplet stream must flow through in the dispersion chamber 220.

[0063] In one embodiment, dispersion chamber 220 of processing system 200 is connected to one or more motive injection modules (eg, motive injection modules 240A, 240B, etc.) that are attached to the periphery of chamber wall 228 of dispersion chamber 220 . Figure 2A is a cross-sectional view of a dispersion chamber 220 configured in a processing system 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention (shown by Figure 1B In one embodiment, an array of one or more power injection modules (e.g., Figure 2A The four power injection modules 240A, 240B, 240C, 240D shown, or a greater number of power injection modules (not shown)) are arranged in a symmetrical manner (also shown in Figure 2A ) attached to the chamber wall 228 of the dispersion chamber 220, or in other ways (for example, the power injection modules can be stacked, embedded, etc. or arranged in other ways).

[0064] exist Figure 2A In the embodiment, one or more openings 222A, 222B, 222C and 222D on the chamber wall 228 of the dispersion chamber 220 are connected to the power injection modules 240A, 240B, 240C, 240D, respectively. In one example, the power injection modules 240A, 240B, 240C, 240D can be connected to the power injection modules 240A, 240B, 240C, 240D, respectively. Figure 2AOne arrangement shown is attached to the chamber wall 228 of the dispersion chamber 220. The arrangement may be arranged on the chamber wall 228 at the same level with four motive ejectors arranged at uniform distances adjacent to each other.

[0065] Each of the power injection modules 240A, 240B, 240C, 240D includes a power injector 242A, 242B, 242C, 242D, respectively, for injecting the liquid mixture supplied to the power injection module 240A into one or more droplet streams. Each of the power injection modules 240A, 240B, 240C, 240D may further include a support frame for supporting the power injection module 240A, 240B, 240C, 240D, a module driver 246A, 246B, 246C, 246D, and connectors 245A, 245B, 245C, and 245D. Each of the module drivers 246A, 246B, 246C, 246D is attached to the inner side of its own support frame to respectively drive and force one or more streams of droplets FA, FB, FC, FD to be ejected from each power ejector 242A, 242B, 242C, 242D into the dispersion chamber 220. Each connector 245A, 245B, 245C, 245D is used to respectively connect the module driver 246A, 246B, 246C, 246D and the power ejector 242A, 242B, 242C, 242D.

[0066] In one example, 242A, 242B, 242C, 242D are placed near the side of the dispersion chamber 220 to disperse the droplet flow F A-D like Figure 1B As shown, the mist is injected horizontally into the dispersion chamber 220 and passes through the dispersion chamber horizontally and laterally. For example, when the dispersion chamber 220 is placed horizontally (e.g., a tubular dispersion chamber, etc.), and the power injectors 242A, 242B, 242C, 242D are located near one end of the dispersion chamber 220, the mist flow from one end of the dispersion chamber 220 to the other end can pass through the path in the dispersion chamber 220 for the length of its residence time.

[0067] In another example, the power injectors 242A, 242B, 242C, 242D are placed near the top of the dispersion chamber 220 to inject the droplet stream F vertically (e.g., a dome-shaped dispersion chamber, etc.). A , F B , F C , F D Alternatively, the power ejectors 242A, 242B, 242C, 242D may be placed near the bottom of the dispersion chamber 220 to eject the droplet stream vertically upward (which may be represented as Figure 2B) into the dispersion chamber to increase its residence time.

[0068] like Figure 1B As shown, in addition to the liquid mixture, the dispersion chamber 220 is also filled with a gas flow received from the buffer chamber 230. The gas flow divider 232 is connected to the end of the buffer chamber 230 and is suitable for causing a plurality of uniform gas flows F2 to flow into the dispersion chamber 220. While the droplet flow is formed in the dispersion chamber 220, the flow of the plurality of uniform gas flows F2 can be delivered to the dispersion chamber 220 so that the droplet flow passes through the dispersion chamber 220, which may or may not remove moisture therefrom and form one or more gas-liquid mixture flows F3, wherein the one or more gas-liquid mixture flows F3 have a direction and contain the liquid mixture. Moreover, the plurality of uniform gas flows F2 can be delivered to the dispersion chamber 220 before forming the mist filling, and before the droplet flow is generated in the dispersion chamber 220, the internal volume of the dispersion chamber 220 can be preheated to a temperature T D .

[0069] In one example, the gas flow divider 232 is connected to the bottom end of the buffer chamber 230, and the end of the buffer chamber 230 is connected to the top of the dispersion chamber 220, so as to deliver a plurality of uniform gas flows F2 into the dispersion chamber 220 to mix with the droplet flows generated by the power injection modules 240A, 240B, 240C, and 240D attached to the chamber wall 228 of the dispersion chamber 220. In one embodiment, the plurality of uniform gas flows F2 are preheated to between 20° C. and 400° C., mixed with the droplet flows, and moisture is removed from the droplet flows. In another embodiment, the plurality of uniform gas flows F2 will not be preheated, but are used to ensure that the gas-liquid mixture formed in the dispersion chamber 220 is uniformly mixed with the gas.

