A synergic control method, system and production device for manufacturing basalt flake

Abstract

This application relates to the field of basalt flake production technology, and provides a collaborative control method, system, and production apparatus for preparing basalt flakes. The method includes: regulating the melt in the production apparatus to form a stable melt; regulating the melting state of the stable melt, reserving metastable crystal nuclei and maintaining the activity of the crystal nuclei to obtain basalt melt; conveying the basalt melt; breaking the melt into melt droplets and outputting them with a parabolic trajectory through the rotational projection and shearing coupling effect of the discharge paddle; and controlling the melt droplets to directionally crystallize and form on the metastable crystal nuclei under cooling conditions to obtain basalt flakes. This application achieves in-situ directional and controllable forming of basalt flakes by providing fixed and stable crystallization sites for the melt droplets, significantly improving the crystal regularity, grain size uniformity, and key performance stability of the basalt flakes, while also significantly improving the production efficiency and product quality of basalt flakes.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of basalt flake production technology, and in particular to a collaborative control method, system and production apparatus for preparing basalt flakes. Background Technology

[0002] Basalt flakes are a new type of material made from basalt through special processes such as melting, homogenization, shaping, and recycling. In addition to high strength and high modulus, this material also possesses excellent properties such as high / low temperature resistance, acid and alkali resistance, oxidation resistance, radiation resistance, insulation, heat insulation, sound insulation, wear resistance, fire retardancy, and electromagnetic wave absorption. However, existing basalt flake production equipment cannot effectively control the structural and functional characteristics of the flakes. The internal crystal structure of the flakes is disordered, and the grain size is uneven. The mechanical strength, corrosion resistance, and other key properties of the same batch of flakes fluctuate greatly, failing to meet the stringent requirements for material stability in high-end applications. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The purpose of this application is to propose a synergistic control method, system and production device for preparing basalt flakes. By reserving metastable crystal nuclei in situ and protecting the crystal nuclei throughout their entire life cycle, the method guides molten droplets to directional crystallize and form crystals on the preset crystal nuclei, thereby fundamentally solving many drawbacks of traditional nucleus-free induced basalt flake formation processes.

[0004] To achieve this objective, the first aspect of this application provides a synergistic control method for preparing basalt flakes, the synergistic control method comprising:

[0005] The feed ratio is adjusted based on the mineral content characteristics of basalt raw materials to stably lock the core composition of the melt in the production unit to the target range suitable for in-situ controllable crystallization, forming a steady melt without compositional fluctuations. By controlling the temperature and inert atmosphere parameters of the production device, the melting state of the steady melt is regulated to reserve metastable crystal nuclei of a preset density and maintain the activity of the metastable crystal nuclei, thereby obtaining basalt melt; The basalt melt is transported through a preset path, the melt temperature is controlled, and an inert atmosphere is used for protection to maintain the phase stability and dispersion uniformity of the metastable crystal nuclei. The basalt melt is controlled to fall to the discharge rotor. Through the rotational projection and shearing coupling effect of the discharge rotor, the basalt melt is broken into melt droplets of uniform size and output in a parabolic trajectory. Each molten droplet contains at least one metastable crystal nucleus, and under cooling conditions, the molten droplet is controlled to crystallize and form oriented crystals on the metastable crystal nucleus, thereby obtaining basalt flakes induced by in-situ crystal nuclei.

[0006] In an optional embodiment, the mineral content characteristics include the proportion of olivine phase minerals and the content of iron oxides; based on the mineral content characteristics, the basalt raw material is divided into a reference type raw material and a non-reference type raw material, wherein both contents of the reference type raw material are within a preset target range, while at least one content of the non-reference type raw material exceeds the preset target range; with the total feed amount remaining constant, the feed ratio of the reference type raw material and the non-reference type raw material is dynamically adjusted according to the deviation of the proportion of olivine phase minerals and the content of iron oxides, so as to stably lock the melt core composition within the preset target range.

[0007] In an optional embodiment, the preset density is 8% to 15% of the melt mass for metastable olivine phase nuclei; When the proportion of crystal nuclei is lower than the preset lower density limit, the heating power is reduced and the melt residence time is extended to retain the metastable crystal nuclei that are not completely melted; when the proportion of crystal nuclei is higher than the preset upper density limit, the heating power is increased and the melt residence time is shortened to promote the melting of the olivine phase and control the total amount of crystal nuclei.

[0008] In an optional embodiment, the oxygen volume fraction is stably controlled below 0.5% by controlling the inert atmosphere parameters, and the melt is isolated from air by an annular inert gas curtain, while the melt temperature fluctuation range is locked to no more than ±5°C.

[0009] In an optional embodiment, the preset path is an overflow conveying path that relies on gravity flow; During the transport process, the temperature of the basalt melt is stably controlled within the preset critical melting range of the crystal nuclei, and the surface of the basalt melt is completely covered by a fully enclosed inert gas curtain. At the same time, laminar inert gas flow is introduced along the flow direction of the basalt melt to form shear force and suppress metastable crystal nuclei agglomeration.

[0010] In an optional embodiment, the collaborative control method further includes: collecting performance test data of the basalt flakes; the performance test data includes crystal form, grain size, aspect ratio, corrosion resistance and mechanical strength; performing correlation analysis between the performance test data and processing parameters throughout the production process to locate the front-end control causes of performance fluctuations, and forming closed-loop control by iteratively optimizing the processing parameters.

[0011] In an optional embodiment, the average nucleus spacing is calculated based on the number density of metastable nuclei in the basalt melt. The shearing speed of the discharge impeller and the discharge flow rate of the discharge channel are matched and adjusted so that the minimum particle size of the melt droplets after crushing is greater than the average nucleus spacing, so as to ensure that each melt droplet formed by crushing contains at least one metastable nucleus.

[0012] In an optional embodiment, the collaborative control method further includes: when a tendency for metastable crystal nuclei to agglomerate is detected, vibration is performed using a preset ultrasonic vibration component to break up the agglomerated crystal nuclei.

[0013] To achieve this objective, a second aspect of this application provides a collaborative control system for preparing basalt flakes, the collaborative control system comprising: The raw material adjustment unit is used to adjust the feed ratio based on the mineral content characteristics of the basalt raw material, so as to stably lock the core composition of the melt in the production unit to the target range that is suitable for in-situ controllable crystallization, forming a steady melt without compositional fluctuations. The melting control unit is used to regulate the melting state of the steady melt by controlling the temperature parameters and inert atmosphere parameters of the production device, so as to reserve metastable crystal nuclei of a preset density and maintain the activity of the metastable crystal nuclei to obtain basalt melt; The conveying control unit is used to convey the basalt melt through a preset path, control the melt temperature and use an inert atmosphere for protection to maintain the phase stability and dispersion uniformity of the metastable crystal nuclei; The melt crushing unit is used to control the basalt melt to fall to the discharge rotor. Through the rotational projection and shearing coupling effect of the discharge rotor, the basalt melt is crushed into melt droplets of uniform size and output in a parabolic trajectory. The flake output unit is used to ensure that each molten droplet contains at least one metastable crystal nucleus, and to control the molten droplet to crystallize and form oriented crystals on the metastable crystal nucleus under cooling conditions, thereby obtaining basalt flakes induced by in-situ crystal nuclei.

[0014] To achieve this objective, a third aspect of this application provides a basalt flake production apparatus for implementing the synergistic control method for preparing basalt flakes as described in any of the preceding claims.

[0015] Compared with the prior art, one of the above technical solutions has the following beneficial effects: This application provides a synergistic control method, system, and production apparatus for preparing basalt flakes. This method, through synergistic control of the entire process—including raw material stabilization, nucleus retention and preservation, directional melt transport, projectile shearing and crushing, and nucleus-induced crystallization—provides fixed and stable crystallization sites for the molten droplets. This achieves in-situ directional and controllable forming of basalt flakes, significantly improving the crystal regularity, grain size uniformity, and key performance stability of the basalt flakes. Simultaneously, it significantly improves the production efficiency and product quality of basalt flakes, overcoming the technical bottleneck of traditional basalt flake production characterized by the lack of nucleus induction and disordered, uncontrollable crystallization. Attached Figure Description

[0016] Figure 1 This is a flowchart illustrating the collaborative control method of this application; Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the principle of the collaborative control method of this application; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the basalt flake production apparatus of this application; Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the process for reserving the crystal core in this application; Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the modules of the collaborative control system of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0017] The embodiments of this application are described in detail below. Examples of these embodiments are shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are only used to explain this application, and should not be construed as limiting this application.