[0070] In another embodiment, each power injector 242A, 242B, 242C, 242D can be shaped into various structures, for example, a rectangular parallelepiped structure with six rectangular faces perpendicular to each other, a cylindrical structure with straight parallel sides, and a circular or elliptical portion and / or a combination thereof. In addition, each power injector 242A, 242B, 242C, 242D can include a nozzle array on each side of the power injector. In one embodiment, the nozzle array is on the side of the power injector, the bottom width of the array size is greater than the side length, and the array is formed by evenly placed holes in a rectangular form. In another embodiment, the nozzle array is composed of holes forming other patterns. Other examples of power injection modules are described in U.S. application serial number 16 / 457,885, entitled "Processing system and method for producing particulate materials" filed on June 28, 2019, and in "U.S. Patent Application Serial Number 16 / 457,889" entitled "System and method with power injection module" filed on June 28, 2019. , and the disclosures of each of these patent applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

[0071] Figure 2B The droplet flow F A The dispersion angle (α) formed by the gas flow F2 in the dispersion chamber 220 A ) is a 3D perspective view of an example. A , F B , F C , F D The dispersion angle α is measured as the angle between the flow direction of the liquid mixture and the direction of the gas flow F2. A , F B , F C , F D (For example, the droplet flow F A ) and the gas flow (e.g., a plurality of uniform gas flows F2) may meet each other at an angle of 0 to 180 degrees within the dispersion chamber 220. A And the gas flow F2 can flow in a straight line, spiral, winding and / or other manner.

[0072] In one embodiment, the droplet flow F A The angle at which the gas flow F2 meets each other is α A (0≤α A ≤180), and can be mixed into one or more mixed flows (e.g., gas-liquid mixed flow F3) (e.g., parallel flow) inside the dispersion chamber 220. AThe airflows F2 and F3 may flow at various angles toward each other and / or toward the periphery of the chamber body to promote spiral, entangled, and / or other airflows within the dispersion chamber 220 .

[0073] For example, the flow of the gas and the flow of the droplet flow inside the dispersion chamber 220 can be configured as a co-current flow. The advantages of the co-current flow are a shorter residence time, a lower particle drying temperature, and a higher particle separation efficiency. As another example, the droplet flow F A The air flow F2 can be configured at an angle α of 180 degrees and flow as a counter-current. The advantages of counter-current flow are longer residence time and higher particle drying temperature, etc. In other embodiments, the dispersion chamber 220 can be placed horizontally.

[0074] In one example, the droplet flow F A , F B , F C , F D The droplet flow F3 meets the gas flow at an angle α less than 90 degrees and can be merged into a mixed flow of the gas-liquid mixture F3 in the dispersion chamber. A The droplet flow F2 meets the gas flow F2 at an angle α of 90 degrees and can be merged into one or more mixed flows (e.g., gas-liquid mixed flow F3) in the dispersion chamber 220. A The airflows F2 and F3 may flow at various angles toward each other and / or toward the periphery of the chamber body to promote spiral, entangled, and / or other airflows within the dispersion chamber 220 .

[0075] Back to Figure 1B Once the droplet flow F of the liquid mixture A , F B , F C , F D The gas-liquid mixture is mixed with the gas flow F2 to form a gas-liquid mixture, and the gas-liquid mixture is then transported into the reaction chamber 210 through the dispersion chamber 220. The reaction chamber 210 of the processing system 200 is connected to the dispersion chamber 220 to receive one or more gas-liquid mixture flows F3 transported from the dispersion chamber 220. In addition, the reaction chamber 210 is connected to the heating assembly 280 through the opening 219 on the chamber wall 218 of the reaction chamber 210, which is used to transport one or more heated gases F6 into the internal chamber space in the reaction chamber 210.

[0076] The heating assembly 280 includes a gas delivery assembly 284 surrounded by a wall 288 to guide the flow of one or more heated gases F6 delivered from a gas pipeline 286. One end of the gas delivery assembly 284 is connected to the gas pipeline 286, and the other end extends into the internal chamber space of the reaction chamber 210 for delivering one or more heated gases F6 to the inlet area 212 of the reaction chamber 210. The inlet area 212 is adjacent to the dispersion chamber 220. In addition, processed products such as oxide particles, particulate materials, etc. are formed near the outlet area 214 and discharged from the processing system 200 through the system outlet 204 located near the bottom of the reaction chamber 210.

[0077] In one embodiment, one or more heated gases F6 delivered by the gas delivery assembly 284 of the heating assembly 280 and one or more gas-liquid mixture streams F3 delivered from the dispersion chamber 220 meet and mix at a certain angle in the reaction chamber 210. The angle between the one or more heated gases F6 and the one or more gas-liquid mixture streams F3 can be between 0 and 180 degrees.

[0078] In one embodiment, one or more gases F6 may be heated before being delivered to the reaction chamber through the opening 219 of the chamber 218 of the reaction chamber 210. The one or more heated gas streams F6 may be heated by passing through a suitable heating mechanism, such as an electric heater, a fuel combustion heater, a burner, and other heaters. In addition, the one or more heated gas streams F6 may be heated at a temperature between 100°C and 1400°C, such as between 300°C and 1000°C, or between 400°C and 800°C, etc., thereby providing sufficient energy as a heating source for the desired reaction in the reaction chamber. The wall 288 of the heating assembly 280 is made of an insulating material, such as stainless steel, and is capable of maintaining a high temperature in a space surrounded by the wall 288 at a high temperature, wherein the temperature may be higher than 100°C, such as 300°C or higher, 500°C or higher or 1000°C or higher, such as 400°C to 800°C, etc.

[0079] In another embodiment, the gas-liquid mixture F3 and the heated gas F6 may collide with each other in a region adjacent to the dispersion chamber 220 near the inlet region 212 inside the reaction chamber 210. In one example, the gas delivery assembly 284 of the heating assembly 280 may extend to a position inside the reaction chamber where one or more gas-liquid mixture streams F3 and one or more heated gas streams F6 fully collide with each other to form a reaction mixture F7, so as to provide sufficient thermal energy for one or more gas-liquid mixture streams F3, thereby continuously performing the desired reaction in a rapid, sufficient time and manner inside the reaction chamber 210. For example, the gas delivery assembly 284 is preferably placed near the inlet region 212 inside the reaction chamber 210, wherein the inlet region 212 is adjacent to the dispersion chamber 220.

[0080] In one embodiment, the gas delivery assembly 284 is preferably placed upward inside the reaction chamber 210 for delivering one or more heated gases F6 to the entry area 212. In another embodiment, the gas delivery assembly 284 can be positioned at any angle from 0 to 90 degrees relative to the chamber body of the reaction chamber 210. In one example, the chamber body of the reaction chamber 210 is perpendicular to the ground. In another example, the chamber body of the reaction chamber 210 can be positioned at any angle from 0 to 90 degrees relative to the ground.

[0081] Figure 3A is a cross-sectional view of a reaction chamber 210 having a heating assembly 280 (eg Figure 1B The shape of the channel surrounded by the wall 288 of the gas delivery assembly 284 of the heating assembly 280 can be circular (such as Figure 1B ) or other shapes (e.g., oval, rectangular, square, etc.). The diameter of the gas delivery assembly 284 of the heating assembly 280 can vary, that is, the ratio of the diameter of the wall 288 of the gas delivery assembly 284 to the diameter of the chamber body of the reaction chamber 210 (surrounded by the chamber wall 218), which ratio can be between 1:10 and about 1:1.

[0082] 967 / 5000

[0083] Figure 3B 3D perspective view of the dispersion angle of the gas-liquid mixture flow F3 and one or more heating gas flows F6 inside the reaction chamber 210 is shown. Inside the reaction chamber 210, the one or more heating gas flows F6 are delivered by the gas delivery assembly 284 and are at an angle β (e.g., β A) meet and mix with each other. Angle β is measured based on the angle formed by the direction of the heated gas flow F6 and the direction of the gas-liquid mixture flow F3 meeting each other. The gas-liquid mixture flow F3 and one or more gas mixture flows (e.g., one or more heated gas flows F6) may collide with each other at an angle of 0 to 180 degrees in the reaction chamber 210. In addition, the gas-liquid mixture flow F3 and the one or more heated gas flows F6 may flow in a straight line, spiral, winding and / or in other ways.

[0084] In one embodiment, the angle at which the one or more heated gas streams F6 meet the gas-liquid mixture stream F3 is β A Angle (0≤β A ≤180) and can be mixed into a reaction mixture F7 for the duration of the reaction time in the reaction chamber (e.g., co-flow). In addition, the one or more heated gas streams F6 and the gas-liquid mixture stream F3 can flow at various angles toward each other and / or toward various angles around the chamber body to promote the formation of spirals, windings, and / or other gas flows in the reaction chamber 210. In one embodiment, the one or more heated gas streams F6 and the gas-liquid mixture stream F3 are arranged at a β angle of less than 90 degrees. A The heated gas streams F6 and the gas-liquid mixture stream F3 meet each other at a β angle of 90 degrees and can be combined into a mixed flow within the reaction chamber. In another embodiment, the one or more heated gas streams F6 and the gas-liquid mixture stream F3 meet at a β angle of 90 degrees and can be combined into a reaction mixture F7 within the reaction chamber. In addition, the one or more heated gas streams F6 and the gas-liquid mixture stream F3 can flow toward each other at various angles and / or flow toward various angles of the periphery of the chamber body to promote spiral, entanglement, and / or other gas flows within the reaction chamber 210.

[0085] For example, the flow of gas F6 and the flow of gas-liquid mixture F3 within reaction chamber 210 can flow as a co-current flow and mix into one or more flowing reaction mixtures F7. In another example, the flow of one or more heated gases F6 and the flow of gas-liquid mixture F3 flowing inside reaction chamber 210 can be set to flow in countercurrent (e.g., at a β angle of 180 degrees) and merge into one or more flowing reaction mixtures F7. In an alternative embodiment, reaction chamber 210 can be placed vertically, horizontally, or at a certain angle.

[0086] Back to Figure 1B, the processing system 200 is connected to an electronic control unit 300 having a CPU 340 to automatically control the processing system 200. For example, each power injection module 240A, 240B, 240C, 240D is connected to a liquid source 310 to store a desired amount of liquid mixture compound, and is connected to the electronic control unit 300, which is used to direct and control the delivery of the liquid mixture compound from the liquid source 310 to each of the power injectors 242A, 242B, 242C, 242D. In one configuration, the liquid mixture in the liquid source 310 can be pumped from the liquid source 310 to each of the power injectors 242A, 242B, 242C, 242D by a pump. The pumping of the liquid mixture by the pump can be configured to be continuous, for example, at a desired delivery rate (e.g., regulated by a metering valve or other means) to achieve a good treatment yield of the processing system 200.

[0087] In one embodiment, the droplet stream (e.g., F) injected into the dispersion chamber 220 A , F B etc.) with multiple uniform airflows F2 at a dispersion angle α (e.g., α A , α B The gas stream F2 is used as a carrier gas containing one or more gases (e.g., air, oxygen, nitrogen, inert gas, etc.), and the droplet stream F A and F B The gas flow is transported into the dispersion chamber 220 and forms one or more gas-liquid mixture flows F3, which include multiple uniform gas flows F2 and droplet flows F A , and finally enters the reaction chamber 210.

[0088] In one embodiment, gas streams F1 and F2 can be maintained at a temperature between 20°C and 400°C. In one aspect, the temperature of F2 is maintained between 20°C and 100°C. In another aspect, the temperature of F2 is maintained between 20°C and 200°C. In another aspect, the temperature of F2 is maintained between 25°C and 400°C. Additionally, dispersion chamber 220 can be maintained at a temperature T between 20°C and 400°C. D , for example, between 30°C and 100°C, or between 50°C and 200°C.