[0018] In the description of this application, it should be understood that the terms "center," "longitudinal," "transverse," "length," "width," "thickness," "upper," "lower," "left," "right," "front," "rear," "vertical," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inner," "outer," "inner side," "outer side," "inner end," "outer end," "axial," "radial," and "circumferential," etc., indicating the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, are used only for the convenience of describing this application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation of this application. Furthermore, features defined with "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature, used to distinguish descriptive features, without any order or emphasis. In the description of this application, unless otherwise stated, "multiple" means two or more.

[0019] See Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, this application provides a synergistic control method for preparing basalt flakes, the method comprising: 101. Adjust the feed ratio based on the mineral content characteristics of basalt raw materials to stably lock the core composition of the melt in the production unit to the target range suitable for in-situ controllable crystallization, forming a steady melt without compositional fluctuations. 102. By controlling the temperature parameters and inert atmosphere parameters of the production equipment, the melting state of the steady melt is regulated in order to reserve metastable crystal nuclei of a preset density and maintain the activity of the metastable crystal nuclei, thus obtaining basalt melt; 103. Basalt melt is transported through a preset path, the melt temperature is controlled and an inert atmosphere is used for protection to maintain the phase stability and dispersion uniformity of metastable crystal nuclei; 104. Control the basalt melt to fall to the discharge rotor. Through the rotational projection and shearing coupling effect of the discharge rotor, the basalt melt is broken into uniformly sized melt droplets and output in a parabolic trajectory. 105. Ensure that each molten droplet contains at least one metastable crystal nucleus, and control the molten droplet to crystallize and form oriented crystals on the metastable crystal nucleus under cooling conditions, thereby obtaining basalt flakes induced by in-situ crystal nuclei.

[0020] The collaborative control method in this application requires specific production equipment for implementation. A production equipment for basalt flakes, the production equipment as follows: Figure 3 As shown, it includes: a molding device 1, a feeder 2, a discharge structure 3, and a combustion heating structure 5; the molding device 1 is provided with a molding cavity 11; the molding cavity 11 is provided with a bottom material trough 12, and a discharge platform 13 is provided on one side of the bottom material trough 12; the feeder 2 is installed on the molding device 1; the molding device 1 is also provided with a discharge cavity 14 adjacent to the discharge platform 13, the discharge platform 13 is provided with a discharge channel 131, and the molding cavity 11 and the discharge cavity 14 are connected through the discharge channel 131; the discharge structure 3 includes: a discharge rotor 31 and a discharge rotation driver 32; the discharge rotor 31 is located directly below the input end of the discharge cavity 14 and obliquely above the output end of the discharge cavity 14, and the discharge rotor 31 and the output end of the discharge cavity 14 form a parabolic distance 310 in the horizontal direction; the output end of the discharge rotation driver 32 is connected to the discharge rotor 31 and is used to drive the discharge rotor 31 to rotate, so that the material falling to the discharge rotor 31 is transferred to the output end of the discharge cavity 14.

[0021] The feeder 2, as an upstream raw material conveying component, has the core function of continuously and quantitatively feeding basalt raw materials into the forming chamber of the forming device 1, providing raw materials for the subsequent melting process. It is the feed end for basalt flake production. The combustion heating structure 5, as the core heating and melting component of the process, has the core function of providing a high-temperature heat source for the basalt raw materials in the forming chamber 11, causing the solid basalt raw materials to melt and form basalt melt, which is the key to realizing the transformation of raw materials from solid to liquid. The forming device 1, as the core bearing chamber of the process, has a forming chamber 11 inside which is a melting chamber, responsible for providing a high-temperature closed space for raw material melting. The discharge chamber 14 is a forming chamber, responsible for providing space for melt projection, cooling, and flake formation. The two chambers work together to complete the core transformation from melt to flakes. The discharge structure 3, as the core component for forming and discharging downstream of the process, has a core actuator, the discharge rotor 31, which is the key actuator for realizing the transformation from melt to flakes.

[0022] Step 101 is the pre - core foundation of the entire collaborative control method. Its core function is to eliminate the inherent compositional fluctuations of natural basalt raw materials at the source, providing an absolutely stable material basis for in - situ controllable crystallization in the subsequent full process. Among them, the mineral content characteristics of basalt raw materials refer to the characteristics of the core mineral composition and key chemical component contents in natural basalt raw materials that play a decisive role in the subsequent melt crystallization behavior; the target range suitable for in - situ controllable crystallization refers to the range of melt core compositions that can provide a stable premise for the reservation of subsequent metastable crystal nuclei and directional crystal growth; the steady - state melt without compositional fluctuations refers to a uniform basalt melt in which the core composition fluctuations are controlled within a very small range and will not interfere with subsequent crystallization regulation. The underlying principle of this step is that natural basalt, as a naturally formed non - metallic material, has natural and inevitable fluctuations in its mineral composition for raw materials from different ore sites and different mining batches; while the crystallization behavior and flake - forming quality of basalt melt are completely determined by the core composition of the melt. In traditional processes, single - batch raw materials are directly used for melting production, and the compositional fluctuations of the raw materials will be directly transmitted to the subsequent crystallization link, resulting in completely inaccurate crystallization regulation and unable to achieve a stable and controllable forming effect.

[0023] This step abandons the idea of passive correction in traditional processes. Based on the mineral content characteristics of the raw materials itself, it dynamically adjusts the feeding ratio to offset the compositional fluctuations of natural raw materials at the source and achieve precise locking of the melt core composition. The core implementation method of this step is to first pre - calibrate the mineral content of basalt raw materials in different batches, then use the online detection unit supporting the production device to collect the core composition data of the melt in the molten state in real - time, and finally dynamically adjust the feeding ratio of raw materials with different mineral content characteristics according to the deviation between the real - time data and the target range. On the premise of ensuring a constant total feeding volume and not interfering with continuous production, the melt core composition is always stably locked within the target range suitable for in - situ controllable crystallization. The core technical effect of this step is that it solves the industry pain point of compositional fluctuations of natural basalt raw materials at the source, completely cuts off the interference of raw material fluctuations on subsequent crystallization regulation, provides a stable and controllable material premise for the crystal nucleus reservation and directional crystallization links in the entire method, and is the basis for the accurate implementation of all subsequent regulation links.

[0024] Step 102 is the core phase - change regulation link of the entire collaborative control method and is the key turning point for realizing the transformation from traditional spontaneous and disordered crystallization to active and controllable crystallization. Among them, the temperature parameters refer to the relevant control parameters such as the heating temperature of the basalt melt, the uniformity of the temperature field, and the temperature fluctuation range in the melting zone of the production device; the inert atmosphere parameters refer to the relevant control parameters such as the oxygen content, the flow rate of inert gas, and its spatial distribution mode in the melting zone; the metastable crystal nuclei with a preset density refer to the target mineral crystal nuclei that are pre - reserved in the melt and can serve as the core sites for subsequent directional crystallization and are in a metastable state.

[0025] "The activity of metastable nuclei" refers to the ability of nuclei to act as crystallization sites during subsequent cooling, inducing the orderly growth of silicate components in the melt. Once the nuclei are deactivated, they lose their ability to induce crystallization. The underlying principle of this step is that traditional basalt flake production processes completely melt the basalt raw material, leaving no pre-reserved crystallization sites in the melt. During subsequent cooling and flake formation, spontaneous nucleation can only rely on the supercooled state of the melt. The number, location, and growth direction of spontaneously generated nuclei are completely random, which is the core reason why crystallization is uncontrollable in traditional processes. This step, based on the stable melt obtained in the previous step, controls the degree of melting and the target mineral phase in the incompletely melted melt by precisely adjusting the temperature parameters, thereby actively reserving metastable nuclei of a specific density in the melt as fixed crystallization sites. At the same time, by precisely adjusting the inert atmosphere parameters, oxygen is isolated from the melt, preventing the nuclei from undergoing oxidation and becoming deactivated. This fundamentally solves the core defect of traditional processes that lack pre-reserved crystallization sites.

[0026] The core implementation method of this step is as follows: Based on the stable melt with stable composition obtained in the previous step, the temperature parameters of the melting zone are precisely controlled by the zoned heating components of the production device to control the degree of melting and the melting ratio of the target mineral phase, thereby reserving metastable crystal nuclei that meet the preset density requirements in the melt. Simultaneously, through a matching inert gas supply system, the inert atmosphere parameters in the melting zone are controlled to form a stable inert protective layer on the melt surface, completely isolating the melt from air and preventing oxidation and deactivation of the crystal nuclei. Furthermore, closed-loop stable control of the temperature parameters prevents the crystal nuclei from completely melting or agglomerating due to temperature fluctuations, maintaining the metastable state of the crystal nuclei and their activity in inducing crystallization. The core technical effect of this step is that, for the first time, precisely controllable metastable crystal nuclei are actively reserved in basalt melt as fixed sites for subsequent crystallization, completely overturning the traditional passive scaling mode that relies on spontaneous nucleation. Simultaneously, through the synergistic coupling control of temperature and atmosphere, the activity and stability of the crystal nuclei are ensured, providing stable and controllable core crystallization sites for subsequent directional crystallization and fundamentally solving the problem of completely uncontrollable crystallization in traditional processes. A schematic diagram of the crystal nucleus pre-reservation process is shown below. Figure 4 As shown.