[0089] The gas-liquid mixture flow F3 and one or more heated gases F6 are mixed together to form a reaction mixture F7, and the duration is the reaction time in the reaction chamber 210. The reaction mixture F7 may include the liquid mixture F3 (including the gas streams F1, F2 and the droplet stream (F A , F B , F C , F DThe temperature of the reaction chamber 210 of the processing system 200 can be maintained between 100° C. and 1400° C. by using one or more heating gases F6 to maintain the reaction temperature T between 100° C. and 1400° C. R In one embodiment, the temperature T R Above temperature T D .

[0090] In another embodiment, the gas stream F6 is heated to a drying temperature or an oxidation temperature to mix with the gas-liquid mixture F3 and remove moisture from the gas-liquid mixture F3. It is designed to produce spherical solid particles from the gas-liquid mixture F3 that is well mixed with two or more liquid mixtures. However, conventional solid-state manufacturing processes involve mixing or grinding solid mixtures of two or more compounds, resulting in uneven mixing of the two or more compounds.

[0091] The reaction mixture F7 in the reaction chamber 210 is processed into a product material (e.g., a gas-solid mixture of the oxidation reaction mixture mixed with one or more heating gases and / or other gas-phase byproducts, or waste, etc.), and is accumulated near the outlet region 214, and after a period of reaction time in the reaction chamber 210, is transported to the outside of the treatment system 200 through the system outlet 204. The product material discharged from the reaction chamber 210 comprises a fine powder of an oxidized form of solid material particles or a liquid mixture composition (e.g., a fine powder of a metal oxide material, such as a mixed metal oxide material), and the product material has a desired crystal structure, particle size and morphology.

[0092] Optionally, in one embodiment, the processing system 200 further includes a separator connected to the system outlet 204 at the bottom end portion of the reaction chamber 210 to collect the processed product and separate the processed product into solid particles and waste. Examples of suitable separators include cyclone separators, electrostatic separators, electrostatic precipitators, gravity separators, inertial separators, membrane separators, fluidized beds, classifiers, electric screens, impactors, particle collectors, leaching separators, elutriators, air classifiers, leaching classifiers, and combinations thereof.

[0093] The product material can be cooled to obtain final solid particles of desired size, morphology and crystal structure, ready for further analysis of its properties for battery applications (e.g., specific capacity, power performance, particle charge cycle performance, etc.), particle size, morphology, crystal structure, etc. For example, the product material can be slowly cooled to room temperature to avoid interfering with or disrupting the process of forming a stable energy state with uniform morphology and desired crystal structure. Thus, high-quality and consistent active particle materials can be obtained with less time, labor and supervision than materials prepared from conventional manufacturing processes.

[0094] A method of producing particulate material from a liquid mixture on a processing system with an assist gas within a reaction chamber of the processing system.

[0095] Figure 4 A method 400 for producing a product material from a liquid mixture is shown. In step 410, a liquid having a temperature T R One or more heated gases flow into the reaction chamber of the processing system through the heating assembly. For example, the heating assembly 280 is configured to be connected to a gas pipeline 286 and to an opening 219 on a chamber wall 218 of the reaction chamber 210 for delivering one or more heated gases into the reaction chamber 210. The heated gas via the gas pipeline 206 is diverted by the wall 288 guided by the gas delivery assembly 284 of the heating assembly 280. In one example, the gas delivery assembly 284 is placed in an entry area 212 adjacent to the dispersion chamber to the reaction chamber 210. In one embodiment, the gas delivery assembly 284 is preferably placed upward inside the reaction chamber 210. In another embodiment, the gas delivery assembly 284 can be positioned at any angle from 0 degrees to 90 degrees relative to the ground.

[0096] One or more heated gas streams are heated to the desired reaction temperature, for example, a temperature between 100° C. and 1400° C., and flowed into the reaction chamber, and used as an energy source for drying and / or reacting the gas-liquid mixture into a reaction mixture for a residence time. Advantages of flowing air or heated gas are faster heat transfer, uniform temperature distribution (especially in the high temperature range), ease of scale-up, etc. The residence time can be any residence time for a complete reaction of the one or more gas-liquid mixture streams, for example, a residence time between one second and ten hours or longer.

[0097] Exemplary gas streams of one or more heated gases include, but are not limited to, air, oxygen, carbon dioxide, oxidizing gases, nitrogen, inert gases, noble gases, and combinations thereof. For oxidation reactions within reaction chamber 210, such as forming oxide materials from one or more liquid mixtures, oxidizing gases may be used in the gas stream. For reduction reactions within the reaction chamber, reducing gases may be used as heating gases. In addition, heated gases may be used as a source of gas to form a gas-liquid mixture.

[0098] Optionally, one or more gases are delivered to the buffer chamber of the processing system via the system inlet at step 420. The one or more gases may be, for example, air, oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, hydrogen, inert gases, noble gases, and combinations thereof.

[0099] In step 430, the liquid mixture is sprayed into one or more droplet streams by one or more power injection modules of the processing system. The liquid mixture is formed by two or more precursors. Generally, the liquid precursor compound can be directly prepared into a liquid mixture of the desired concentration. The solid form of the precursor compound can be dissolved or dispersed in a suitable solvent (e.g., water, alcohol, isopropanol or any other organic or inorganic solvent and combination thereof) to form an aqueous solution, slurry, gel liquid mixture, aerosol or any other suitable liquid form. For example, the desired molar ratio of two or more solid precursors can be prepared into a liquid mixture, for example, by measuring and preparing an appropriate amount of two or more solid precursors with an appropriate amount of solvent into a container. Depending on the solubility of the precursor in the solvent, the pH, temperature, and mechanical stirring and mixing can be adjusted to obtain a liquid mixture in which the precursor compound is completely dissolved and / or uniformly dispersed.

[0100] In one example, two or more metal-containing precursors are mixed into the liquid mixture to obtain a final reaction product of a mixed metal oxide material. Exemplary metal-containing precursors include, but are not limited to, metal salts, lithium-containing compounds, cobalt-containing compounds, manganese-containing compounds, nickel-containing compounds, lithium sulfate (Li2SO4), lithium nitrate (LiNO3), lithium carbonate (Li2CO3), lithium acetate (LiCH2COO), lithium hydroxide (LiOH), lithium formate (LiCHO2), lithium chloride (LiCl), cobalt sulfate (CoSO4), cobalt nitrate (Co(NO3)2), cobalt carbonate (CoCO3), cobalt acetate (Co(CH2COO)2), cobalt hydroxide (Co(OH)2), cobalt formate (Co(CHO2)2), cobalt chloride (CoCl2), manganese sulfate (MnSO4), manganese nitrate (Mn(NO3)2), manganese carbonate (MnCO3), manganese acetate (Mn(CH2C OO)2), manganese hydroxide (Mn(OH)2), manganese formate (Mn(CHO2)2), manganese chloride (MnCl2), nickel sulfate (NiSO4), nickel nitrate (Ni(NO3)2), nickel carbonate (NiCO3), nickel acetate (Ni(CH2COO)2), nickel hydroxide (Ni(OH)2), nickel formate (Ni(CHO2)2), nickel chloride (NiCl2), components containing aluminum (Al), compounds containing titanium (Ti), compounds containing sodium (Na), compounds containing potassium (K), compounds containing rubidium (Rb), compounds containing vanadium (V), compounds containing cesium (Cs), compounds containing chromium (Cr), compounds containing copper (Cu), compounds containing magnesium (Mg), compounds containing iron (Fe), and combinations thereof, etc.

[0101] Without being limited by theory, to prepare an oxide material having two or more different metals, all of the desired metal elements are first mixed into a liquid mixture (e.g., mixed into a solution, using two or more metal-containing precursor compounds as a source of each metal element so that the two or more different metals can be uniformly mixed in a desired ratio. For example, to prepare a liquid mixture of an aqueous solution, a slurry, or a gel, one or more metal salts with high water solubility can be used. For example, metal nitrates, metal sulfates, metal chlorides, metal acetates, metal formate salts can be used. Organic solvents, such as alcohols, isopropanol, etc., can be used to dissolve or disperse metal-containing precursors with low water solubility. In some cases, the pH of the liquid mixture can be adjusted to increase the solubility of one or more precursor compounds. Chemical additives, gelling agents, and surfactants such as ammonia, EDTA, etc. can be optionally added to the liquid mixture to help dissolve or disperse the precursor compounds in the selected solvent.

[0102] The desired size of one or more droplet streams can be adjusted by adjusting the size of the liquid delivery / injection channel in the power injection module. The size of one or more droplet streams can be generated from a few nanometers to hundreds of microns. The appropriate droplet size can be adjusted based on the mist generator used, the liquid mixture compound, the temperature of the dispersion chamber, the flow rate of the gas, and the residence time in the dispersion chamber. For example, a mist with a droplet size between one tenth of a micron and one millimeter is generated in the dispersion chamber.

[0103] At step 440, one or more droplet streams are injected into a dispersion chamber of the processing system via one or more power injection modules and the droplet streams are allowed to flow therein. In one configuration, the one or more power injection modules are connected to a liquid source to store the desired liquid mixture composition, and the electronic control unit is used to direct and control the delivery of the liquid mixture composition from the liquid source to the power injector.

[0104] In another configuration, the liquid mixture in the liquid source can be pumped from the liquid source to the motive ejector by a pump. For example, the liquid mixture is continuously pumped through the pump at a desired delivery rate (e.g., regulated by a metering valve or other device) to achieve a good treatment throughput of the treatment system. In another configuration, the motive ejector is located outside the dispersion chamber, and the droplet stream generated thereby is delivered to the dispersion chamber through the chamber inlet.

[0105] In one embodiment, one or more power injection modules can be used to inject the liquid mixture into one or more droplet streams, and inject one or more droplet streams into the processing system. In another embodiment, the droplet stream injected into the dispersion chamber meets one or more gas streams at a dispersion angle (α) and forms one or more gas-liquid mixture streams containing one or more gases and one or more droplet streams. One or more gases and one or more droplet streams meet each other at a dispersion angle (α) between zero and about 180 degrees.

[0106] In step 450, one or more gases and one or more droplet streams are mixed at a temperature T in a dispersion chamber of a processing system. D meet each other to form a gas-liquid mixture. On the one hand, the temperature T D The temperature can be maintained between 20°C and 400°C. One or more droplet streams can be mixed in the dispersion chamber by flowing one or more gases continuously and / or at an adjustable, variable flow rate. At the same time, the droplet stream ejected from the liquid mixture is carried by the gas as a fully mixed gas-liquid mixture through the path in the dispersion chamber. As more gas flows in, the gas-liquid mixture is discharged from the dispersion chamber and continuously transported to the reaction chamber connected to the dispersion chamber.

[0107] At step 460, a gas-liquid mixture of one or more heated gases provided by the heating assembly and a gas and droplet stream provided by the dispersion chamber forms a reaction mixture within the reaction chamber such that the reaction mixture is processed into a product material at a reaction temperature within the reaction chamber.

[0108] In one embodiment, various gases flowing in the processing system 100, 200 are heated, and the heat energy of the heated gases can be used as an energy source for drying, reacting, oxidizing, reducing and / or other reactions inside the processing system. The gases can be heated to a temperature of 20°C or higher, such as 100°C or higher, or 40°C or higher, such as 100°C to 1000°C, 400°C to 900°C, etc., through an appropriate heating mechanism, such as an electric heater, a fuel heater, etc. Alternatively, heating, drying and / or other reactions can be performed inside the processing system by directly heating the chamber body or directly heating each part of the processing system, such as heating the chamber body of the reaction chamber or the dispersion chamber.