[0027] Step 103 is a crucial transitional step in the entire collaborative control method, connecting the front-end nucleus reservation with the rear-end scaling process. Its core function is to ensure that the reserved metastable nuclei do not undergo any state changes during melt transport, providing a critical guarantee that each drop of melt entering the scaling stage can stably carry uniform and active nuclei. Here, "preset path" refers to a pre-designed melt flow path that ensures smooth melt transport without stagnation, turbulence, or temperature abrupt changes; "phase stability" means that the metastable nuclei do not undergo complete melting, solid-phase transformation, oxidation deactivation, or other state changes, maintaining a metastable state capable of inducing crystallization; and "dispersion uniformity" means that the metastable nuclei are uniformly distributed in the three-dimensional space of the melt, without agglomeration, sedimentation, local enrichment, or local depletion. The underlying principle of this step is that basalt melt with reserved metastable nuclei is highly sensitive to changes in temperature, ambient atmosphere, and flow state. Traditional processes lack targeted stabilization control during melt transport. During transport, the melt is prone to crystal nucleus agglomeration and growth due to temperature drop, crystal nucleus oxidation and deactivation due to contact with air, or uneven distribution of crystal nuclei due to turbulent flow. Ultimately, this results in significant differences in the state of melt crystal nuclei entering the scaling stage, directly causing huge fluctuations in the subsequent scaling quality.

[0028] The core logic of this step lies in using a pre-designed, low-turbulence, stable transport path, coupled with precise temperature control and inert atmosphere protection throughout the process, to ensure the melt remains in a critical state of stable crystal nuclei, thereby completely isolating all interfering factors that could lead to changes in the crystal nuclei's state. The key implementation method is as follows: employing a pre-designed, low-turbulence, dead-angle-free, and stagnation-free melt transport path, allowing the melt to be transported from the melting zone to the scaling zone in a stable laminar flow state. Throughout the transport process, the melt temperature is precisely controlled in a closed-loop manner using a matching heating and insulation component, ensuring the melt remains within a temperature range that guarantees the stable existence of metastable crystal nuclei. Simultaneously, a fully enclosed inert atmosphere protection structure completely isolates the melt from contact with air during transport, preventing crystal nuclei from being oxidized and deactivated. Furthermore, the stable laminar flow of the melt effectively suppresses crystal nuclei agglomeration and sedimentation, ensuring uniform dispersion of crystal nuclei within the melt. The core technical effect of this step is that it ensures that the metastable crystal nuclei in the melt maintain a stable phase and uniform dispersion throughout the entire transport process from the melting zone to the scaling zone. This completely solves the problem of uncontrolled crystal nucleus state and decreased melt uniformity during the melt transport process in traditional processes. It provides a completely consistent crystal nucleus state for each drop of melt entering the scaling stage, thus laying a crucial transitional guarantee for the uniform scaling of each drop of melt.

[0029] Step 104 is the core forming step in the entire collaborative control method, realizing the transformation of the melt from a continuous melt to independent scaling units. It is also a key execution step connecting the front-end crystal nucleus control and the back-end directional crystallization. Among them, the rotational projectile and shear coupling effect refers to the simultaneous realization of two mutually coupled core actions during the high-speed rotation of the rotor: first, the shear force of the rotor blades breaks the continuously falling basalt melt into independent micro-melt droplets; second, the centrifugal force generated by the rotation provides a stable horizontal tangential velocity for the broken droplets, allowing them to move stably towards the discharge end with a parabolic trajectory.

[0030] Uniformly sized molten droplets refer to molten droplets whose particle size distribution is extremely narrow after breakup, with particle size differences controlled within a very small range. The underlying principle of this step is that the melt breakup and projection stages in traditional basalt flake production processes mostly employ centrifugal discs or high-pressure air jets, which easily leads to large differences in droplet size and chaotic movement trajectories. The size of the molten droplets directly determines their subsequent cooling rate and crystallization process. Droplets with uneven sizes will exhibit drastically different cooling rates under the same conditions, ultimately resulting in significant differences in crystallization states. This is a major reason for the large dispersion in flake quality in traditional processes.

[0031] The core logic of this step is to deeply couple the shearing and crushing and the projectile conveying actions through the rotation of the discharge paddle, and achieve uniform crushing and stable projectile of the melt by precisely controlling the rotation state of the paddle. This ensures that each melt droplet has a consistent size, initial velocity, and trajectory, thus providing a unified foundation for subsequent synchronous cooling and uniform crystallization.

[0032] The core implementation method of this step is as follows: The basalt melt, after being conveyed, is precisely controlled to fall into the effective working area of ​​the discharge rotor, and the rotation state of the discharge rotor is precisely controlled in a closed loop through a matching drive mechanism. The stable shearing force generated by the high-speed rotation of the rotor blades uniformly breaks the continuously falling basalt melt into melt droplets of uniform size. Simultaneously, the stable centrifugal force generated by the rotor rotation provides a constant horizontal tangential velocity to the broken melt droplets, ensuring that all droplets move towards the output end of the discharge chamber with a consistent parabolic trajectory, thus ensuring that each droplet undergoes the exact same motion process and cooling environment. The core technical effect of this step is that, through the coupling effect of shearing and crushing with rotary projection, uniform crushing and stable projection of the basalt melt are achieved, ensuring that all melt droplets have consistent size, trajectory, and cooling environment. This completely solves the problems of inconsistent cooling and crystallization and large differences in scale quality caused by uneven droplet size and chaotic trajectory in traditional processes; at the same time, it significantly improves the scale-forming efficiency of the melt, providing a uniform scale-forming unit for subsequent directional crystallization and forming.

[0033] Step 105 is the final goal of the entire collaborative control method and the ultimate point of all front-end control steps. Its core lies in achieving the final transformation from preset metastable nuclei to directional scaling. Directional crystallization refers to the orderly crystallization growth of the silicate components in the melt droplets during cooling, occurring only on pre-reserved metastable nuclei, without spontaneously forming new nuclei at other locations in the melt, ultimately resulting in well-formed, uniformly grained basalt flakes. In-situ nucleus-induced formation means that the final flake crystallization structure is entirely induced by the pre-reserved metastable nuclei in the melt, rather than spontaneously forming during cooling. The underlying principle of this step is that in traditional basalt flake production processes, the melt droplets lack preset crystallization sites during cooling, relying solely on spontaneous nucleation under supercooled conditions. The number, location, and growth direction of spontaneous nuclei are completely random, easily leading to problems such as uneven grain size, disordered crystal forms, and numerous microscopic crystallization defects. Meanwhile, the oxidation reaction that occurs when droplets come into contact with air during cooling induces heterogeneous nucleation, further exacerbating the disorder of crystallization. This is the core reason for the poor performance and large batch-to-batch variation of traditional flakes. The core logic of this step is: based on the coordinated control of all upstream links, ensure that each molten droplet contains at least one stable and active metastable crystal nucleus as a dedicated crystallization site; precisely control the cooling conditions of the droplets during cooling so that the supercooling of the melt can only meet the directional growth of the existing metastable crystal nuclei, but cannot reach the critical supercooling required for spontaneous nucleation. This completely suppresses the spontaneous disordered crystallization of the melt and the heterogeneous nucleation induced by oxidation, allowing the melt to grow orderly only on the preset in-situ crystal nuclei, ultimately forming basalt flakes with regular crystal structure and excellent performance.

[0034] The core implementation method of this step is as follows: Based on precise control of the front-end process, it is ensured that each melt droplet entering the cooling stage contains at least one active metastable crystal nucleus. By precisely controlling the cooling rate of the melt droplets and the atmospheric conditions of the cooling environment, the droplets are gradually and uniformly cooled during their parabolic motion. The supercooling of the melt is always controlled within the range that can only support the directional growth of in-situ crystal nuclei, thereby completely suppressing spontaneous nucleation and oxidation-induced heterogeneous nucleation within the melt. Under these conditions, the silicate components in the melt grow orderly only on the reserved metastable crystal nuclei, ultimately completing directional crystallization and obtaining basalt flakes with regular crystal structure and uniform properties.