[0109] Advantages of using heated gas as a heat source are rapid heat transfer, high temperature uniformity, and ease of scaling up, etc. The reaction chamber can be any chamber, furnace with a closed chamber body, such as a dome-shaped ceramic chamber, a quartz chamber, a tube chamber, etc. Optionally, the chamber body is made of an insulating material (e.g., ceramic, etc.) to prevent heat loss during drying and / or other reactions within the chamber.

[0110] A gas-liquid mixture formed by one or more gases and one or more droplet streams is transported to a reaction chamber for reaction. The reaction of the gas-liquid mixture in the reaction chamber may include any one of oxidation, reduction, decomposition, combined reaction, phase inversion, recrystallization, single displacement reaction, double displacement reaction, combustion, isomerization, and combinations thereof. For example, one or more gas-liquid mixture streams may be oxidized, such as oxidation of the liquid mixture compound to an oxide material. Alternatively, a desired crystal structure of the reaction mixture is obtained from the reaction of one or more gas-liquid mixture streams in the reaction chamber.

[0111] One embodiment of the present invention provides that the one or more gases used can be fully mixed with the droplet stream to form a gas-liquid mixture, and the gas-liquid mixture can be processed without reacting with the droplet stream. However, in some cases, the chemicals in the droplet stream may react with the gas and / or each other to a certain extent during the processing process and / or other reactions in the chamber, and the reaction depends on the temperature and chemical composition of the droplet stream. In addition, the residence time of the gas-liquid mixture of the droplet compounds fully mixed in each chamber of the processing system is adjustable, depending on, for example, the flow rate of one or more gas streams, and the length of the path that the droplet stream must flow through in the dispersion chamber, which can be, for example, between one second and one hour.

[0112] In one embodiment, the gas-liquid mixture and the one or more heated gases may collide with each other in the reaction chamber. The gas-liquid mixture flow and the one or more heated gases continue to mix in the reaction chamber over a reaction time to form a reaction mixture, wherein the reaction mixture includes a gas flow, a droplet flow, and a heated gas. In another embodiment, the reaction chamber of the processing system can be heated to a reaction temperature T by using one or more heated gases heated to a temperature between 100° C. and 1400° C. R In one aspect, one or more heated gases are delivered by a gas delivery assembly to meet and mix with one or more gas-liquid mixture streams within the reaction chamber at an angle (β) between 0 and about 180 degrees.

[0113] Example: Auxiliary gas flow inside a reaction chamber of a processing system: Conduct experiments using a processing system and deliver gas flows through a heating assembly into a reaction chamber of the processing system, and track and measure the path of one or more gas flows.

[0114] Figure 5is a cross-sectional view of the experimental results, showing the velocity vectors of one or more heated gases delivered to the processing system. In this example, one or more heated gases with an estimated temperature of 800° C. are delivered to the processing system through an opening 582 on the wall of the reaction chamber at a velocity of 13.28 m / s and are discharged from a system outlet 584 in the processing system. As shown by multiple arrows, multiple vectors 502, 504, 506, 508, 510, 512, 514, 516, 518, 520, 522 represent the direction of gas flow and the vector magnitude of gas flow at each position to simulate heated gas F6. The direction of gas flow at a specific position is shown as the direction of vectors 502-522, and the magnitude of the gas flow velocity is shown as the thickness of vectors 502-522.

[0115] Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of experimental results, which shows the distribution of isokinetics after one or more heated gases are delivered to the reaction chamber. In this example, a heated gas stream F6 having a temperature of about 900° C. is delivered into the reaction chamber through an opening 682 on the reaction chamber wall at a speed of 1 m / s or faster (e.g., about 10 m / s or faster, about 30 m / s or faster), and leaves the processing system from a system outlet 684. Figure 6 In , each line is formed by connecting points with the same speed, and each line 602, 604, 606, 608, 610, 612, 614, 616, 618, 620, 622, 624 represents that each point on the line has the same or equal speed at a specified time, and the speed of each line can be 0.1m / s or greater, ranging from 0.5m / s to 2.0m / s, or from 0.1m / s to 5m / s, or from 0.1m / s to 10m / s. For example, if the input speed is about 13m / s, the speed of each line can be in the range of 8 to 20m / s. In addition, in Figure 6 In FIG. 6 , most of the lines 602, 604, 606, 608, 610, 612, 614, 616, 618, 620, 622, 624 form a loop in the reactor chamber to indicate that the flight time of the gas flow carrying the droplets in the reactor chamber increases and helps the chemical reaction process therein, thereby forming uniform particles in the reactor chamber. For example, the velocity in line 602 is consistent with the measured V s1 The ratio of the speeds in line 608 to the measured speed of Vs1 m / s may be between 1:15 and about 1:4. In addition, line 602, line 612, line 614, line 616, and line 622 may have the same or similar speeds. The ratio of the speed in line 608 to the measured speed of Vs1 m / s may be between 1:8 and about 1:3. In addition, line 608 and line 610 may have the same or similar speeds. The speed in line 618 to the measured speed of Vs1 m / s may be between 1:8 and about 1:3. S1The ratio of the speed to m / s may be between 1:6 and about 1:2. The speed in line 624 is related to V S1 The ratio of the speeds in m / s may be between 1:1 and about 1:1.2. In addition, the line 604 and the line 606 and the line 624 have the same or similar speeds.

[0116] Figure 7 7 is a cross-sectional view of experimental results, which shows the distribution of isotherms after one or more heated gases are delivered to the reaction chamber. In this example, the heated gas flow F6 at a temperature of about 800°C enters the reaction chamber through opening 782 at a speed of 13.28 m / s, in which the gas inlet flow rate is 800 CFM (ft 3 / min) and flows out from the system outlet 784 in the reaction chamber. Figure 7 In the diagram, each line is formed by connecting points having the same temperature, and each of the lines 702, 704, 706, 708, 710, 712, 714, 716, 718 represents that the temperature of each point is the same or equal at the time shown, which helps to form uniform particles. Figure 7 The temperature range is from 50°C to 900°C. Figure 7 , the temperature range of each point in the space between two adjacent lines is 0 to 20° C. The temperature on line 702 represents 720° C., the temperature on line 704 represents 540° C., the temperature on line 706 represents 580° C., the temperature on line 708 represents 600° C., the temperature on line 710 represents 540° C., the temperature on line 712 represents 580° C., the temperature on line 714 represents 600° C., the temperature on line 716 represents 620° C., and the temperature on line 718 represents 640° C.

[0117] Figure 8 8 is a cross-sectional view of experimental results, which shows the distribution of isokinetics after one or more heated gases are delivered to the reaction chamber. In this example, the flow of heated gas F6 with a temperature estimated to be 800°C enters the reaction chamber through opening 882 at a speed of 5.8 m / s, in which the gas inlet flow rate is 800 CFM (ft 3 / min) and flows out from the system outlet 884 in the reaction chamber. Figure 8 In FIG. 8 , each line is formed by connecting points with the same speed, and each line 802, 804, 806, 808, 810, 812, 814, 816 represents that each point on the line has the same or equal speed at the time shown, which helps to form uniform particles. Figure 8In FIG. 8 , the velocities on lines 802, 804, 806, 808, 810, 812, 814, 816 form a cycle, and all points on the same line have the same velocity, wherein the velocity of the line is proportional to the V measured through the opening 882 of the chamber wall of the reaction chamber. s2 The ratio of the speeds of m / s may be between 1:200 and about 1:4. For example, line 802, line 804, and line 808 have the same or similar speeds. The speed on line 808 is proportional to the measured V s2 The ratio of the speed on line 810 to V s2 The ratio of the speeds of m / s may be between 1:60 and about 1:20. In addition, line 810 and line 812 have the same or similar speeds. The speed on line 814 is V s2 The ratio of the speed to m / s may be between 1:25 and about 1:10. The speed on line 816 and V s2 The ratio of the speeds in m / s may be between 1:8 and approximately 1:4.

[0118] Fig. 9 9 is a cross-sectional view of experimental results showing the distribution of isotherms after one or more heated gases are delivered to the reaction chamber. In this example, a heated gas stream F6 having a temperature of about 800°C enters the reaction chamber through opening 982 at a speed of 5.8 m / s, in which the gas inlet flow rate is 350 CFM (ft 3 / min) and flows out from the system outlet 984 in the reaction chamber. Fig. 9 In the figures, each line is formed by connecting points having the same temperature, and each line 902, 904, 906, 908, 910, 912, 914, 916, 916 represents that each point on the line has the same or equal temperature at the time shown, which helps to form uniform particles. Fig. 9 The temperature range is 50℃ to 900℃. Fig. 9 , the temperature range of each point in the space between adjacent lines is 0 to 12° C. The temperature on line 902 represents 680° C., the temperature on line 904 represents 620° C., the temperature on line 906 represents 560° C., the temperature on line 908 represents 560° C., the temperature on line 910 represents 584° C., the temperature on line 912 represents 584° C., and the temperature on line 914 represents 620° C.

[0119] While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present invention, other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof, and the scope of the invention is determined by the claims that follow.

Claims

1. A material for a battery obtained from a process comprising: delivering one or more first gas streams through a first gas line to a system inlet; producing a liquid mixture, wherein the liquid mixture is produced using a compound comprising a lithium-containing compound and one or more metal-containing compounds; Spraying the liquid mixture into one or more droplet streams into a processing system through one or more kinetic spray modules; One or more second gases are delivered to a reaction chamber through a second gas line through a heating element, wherein the heating element comprises: The second gas pipeline is connected to an opening of a chamber wall of the reaction chamber; and a gas delivery assembly connected to and delivering the one or more second gases to the second gas pipeline and disposed in the one reaction chamber; A reaction mixture is processed through the reaction chamber to form a battery material, wherein the battery material comprises lithium-containing and one or more metal-containing oxides.

2. The material according to claim 1, wherein the lithium-containing compound comprises a material selected from the group consisting of lithium sulfate (Li2SO4), lithium nitrate (LiNO3), lithium carbonate (Li2CO3), lithium acetate (LiCH2COO), lithium hydroxide (LiOH), lithium formate (LiCHO2), and lithium chloride (LiCl).

3. The material of claim 1, wherein the one or more metal-containing compounds include a material selected from the group consisting of: a manganese-containing compound, a nickel-containing compound, a cobalt-containing compound, cobalt sulfate (CoSO4), cobalt nitrate (Co(NO3)2), cobalt carbonate (CoCO3), cobalt acetate (Co(CH2COO)2), cobalt hydroxide (Co(OH)2), cobalt formate (Co(CHO2)2), cobalt chloride (CoCl2), manganese sulfate (MnSO4), manganese nitrate (Mn(NO3)2), manganese carbonate (MnCO3), manganese acetate (Mn(CH2COO)2), manganese hydroxide (Mn(OH)2), manganese formate (Mn(CH O2)2), manganese chloride (MnCl2), nickel sulfate (NiSO4), nickel nitrate (Ni(NO3)2), nickel carbonate (NiCO3), nickel acetate (Ni(CH2COO)2), nickel hydroxide (Ni(OH)2), nickel formate (Ni(CHO2)2), nickel chloride (NiCl2), compounds containing aluminum (Al), compounds containing titanium (Ti), compounds containing sodium (Na), compounds containing potassium (K), compounds containing rubidium (Rb), compounds containing vanadium (V), compounds containing cesium (Cs), compounds containing chromium (Cr), compounds containing copper (Cu), compounds containing magnesium (Mg), compounds containing iron (Fe), and combinations thereof.