[0035] The core technological advantage of this step lies in its complete overturning of the traditional basalt flake forming method, which relies on spontaneous and disordered crystallization, and achieving directional crystallization based on in-situ nucleus-induced crystallization. This fundamentally solves the core pain points of traditional processes, such as uncontrollable crystallization, disordered crystal morphology, large performance fluctuations, and low yield. The resulting basalt flakes have significant advantages, such as regular crystal morphology, uniform grain size, few microscopic defects, strong corrosion resistance, high mechanical strength, and minimal batch-to-batch performance differences, meeting the stringent requirements of high-end applications.

[0036] In some specific embodiments, the mineral content characteristics include the proportion of olivine phase minerals and the content of iron oxides. Based on these mineral content characteristics, basalt raw materials are divided into benchmark raw materials and non-benchmark raw materials. Benchmark raw materials have both contents within a preset target range; non-benchmark raw materials have at least one content exceeding the preset target range. With a constant total feed rate, the feed ratio of benchmark raw materials to non-benchmark raw materials is dynamically adjusted based on the deviations of the olivine phase mineral proportion and iron oxide content relative to the target range, thereby stably locking the core composition of the melt within the target range.

[0037] Among them, olivine phase minerals are the core parent minerals for reserving metastable crystal nuclei in basalt melts (in the Bowen reaction series, olivine is the first mineral to crystallize in basaltic magma and is the primary source of metastable crystal nuclei). Their proportion in the raw materials and melt directly determines the upper limit of the total amount of reservable crystal nuclei and the precision of control, making it a core prerequisite for achieving in-situ controllable crystallization. Iron oxide content determines the oxidation sensitivity of basalt melts and the risk of oxidation deactivation of metastable olivine phase crystal nuclei. It also significantly affects melt viscosity and crystallization activation energy, serving as the core basis for subsequent atmosphere-coordinated control and suppression of the vicious cycle of oxidation crystallization. These two parameters are core indicators that play a decisive role in the crystallization and formation of basalt flakes; the influence of other mineral components on controllable crystallization is negligible. Therefore, locking only these two parameters can achieve the core control objective while avoiding logical redundancy and mutual interference caused by multi-parameter adjustments.

[0038] In the raw material classification system of this embodiment, the matching degree between two core parameters and a preset target range is used as the core classification standard, achieving a unity of full-scenario coverage and minimal industrial adaptation. The core definition of benchmark raw materials is: both the proportion of olivine phase minerals and the content of iron oxides fall completely within the preset target range for in-situ controllable crystallization; as the main material of the entire feed system, its mineral composition corresponds to the optimal melt basis required for controllable crystallization. The core definition of non-benchmark raw materials is: basalt raw materials where at least one of the two parameters exceeds the preset target range; as the adjusting auxiliary material of the entire feed system, it can be further subdivided according to the type of parameter deviation, covering all raw material fluctuation scenarios such as simultaneous deviation of two parameters and independent deviation of a single parameter. This classification system eliminates the need for complex purification and modification of raw materials, directly utilizing the content characteristics of natural minerals for classification, significantly reducing raw material processing costs.

[0039] Continuous production of basalt flakes places extremely high demands on the stability of the melt level, residence time, and temperature field in the molten zone. Changing the total feed rate simultaneously with composition adjustment would directly lead to significant fluctuations in the process state of the molten zone, introducing new disturbances to melt stability. Therefore, maintaining a constant total feed rate and adjusting the ratio of baseline to non-baseline feedstocks to achieve composition correction not only offsets compositional fluctuations but also maximizes the maintenance of continuous production in the molten zone, thus balancing composition control and production continuity. The specific implementation method is as follows: The main controller collects real-time data on the proportion of olivine phase minerals and the content of iron oxides in the melt within the molten zone through an online detection unit. The real-time data is compared with a preset target range to determine the type and magnitude of parameter deviations. While maintaining a constant total feed volume, the feed ratio of the reference material to the corresponding non-reference material is dynamically adjusted based on the deviation results. When both melt parameters are simultaneously below the target range, the proportion of non-reference materials (olivine and high-iron content) is increased, while the proportion of the reference material is decreased. When both melt parameters are simultaneously above the target range, the proportion of non-reference materials (low-olivine and low-iron content) is increased, while the proportion of the reference material is decreased. When only one melt parameter deviates from the target range, a corresponding single-parameter adjustment non-reference material is used for fine-tuning. This adjustment continues until the two core melt parameters are stably locked within the preset target range.

[0040] In some specific embodiments, the preset density is 8% to 5% of the mass of metastable olivine phase nuclei in the melt. When the proportion of nuclei is lower than the lower limit of the preset density, the heating power is reduced and the melt residence time is extended to retain the incompletely melted metastable nuclei; when the proportion of nuclei is higher than the upper limit of the preset density, the heating power is increased and the melt residence time is shortened to enhance the melting of the olivine phase, thereby controlling the total amount of nuclei.

[0041] Setting the preset density of metastable olivine phase nuclei at 8%–15% of the melt mass is based on rigorous underlying technical logic and industrial production verification. Olivine phase nuclei are the core sites for subsequent directional crystallization of melt droplets. The lower limit of this range, 8%, is the minimum critical value to ensure that each melt droplet after breakage contains at least one active nucleus. If the nucleus percentage is below 8%, the nucleus number density in the melt is insufficient, and some droplets are likely to be nucleus-free, thus reverting to the traditional path of spontaneous disordered crystallization, completely deviating from the core goal of directional and controllable crystallization. The upper limit of this range, 15%, is the highest critical value to ensure that nuclei do not agglomerate and that the melt flowability meets production requirements. If the nucleus percentage is above 15%, the nuclei in the melt are excessively enriched, which can easily lead to nucleus agglomeration and growth, and a sharp increase in melt viscosity. This not only causes poor subsequent melt transport and uneven droplet breakage, but also results in an excessive number of nuclei in a single droplet, ultimately leading to mutual interference of grain growth and disordered flake crystal morphology. Therefore, only by stabilizing the proportion of crystal nuclei within the range of 8% to 15% can the dual requirements of "full coverage of droplet crystal nuclei" and "controllable directional crystallization" be met simultaneously.

[0042] The "synchronous coupling control" employed to address the deviation in the proportion of crystal nuclei, rather than a single parameter adjustment, is the core key to ensuring control accuracy and avoiding the introduction of additional interference. When the proportion of crystal nuclei falls below the preset lower density limit, a coordinated action is simultaneously executed: reducing heating power and extending melt residence time. These two actions complement each other and are indispensable: reducing heating power lowers the overall melting intensity of the molten zone, reducing the melting proportion of olivine phase minerals in the melt, thereby retaining more incompletely melted metastable olivine phase crystal nuclei and increasing the proportion of crystal nuclei; extending melt residence time, by narrowing the flow-limiting gap, prolongs the residence time of the melt in the molten zone, promoting the full dispersion of incompletely melted olivine phase crystal nuclei in the melt, preventing local enrichment and agglomeration of crystal nuclei, and ensuring a uniform distribution of crystal nuclei in the three-dimensional space of the melt. If only the heating power is reduced, a sudden drop in melt temperature will lead to local solidification and crystal nuclei agglomeration; if only the melt residence time is extended, with the melting temperature remaining constant, extending the residence time will actually cause more olivine phase crystal nuclei to be completely melted, failing to achieve the goal of increasing the proportion of crystal nuclei. Therefore, only by simultaneously regulating both can the number of crystal nuclei and the uniformity of dispersion be controlled synchronously.

[0043] When the proportion of crystal nuclei exceeds the preset density limit, the simultaneous execution of increasing heating power and shortening melt residence time follows a strict coupling logic: Increasing heating power enhances the melting intensity of the melting zone, precisely melting excess olivine phase crystal nuclei and reducing the total number of crystal nuclei to the target range; shortening melt residence time reduces the residence time of the melt in the high-temperature melting zone by widening the flow-limiting gap, thus preventing excessive melting that could lead to the complete dissolution of all crystal nuclei, while also preventing the remaining crystal nuclei from growing and losing activity at high temperatures. Increasing heating power alone, with the melt residence time unchanged, would melt all the reserved olivine phase crystal nuclei at high temperatures, ultimately returning the process to the traditional "fully melted, nucleus-free" state; shortening melt residence time alone, with the melting temperature unchanged, would fail to effectively melt excess crystal nuclei, making precise control of the total number of crystal nuclei difficult. Therefore, only by simultaneously regulating both can the total number of crystal nuclei be precisely and stably controlled within the target range without damaging the activity of the remaining crystal nuclei.

[0044] In some specific embodiments, the volume fraction of oxygen in the cavity is stably controlled below 0.5% by controlling the inert atmosphere parameters, and an annular inert gas curtain is used to isolate the melt from air, while locking the melt temperature fluctuation range to no more than ±5°C.

[0045] Maintaining the volume fraction of oxygen within the cavity at below 0.5% is a critical safety threshold determined based on the oxidation characteristics of basalt nuclei. The olivine phase nuclei in basalt melt contain a large amount of ferrous iron (Fe2+), which is readily oxidized to ferric iron (Fe3+) in an oxygen-rich environment. This oxidation process has two adverse effects: firstly, it destroys the surface lattice of the olivine phase nuclei, causing them to completely lose their activity in inducing crystallization and become inert impurities in the melt; secondly, the ferric iron generated by oxidation forms heterogeneous phases such as magnetite, which induce heterogeneous nucleation during subsequent cooling, disrupting the directional crystallization process of in-situ nuclei and ultimately creating a vicious cycle of "oxidation → heterogeneous nucleation → disordered crystallization → performance degradation." Industrial production has verified that when the volume fraction of oxygen in the cavity is higher than 0.5%, the probability of crystal nucleus oxidation and deactivation increases exponentially. Even if a sufficient number of crystal nuclei are reserved, directional crystallization cannot be achieved due to their deactivation. When the volume fraction of oxygen is stably controlled below 0.5%, it can ensure that more than 99% of the metastable olivine phase crystal nuclei in the melt always maintain the activity of induced crystallization, thus blocking the path of oxidation and deactivation at the source.

[0046] In this embodiment, using an annular inert gas curtain to isolate the melt from air is the optimal solution that balances protective effectiveness and industrial economy. This annular inert gas curtain is arranged circumferentially along the surface of the melt in the molten zone, forming a continuous, seamless, and surface-adhering inert gas protective layer that directly and completely isolates the melt from the air above the cavity, unlike the traditional method of filling the entire cavity with inert gas. The core advantages of this approach are: firstly, it eliminates the need for inert gas replacement of the entire cavity, providing precise protection only for the core oxidation area—the melt surface—resulting in only 10%–15% of the inert gas consumption compared to traditional methods, significantly reducing industrial production costs; secondly, the laminar flow protective layer formed by the annular gas curtain does not disturb the melt surface, avoiding changes in melt temperature and crystal nucleus state caused by surface fluctuations, thus minimizing interference with the precise control of the number of crystal nuclei in the first embodiment.

[0047] In this embodiment, locking the melt temperature fluctuation range to no more than ±5℃ is a crucial guarantee for deep linkage with the two preceding control actions, playing a dual core role. First, temperature is the core variable affecting the critical value of crystal nucleus oxidation; for every 10℃ increase in melt temperature, the oxidation reaction rate of crystal nuclei increases by more than 2 times; if the melt temperature fluctuates too much, even if the oxygen content is stabilized below 0.5%, local high-temperature areas will still experience crystal nucleus oxidation deactivation. Locking the temperature fluctuation range to no more than ±5℃ ensures that the critical value of crystal nucleus oxidation remains stable, and with the protection of an inert atmosphere, the stable maintenance of crystal nucleus activity is achieved. Second, melt temperature fluctuation is the core trigger for changes in the state of crystal nuclei; large temperature fluctuations will cause crystal nuclei to either be over-melted or agglomerated and grow, directly destroying the crystal nucleus quantity control results achieved in the first embodiment; locking the temperature fluctuation range can stabilize the melt temperature within the critical range for the existence of metastable crystal nuclei after the crystal nucleus quantity control is completed, preventing both complete melting of crystal nuclei and agglomerated growth of crystal nuclei, thereby ensuring that the quantity, size, and dispersion of crystal nuclei remain stable at the target state.

[0048] In some specific embodiments, the preset path is an overflow transport path relying on gravity flow; during the transport process, the temperature of the basalt melt is stably controlled within the critical melting range of the crystal nuclei, and the surface of the basalt melt is completely covered by a fully enclosed inert gas curtain; at the same time, a laminar inert gas flow is introduced along the flow direction of the basalt melt to suppress the agglomeration of metastable crystal nuclei by utilizing the shear force generated therein.

[0049] The gravity-fed overflow conveying path refers to the conveying path where the melt overflows from the bottom trough of the melting zone, flows naturally in a laminar flow along the smooth flow channel of the discharge platform, and falls vertically into the effective working area of ​​the discharge rotor through the end discharge channel. The underlying principle of this design is that basalt melt, which contains metastable crystal nuclei, is a sensitive system with both solid and liquid phases, extremely sensitive to strong shear, turbulence, and abrupt changes in flow pattern. The gravity-fed overflow mode ensures that the melt maintains a stable laminar flow state throughout the flow process, with a uniform velocity gradient inside the melt, no local turbulence, and no dead zones. This fundamentally avoids damage, sedimentation, and agglomeration of crystal nuclei. Simultaneously, the constant melt level under overflow conveying conditions ensures a stable melt discharge flow rate throughout the process, maintaining consistent flow rate and velocity as it falls to the discharge rotor, avoiding fluctuations and providing a reliable foundation for the uniformity of droplet size in the later stages.

[0050] Maintaining stable temperature control of the basalt melt within the critical melting range during transport is the core phase-locking control method to ensure the crystal nuclei remain in a metastable state throughout the process. The critical melting range refers to the range that ensures the overall melt remains in a good molten flow state while preventing the reserved metastable olivine phase crystal nuclei from being completely melted and deactivated, or from agglomerating and growing due to excessively low temperatures. The temperature window of the solid-phase transformation is the golden range for the stable existence of metastable crystal nuclei. The existence state of metastable olivine phase crystal nuclei is mainly determined by the melt temperature: when the temperature is above the upper limit of the critical range, the reserved crystal nuclei will be completely melted, rendering the results of the reserved crystal nuclei at the front end completely ineffective, ultimately reverting to the traditional mode of spontaneous crystallization without crystal nuclei; when the temperature is below the lower limit of the critical range, the melt viscosity will increase sharply, causing the crystal nuclei to spontaneously agglomerate and grow, the grains to coarsen, and even premature disordered crystallization. This not only blocks the transport channel but also leads to an excessive number of crystal nuclei in subsequent droplets, causing grain growth to interfere with each other and making directional and controllable crystallization impossible. Therefore, only by keeping the melt temperature stably locked within the critical melting range can the crystal nuclei remain in a metastable state, neither melting nor growing significantly, thereby maintaining their active stability in inducing crystallization.

[0051] The specific implementation of this control method involves arranging closed-loop temperature-controlled electric heating components on both the upper and lower sides of the discharge platform's flow channel. These, combined with an infrared thermometer, collect the melt surface temperature in real time at a frequency of 1 Hz, achieving a temperature control accuracy of ±2℃. The melt temperature is maintained within the critical melting range of 1250℃ to 1300℃ throughout the entire process. The flow channel is insulated with nano-insulation materials to prevent localized temperature drops in the melt due to ambient temperature fluctuations, ensuring that the temperature fluctuation range of the melt along the entire conveying path does not exceed ±5℃, with no localized cold spots or overheating. The core effect of this control is to lock the metastable state of the crystal nuclei throughout the process, completely preventing crystal nuclei from melting and deactivating or agglomerating during conveying. This ensures that the size, quantity, and activity of the crystal nuclei in every drop of melt reaching the discharge point are essentially consistent with those at the pre-reserved stage.

[0052] Completely covering the surface of basalt melt with a fully enclosed inert gas curtain is the core protective measure to achieve zero oxidation deactivation of crystal nuclei throughout the entire transport process, forming a seamless closed-loop system with the atmosphere protection in the front-end melting zone. The fully enclosed inert gas curtain refers to the continuous, close-fitting argon gas curtain formed along the entire overflow transport channel, covering the upper, lower, and both sides of the melt. This 360° envelops the flowing melt without any blind spots, completely isolating it from contact with air. The underlying principle of this design is that during overflow transport, the specific surface area of ​​the melt is much larger than that of the static melt surface in the melting zone, significantly increasing the contact area with air and exponentially increasing the risk of oxidation. Traditional processes only provide atmosphere protection for the melting zone, without any protective measures during transport. The melt rapidly comes into contact with oxygen in the air during transport, causing the ferrous iron on the crystal nucleus surface to oxidize to ferric iron, destroying the crystal lattice and resulting in complete deactivation. Simultaneously, the heterogeneous crystalline phases generated by oxidation induce disordered crystallization during subsequent cooling, directly destroying the basis for directional crystallization.