4. The material of claim 1, wherein the gas delivery assembly of the heating assembly is placed upward inside the reaction chamber.

5. The material of claim 1, wherein the processing system further comprises a dispersion chamber adapted to be connected to the one or more kinetic injection modules and to disperse the one or more liquid droplet streams into the one or more first gas streams to form a gas-liquid mixture.

6. The material of claim 5, wherein the one or more first gas streams and the one or more droplet streams meet each other at a dispersion angle (α) between zero and 180 degrees.

7. The material of claim 5, wherein the gas delivery assembly is positioned within the reaction chamber to reach an entry region within the reaction chamber, transporting one or more second gas streams to the entry region, wherein the entry region is connected to the dispersion chamber.

8. The material of claim 5, wherein the one or more second gas streams are delivered by the gas delivery assembly and meet and mix with the one or more gas-liquid mixtures within the reaction chamber at a dispersion angle (β) between zero and 180 degrees.

9. The material according to claim 8, wherein the dispersion angle (β) is 180 degrees.

10. The material of claim 5, wherein the processing system further comprises a buffer chamber adapted to deliver the one or more first gas streams from the system inlet to the dispersion chamber.

11. The material of claim 10, wherein the buffer chamber comprises a gas diverter having one or more channels for delivering the one or more first gas flows into one or more uniform gas flows, and wherein the shape of the gas diverter conforms to the inner circumference of a chamber wall in the buffer chamber.

12. The material according to claim 1, characterized in that The liquid mixture is selected from a solution of two or more metal-containing precursors, a slurry of metal-containing precursors, a gel mixture of metal-containing precursors, and combinations thereof, and the mist is produced at a desired droplet size between one tenth of a micron and one millimeter.

13. The material of claim 1, wherein the one or more first gas flows delivered through the one or more first gas pipelines are maintained at a first temperature, and the one or more second gas flows delivered through the gas delivery component of the heating component are maintained at a second temperature, and the second temperature is higher than the first temperature.

14. The material of claim 13, wherein the first temperature is maintained at a temperature between 20°C and 400°C.

15. The material according to claim 1, further comprising: The reaction chamber is heated by the heating element to heat the second gas flow to a temperature between 100° C. and 1400° C.

16. The material according to claim 1, wherein the battery material comprises a lithium-containing salt and one or more metal salts; The lithium-containing salt and the one or more metal salts can be dissolved in a suitable solvent to form the liquid mixture, and the suitable solvent is selected from the group consisting of water, alcohol, methanol, isopropanol, organic solvents, inorganic solvents, organic acids, sulfuric acid (H2SO4), citric acid (C6H8O7), acetic acid (CH3COOH), butyric acid (C4H8O2), lactic acid (C3H6O3), nitric acid (HNO3), hydrochloric acid (HCl), ethanol, pyridine, ammonia, acetone and combinations thereof.

17. The material according to claim 1, wherein the battery material comprises a material selected from the group consisting of lithium metal oxide, lithium titanate, lithium cobaltate, lithium manganate, lithium nickelate, lithium cobaltate, lithium nickel cobaltate, lithium nickel manganeseate, lithium nickel manganese cobaltate, lithium cobalt aluminumate, lithium nickel cobalt aluminumate, sodium iron manganese oxide, and combinations thereof.

18. The material of claim 1, wherein the reaction mixture within the reaction chamber comprises: The one or more first gas streams, the one or more second gas streams, and the one or more droplet streams.

19. A battery material for a battery obtained from a process comprising: delivering one or more first gas streams through a first gas line to a system inlet; producing a liquid mixture, wherein the liquid mixture is produced using a compound comprising a lithium-containing compound and one or more metal-containing compounds; Spraying the liquid mixture into one or more droplet streams into a processing system through one or more kinetic spray modules; One or more second gases are delivered to a reaction chamber through a second gas line through a heating element, wherein the heating element comprises: The second gas pipeline is connected to an opening of a chamber wall of the reaction chamber; and a gas delivery assembly connected to and delivering the one or more second gases to the second gas pipeline and disposed in the one reaction chamber; heating the reaction chamber through the heating element to heat the second gas flow to a temperature between 100° C. and 1400° C.; A reaction mixture is processed through the reaction chamber to form the battery material, wherein the battery material comprises an oxide containing lithium and one or more metals, and wherein the reaction mixture in the reaction chamber comprises: the one or more first gas streams; the one or more second gas streams; and The one or more droplet streams.

20. A battery material for a battery obtained from a process comprising: delivering one or more first gas streams through a first gas line to a system inlet; producing a liquid mixture, wherein the liquid mixture is produced using a compound comprising a lithium-containing compound and one or more metal-containing compounds; Spraying the liquid mixture into one or more droplet streams into a processing system through one or more kinetic spray modules; One or more second gases are delivered through a second gas line to an entry area in a reaction chamber through a heating element, wherein the heating element comprises: The second gas pipeline is connected to an opening of a chamber wall of the reaction chamber; and a gas delivery assembly connected to and delivering the one or more second gases to the second gas pipeline and disposed within the one reaction chamber, the gas delivery assembly being disposed within the reaction chamber to reach the entry area within the reaction chamber; A reaction mixture is processed through the reaction chamber to form the battery material, wherein the battery material comprises an oxide containing lithium and one or more metals, and wherein the reaction mixture in the reaction chamber comprises: the one or more first gas streams; the one or more second gas streams; and The one or more droplet streams.

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