[0053] The core logic of the fully enclosed gas curtain lies in completely isolating the melt from air throughout the entire melt transport process using inert gas, thereby preventing oxidation reactions at their source. For example, the specific implementation is as follows: Inert gas nozzles are installed at the inlet, sides, and end of the overflow channel, with the nozzle angles perfectly aligned with the melt flow direction. The upper nozzle forms a laminar gas curtain covering the upper surface of the melt, the lower nozzle forms a protective gas curtain adhering to the bottom surface of the channel, and the side nozzles form a sealing gas curtain enclosing the sides. These four sets of nozzles work together to form a 360° fully enclosed inert gas protective layer. This gas curtain uses high-purity argon as the medium, ensuring that the oxygen volume fraction around the melt within the channel is ≤0.3% throughout the process, far below the critical threshold for crystal nucleus oxidation.

[0054] The laminar inert airflow along the melt flow direction creates a gentle shear force. This means that the inert airflow forming the fully enveloping air curtain is not a static protection, but rather a uniform laminar flow along the melt flow direction, with the airflow velocity slightly higher than the melt's gravity velocity. This creates a gentle, uniform, steady-state shear force on the melt surface. This shear force drives the formation of a weak, uniform circulation within the melt, thereby inhibiting the spontaneous agglomeration and sedimentation of crystal nuclei. The underlying principle of this design is that during laminar flow, metastable crystal nuclei within the melt have an inherent tendency to spontaneously agglomerate and settle towards the bottom of the melt. During long-distance transport, this tendency becomes increasingly pronounced, ultimately leading to severely uneven distribution of crystal nuclei in the upper and lower layers of the melt, as well as in the front and rear sections. This results in fluctuating crystal nuclei density as the melt falls onto the rotor, leading to problems such as no crystal nuclei or an excessive number of crystal nuclei in subsequent droplets. The mild shear force formed by the laminar inert gas flow along the flow direction is a completely non-contact action mode, which only forms a uniform velocity gradient on the surface of the melt. This can effectively break the tendency of crystal nuclei to agglomerate without damaging the crystal nuclei themselves; at the same time, it will not cause melt turbulence or temperature fluctuations.

[0055] By precisely controlling the outlet pressure and flow rate of the inert gas nozzle, the gas flow velocity is made slightly higher than the melt flow velocity, thereby forming a stable and gentle laminar shear force on the melt surface. This shear force is just enough to inhibit crystal nucleus agglomeration without causing any damage to the melt flow pattern or crystal structure. The gas flow moves along the melt flow direction throughout the entire process, without any reverse or vertical impact, completely avoiding disturbance to the melt surface caused by the gas flow.

[0056] In some specific embodiments, the method further includes: collecting performance test data of basalt flakes, including indicators such as crystal form, grain size, aspect ratio, corrosion resistance and mechanical strength; performing correlation analysis between the performance test data and the processing parameters of the entire production process to locate the front-end control causes of performance fluctuations, and forming a closed-loop control by iteratively optimizing the processing parameters.

[0057] The core of crystal form detection lies in identifying the type, purity, and proportion of impurity phases in the flakes. These are crucial qualitative indicators for determining the success of directional crystallization. If the proportion of impurity phases exceeds the standard, or the main crystal phase deviates from the target, directional crystallization can be directly determined as a failure. The cause is most likely nucleus oxidation and deactivation or a cooling rate deviating from the critical range, leading to spontaneous disordered crystallization or heterogeneous nucleation. The detection method utilizes an X-ray diffractometer, enabling a combination of offline batch detection and online in-situ detection during the production process, with data sampling frequency perfectly matched to the production rhythm.

[0058] The core of grain size detection lies in measuring the average grain size and grain size dispersion within the flakes, which are key quantitative indicators for judging the effectiveness of nucleation-induced crystallization. These indicators directly correspond to the front-end nucleus reserve density and gradient cooling rate control. If the grain size is too large or the dispersion exceeds the standard, it indicates insufficient nucleus reserve and a slow cooling rate, leading to abnormal grain growth in the melt. Conversely, if the grain size is too small, it indicates excessive nucleus reserve and a too-fast cooling rate, resulting in insufficient grain growth. The detection method employs scanning electron microscopy combined with grain analysis software to accurately quantify various grain parameters.

[0059] The core of diameter-to-thickness ratio testing lies in measuring the ratio of the planar diameter to the thickness of the basalt flakes. This is the most critical performance indicator for basalt flakes, directly determining their effectiveness in anti-corrosion coatings and composite materials. This indicator directly corresponds to the control of the front-end discharge rotor speed, melt flow rate, swirling airflow parameters, and cooling rate. If the diameter-to-thickness ratio is too small or has a large dispersion, it indicates insufficient rotor shear force and significant fluctuations in melt flow rate, resulting in poor droplet elongation and forming. The testing method employs a high-speed PIV particle imager, enabling real-time online monitoring throughout the production process. A minimum of 1000 particles are sampled per batch to ensure the statistical validity of the data.

[0060] The core of corrosion resistance testing lies in measuring the mass loss rate and morphology retention rate of flakes in strong acid and alkali media. This is a key performance indicator for flakes in high-end applications such as marine heavy-duty corrosion protection and chemical corrosion protection. This indicator directly corresponds to the atmosphere control and crystal phase purity control stages of the entire upstream process. If the corrosion resistance fails to meet the standard, it indicates that problems such as crystal nucleus oxidation, numerous grain boundary defects, or high impurity phase content have occurred during the production process, indicating that a vicious cycle of oxidation and crystallization has occurred. The testing method adopts the acid and alkali immersion test according to national standards to simulate extreme application conditions and complete quantitative testing.

[0061] The core of mechanical strength testing lies in detecting the tensile strength and flexural strength of the flakes; these indicators directly determine the reinforcing effect and service life of the flakes in composite materials. This indicator corresponds to the uniformity of the grain size at the front end and the control of internal crystallization defects. If the mechanical strength is low, it indicates uneven grain growth or the presence of crystallization defects such as intergranular cracks and pores, suggesting that the directional crystallization control effect has not met the standard. The testing method uses a nanoindenter combined with a mechanical tensile testing platform to achieve dual verification of microscopic hardness and macroscopic mechanical properties.

[0062] The entire process parameters include raw material feed ratio, melting zone heating power, melt residence time, cavity oxygen content, melt conveying temperature, inert gas curtain flow rate, discharge impeller speed, and gradient cooling rate. All parameters are collected and recorded in real time with timestamps, achieving a one-to-one correspondence with finished product performance data in terms of time and batch dimensions, ensuring the accuracy of traceability. By comparing the finished product performance data with preset target thresholds, the type and magnitude of performance deviations are identified. Then, based on the preset causal mapping relationship between performance and parameters, the corresponding front-end processing links are directly matched, eliminating unrelated control parameters, thereby significantly narrowing the scope of investigation. Priority is given to identifying the end-control links that directly affect the performance, and then tracing back to the upstream root causes, avoiding meaningless full-process investigations. For example: if the finished product has an impure crystal form or fails to meet corrosion resistance standards, the focus should be on the front-end atmosphere control stage, eliminating unrelated parameters such as raw material ratio and discharge rotor. If the finished product has excessive grain size or large dispersion, the focus should be on the front-end crystal nucleus reservation and cooling rate control stages, eliminating unrelated parameters such as conveying atmosphere and rotor speed. If the finished product has an unacceptable aspect ratio, the focus should be on the front-end discharge rotor and melt flow control stages, eliminating unrelated parameters such as molten zone atmosphere and heating power.

[0063] The optimization rule of "micro-adjustment, positive convergence, and no disruption of the original control logic" is adopted. Only minor threshold adjustments are made to the identified causative parameters, without altering other irrelevant parameters, thus avoiding the introduction of new fluctuations during the adjustment process. For example, if the persistently low nucleus reserve is found to be caused by a slight change in the melting temperature of the new batch of raw materials, only the baseline value of the heating power in the melting zone is slightly reduced, without changing other parameters such as melt residence time and atmosphere control. The main controller automatically updates the iteratively optimized parameters to the control programs of each stage of the entire process and directly applies them to the production of the next batch. After the new batch is produced, the entire process analysis is repeated, forming a continuous, self-optimizing closed loop.

[0064] In some specific embodiments, the average nucleus spacing is calculated based on the number density of metastable nuclei in the basalt melt. This is then used to adjust the shearing speed of the discharge impeller and the discharge flow rate in the discharge channel, ensuring that the minimum diameter of the broken melt droplets is greater than the average nucleus spacing. This guarantees that each melt droplet formed by the breakup contains at least one metastable nucleus. This design is based on the underlying logic of uniform probability distribution in three-dimensional space. Through pre-calculation of the nucleus number density, precise control of the minimum droplet diameter, and coordinated matching of impeller speed and discharge flow rate, the entire process ensures, on a physical scale, that each broken melt droplet contains at least one metastable nucleus, significantly reducing the occurrence of nucleusless droplets.

[0065] Consider basalt melt as a three-dimensional space, where metastable nuclei are uniformly distributed particles; melt droplets are analogous to dividing a large room into several independent smaller rooms. If the size (side length) of a smaller room is larger than the average distance between people in that room, then probabilistically, each smaller room contains at least one person. Similarly, if the minimum diameter of the melt droplets is larger than the average spacing between the metastable nuclei in the melt, then on a physical scale, it can be guaranteed to the greatest extent possible that each broken droplet contains at least one metastable nucleus.

[0066] Definition and detection of metastable nucleus number density: A high-temperature laser confocal sensor, combined with online crystal phase analysis software, is used to acquire three-dimensional microscopic images of the melt in real time before it enters the discharge channel, automatically counting the number of nuclei per unit volume. The data sampling frequency is 1 Hz to ensure the real-time performance and accuracy of the number density data. Calculation logic of average nucleus spacing: Based on the assumption that nuclei are uniformly dispersed in three dimensions within the melt, a simplified approximate formula is used to calculate the average nucleus spacing. This embodiment specifically emphasizes the minimum particle size rather than the average particle size as the control target because the smallest droplet size is the most vulnerable point where nuclei-free droplets are most likely to occur. If only the average particle size is guaranteed to be greater than the average nucleus spacing, some small-diameter droplets will still lack nuclei due to insufficient size. Therefore, only by using the minimum particle size as the control target, ensuring that the particle size of all droplets is greater than the average nucleus spacing, can the occurrence of nuclei-free droplets be minimized.

[0067] The droplet size is determined by the shearing speed of the discharge rotor and the flow rate of the discharge channel; both must be adjusted in tandem, not just one parameter. A higher discharge rotor shearing speed results in stronger shearing force on the melt, leading to smaller droplet sizes after breakage; a lower speed results in weaker shearing force and larger droplet sizes. A higher flow rate in the discharge channel means more melt falls onto the rotor per unit time, resulting in a thicker melt accumulation on the rotor and larger droplet sizes after breakage; a lower flow rate results in smaller droplet sizes.

[0068] Based on the real-time calculated average spacing between crystal nuclei, the main controller first determines the target value for the minimum droplet size (usually 1.2 to 1.5 times the average spacing between crystal nuclei, to allow for a safety margin). Then, according to the current feed rate, it adjusts the shearing speed of the discharge rotor. If the melt viscosity fluctuates due to changes in raw materials, which in turn causes fluctuations in droplet size, the main controller will simultaneously fine-tune the feed rate and rotor speed to ensure that the minimum droplet size remains stable within the target range.

[0069] In some specific embodiments, the method further includes: when a tendency for metastable crystal nuclei to agglomerate is detected, breaking up the agglomerated crystal nuclei by vibrating a preset ultrasonic vibration component. Even with well-designed front-end crystal nuclei pre-reservation and anti-agglomeration conveying links, agglomeration of metastable crystal nuclei may still occur during long-term continuous production due to unforeseen circumstances such as slight fluctuations in raw materials and implicit drifts in equipment parameters. This embodiment uses ultrasound to precisely break up agglomerated crystal nuclei, promptly restoring the uniform dispersion state of the crystal nuclei.

[0070] It should be noted that agglomeration trend does not mean that the crystal nuclei have completely agglomerated into large particles, but rather refers to the "precursor" of agglomeration. Early prediction and intervention can prevent further agglomeration. The judgment criteria include the following two core indicators, and either indicator is considered to indicate the presence of agglomeration trend: the average size of the crystal nuclei exceeds a preset size value and the proportion of such crystal nuclei exceeds 10%; the preset size value can be set according to the requirements of the target flakes; the spatial dispersion of crystal nuclei (i.e., the uniformity of the distribution of crystal nuclei in the melt) decreases to below 85%.

[0071] The detection method employs a high-temperature laser confocal sensor in conjunction with online particle size analysis software. The sensor acquires real-time three-dimensional microscopic images of the melt, and the software automatically calculates the size distribution and spatial dispersion of the crystal nuclei, with a data sampling frequency of 1 Hz. Once the detected index reaches the agglomeration trend judgment standard, the ultrasonic vibration component is immediately triggered. This ultrasonic vibration component uses high-frequency, low-amplitude ultrasonic vibration, which can effectively break up agglomerated crystal nuclei without damaging the lattice structure of individual metastable crystal nuclei. For example, the ultrasonic vibration component is installed upstream of the discharge channel and at the end of the melt conveying channel; this location is both close to the agglomeration trend detection point (high-temperature laser confocal sensor), allowing for immediate intervention when agglomeration trend appears, and close to the discharge channel, ensuring that the broken crystal nuclei are fully dispersed before entering the rotor, reducing the probability of re-agglomeration.

[0072] It should be understood that since olivine has a Mohs hardness of 6.5-7, while basalt glass typically has a hardness of around 5.5, the presence of olivine phase nuclei can improve the mechanical strength of basalt flakes, providing a material basis for the subsequent development of anti-corrosion coatings with strong impact resistance and good wear resistance. Simultaneously, the presence of olivine phase nuclei also increases the surface roughness of the basalt flakes. This increased roughness helps enhance the adhesion between the basalt flakes and the binder, ultimately improving the corrosion resistance of anti-corrosion coatings developed based on basalt flakes.

[0073] A collaborative control system for preparing basalt flakes, the modules of which are shown in the diagram below. Figure 5 As shown, the cooperative control system includes: The raw material adjustment unit A1 is used to adjust the feed ratio based on the mineral content characteristics of the basalt raw material, so as to stably lock the core composition of the melt in the production unit to the target range that is suitable for in-situ controllable crystallization, so as to form a steady melt without composition fluctuation. The melting control unit A2 is used to regulate the melting state of the steady melt by controlling the temperature parameters and inert atmosphere parameters of the production device, so as to reserve metastable crystal nuclei of a preset density and maintain the activity of the metastable crystal nuclei to obtain basalt melt; The conveying control unit A3 is used to convey basalt melt through a preset path, control the melt temperature and use an inert atmosphere for protection to maintain the phase stability and dispersion uniformity of metastable crystal nuclei. The melt crushing unit A4 is used to control the basalt melt to fall to the discharge rotor. Through the rotational projection and shearing coupling effect of the discharge rotor, the basalt melt is crushed into melt droplets of uniform size and output in a parabolic trajectory. The flake output unit A5 is used to ensure that each molten droplet contains at least one metastable crystal nucleus, and to control the molten droplet to crystallize and form oriented crystals on the metastable crystal nucleus under cooling conditions, so as to obtain basalt flakes induced by in-situ crystal nuclei.

[0074] A basalt flake production apparatus, used to achieve a synergistic control method for preparing basalt flakes as described above. The production apparatus includes... Figure 3The system includes a molding device 1, a feeder 2, a discharge structure 3, a flow restrictor 4, a combustion heating structure 5, an air intake structure 6, a cooling assembly 8, and a discharge conveying device 9. The feeder 2, as the upstream raw material conveying component, has the core function of continuously and quantitatively conveying basalt raw material into the molding cavity of the molding device 1 to provide raw material for the subsequent melting process. It is the feed end of the production. The combustion heating structure 5, as the core heating and melting component of the process, has the core function of providing a high-temperature heat source for the basalt raw material in the molding cavity 11, so that the solid basalt raw material is heated and melted to form basalt melt. It is the key to realizing the transformation of raw material from solid to liquid. The molding device 1, as the core bearing cavity of the process, has a molding cavity 11 inside which is a melting cavity, responsible for providing a high-temperature closed space for the melting of raw material. The discharge chamber 14 is a forming chamber, responsible for providing space for melt projection, cooling, and scaling. The two chambers work together to complete the core transformation from melt to scales. The discharge structure 3, as the core component of the downstream forming and discharge process, has a core actuator, the discharge rotor 31, which is a key actuator for realizing the transformation from melt to scales. The flow-limiting block 4 is installed in the forming chamber 11 and extends into the bottom material tank 12. The lower part of the flow-limiting block 4 forms a flow-limiting gap 40 with the bottom wall of the bottom material tank 12. The flow-limiting gap 40 is used to limit the liquid level of basalt melt in the bottom material tank 12 and to promote the basalt melt overflowing from the bottom material tank 12 to flow to the discharge platform 13. The cooling component 8 is a conventional mechanism with a cooling function, such as a cooling pipe or cooling tank, as long as it can provide cooling for the discharge chamber 14. The conveying end of the discharge conveying device 9 passes below the output end of the discharge chamber 14. The discharge conveying device is a known mechanism with a conveying function, such as a conveyor belt device, a conveyor roller structure, a conveyor turntable, a moving trolley, and a robotic arm structure.

[0075] Basalt raw material is fed into the bottom material tank 12 by the feeder 2 and melted into a melt by heating. After the melt fills the bottom material tank 12, it is transferred to the discharge platform 13 and discharged into the discharge chamber 14 through the discharge channel 131. The basalt melt is then thrown to the output end of the discharge chamber 14 by the discharge rotor 31. This allows the melt to be discharged, cooled and dispersed into basalt flakes under the rotation of the discharge rotor 31, which solves the problem of unstable quality of the formed flakes due to low discharge efficiency in the existing basalt flake production device. The molding device 1 is provided with a molding cavity 11; the molding cavity 11 is provided with a bottom material trough 12, and the feeder 2 outputs basalt raw material to the molding cavity 11; the molding cavity 11 has a heating function, which can melt the basalt to form basalt melt; the basalt melt is distributed in the bottom material trough 12, and the discharge platform 13 is set on one side of the bottom material trough 12; when the amount of basalt melt is large enough to fill the bottom material trough 12, as the amount of basalt melt continues to increase, the melt will overflow onto the upper surface of the discharge platform 13 on one side of the bottom material trough 12, and the melt passes through the discharge channel 131 of the discharge platform 13; the basalt melt is transferred from the molding cavity 11 to the discharge cavity 14 through the discharge platform 13; the discharge cavity 14 is provided with an input end for receiving basalt melt and an output end for discharging basalt melt; when After the basalt melt enters the discharge chamber 14, it falls to the discharge rotor 31 below under the action of gravity or negative pressure. The discharge rotor driver 32 can be pre-activated, and the output end of the discharge rotor driver 32 drives the discharge rotor 31 to rotate. After the basalt melt falls and contacts the discharge rotor 31, the rotation of the discharge rotor 31 will drive the basalt melt to fall and move horizontally along the tangential direction of the rotation range of the discharge rotor 31. The discharge rotor 31 and the output end of the discharge chamber 14 form a parabolic distance 310 in the horizontal direction. After the basalt melt falls, it can obtain a speed towards the output end of the discharge chamber 14. Under the action of gravity, the basalt melt can be quickly output to the output end of the discharge chamber 14 in a parabolic manner, realizing the rapid discharge of the basalt melt. Simultaneously, during the transfer of the basalt melt to the output end of the discharge chamber 14, the discharge rotor 31 accelerates airflow within the discharge chamber 14 through rotation. This not only expels hot air from the discharge chamber 14 but also introduces fresh air, ensuring full contact between the basalt melt and the air. This facilitates rapid cooling and the formation of flakes from the basalt melt. Furthermore, the rotation of the discharge rotor 31 provides shearing force, which breaks up the basalt flakes, preventing them from clumping together during cooling and ensuring the dimensional stability of the basalt flakes. The discharge rotor drive 32 is a known mechanism with rotational drive function, such as a motor or a combination of a motor and a reducer, as long as it can drive the rotation of the discharge rotor 31. The discharge structure 3 also includes a discharge thermostat heater 33 for regulating the temperature at the discharge structure 3.

[0076] The air intake structure 6 includes an inner cylinder and an outer cylinder; the inner cylinder has a heating channel on its inner side, which is connected to the molding cavity 11; the inner cylinder has a clamping groove on the outer edge of the heating channel; the input end of the air outlet pipe is connected to the clamping groove, which is used to input air or oxygen into the air outlet pipe; the output end of the mixing cavity is connected to the molding cavity 11; the outer cylinder is sleeved on the outside of the inner cylinder; the outer cylinder has an air intake groove; the opening of the air intake groove faces downward and is located at the bottom of the outer cylinder; the opening of the clamping groove faces upward and is located inside the air intake groove, and an air intake gap is formed between the inner wall of the opening of the air intake groove and the outer wall of the inner cylinder; the air intake groove and the clamping groove are connected to form an air intake channel.

[0077] The molding cavity 11 has a feeding platform 15 between the bottom wall and the side wall; the feeding platform 15 and the discharge platform 13 are separated by the bottom material trough 12; the output end of the feeder 2 faces the feeding platform 15; the upper surface of the feeding platform 15 is higher than the lower surface of the discharge platform 13; the lower end of the flow limiting block 4 is located between the upper surface of the feeding platform 15 and the lower surface of the discharge platform 13. The flow-limiting block 4 extends into the bottom material trough 12, which can divide the molding cavity 11 into a feeding area 111 and a discharging area 112. The feeding platform 15 is set at the output position of the feeder 2. The feeding platform 15 occupies most of the feeding area. In particular, it is set between the bottom wall and the side wall of the molding cavity 11, which can prevent the basalt melt from staying in the corner of the molding cavity 11 for a long time and being difficult to discharge. At the same time, the basalt melt basically falls into the bottom material trough 12 under the action of gravity after being output by the feeder 2, and the basalt melt will no longer fill the bottom wall and side wall, so that the bottom material trough 12 can be filled more quickly.

[0078] Although embodiments of this application have been shown and described, those skilled in the art will understand that various changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of this application, the scope of which is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A method for synergistic control in the preparation of basalt flakes, characterized in that, The collaborative control method includes: The feed ratio is adjusted based on the mineral content characteristics of basalt raw materials to stably lock the core composition of the melt in the production unit to the target range suitable for in-situ controllable crystallization, forming a steady melt without compositional fluctuations. By controlling the temperature and inert atmosphere parameters of the production device, the melting state of the steady melt is regulated to reserve metastable crystal nuclei of a preset density and maintain the activity of the metastable crystal nuclei, thereby obtaining basalt melt; The basalt melt is transported through a preset path, the melt temperature is controlled, and an inert atmosphere is used for protection to maintain the phase stability and dispersion uniformity of the metastable crystal nuclei. The basalt melt is controlled to fall to the discharge rotor. Through the rotational projection and shearing coupling effect of the discharge rotor, the basalt melt is broken into melt droplets of uniform size and output in a parabolic trajectory. Each molten droplet contains at least one metastable crystal nucleus, and under cooling conditions, the molten droplet is controlled to crystallize and form oriented crystals on the metastable crystal nucleus, thereby obtaining basalt flakes induced by in-situ crystal nuclei.

2. The synergistic control method for preparing basalt flakes according to claim 1, characterized in that, The mineral content characteristics include the proportion of olivine phase minerals and the content of iron oxides. Based on the mineral content characteristics, basalt raw materials are divided into benchmark raw materials and non-benchmark raw materials. The content of both items in the benchmark raw materials is within the preset target range, while the content of at least one item in the non-benchmark raw materials exceeds the preset target range. Under the premise of constant total feed, the feed ratio of benchmark raw materials and non-benchmark raw materials is dynamically adjusted according to the deviation of the proportion of olivine phase minerals and the content of iron oxides, so as to stably lock the melt core composition within the preset target range.

3. The synergistic control method for preparing basalt flakes according to claim 1, characterized in that, The preset density is such that metastable olivine phase nuclei account for 8% to 15% of the melt mass; When the proportion of crystal nuclei is lower than the preset lower density limit, the heating power is reduced and the melt residence time is extended to retain the metastable crystal nuclei that are not completely melted; when the proportion of crystal nuclei is higher than the preset upper density limit, the heating power is increased and the melt residence time is shortened to promote the melting of the olivine phase and control the total amount of crystal nuclei.

4. The synergistic control method for preparing basalt flakes according to claim 1, characterized in that, By controlling the inert atmosphere parameters, the oxygen volume fraction is stably controlled below 0.5%, and the melt is isolated from air by an annular inert gas curtain, while the melt temperature fluctuation range is locked to no more than ±5℃.

5. The synergistic control method for preparing basalt flakes according to claim 1, characterized in that, The preset path is an overflow conveying path that relies on gravity for flow; During the transport process, the temperature of the basalt melt is stably controlled within the preset critical melting range of the crystal nuclei, and the surface of the basalt melt is completely covered by a fully enclosed inert gas curtain. At the same time, laminar inert gas flow is introduced along the flow direction of the basalt melt to form shear force and suppress metastable crystal nuclei agglomeration.

6. The synergistic control method for preparing basalt flakes according to claim 1, characterized in that, The collaborative control method further includes: collecting performance test data of the basalt flakes; the performance test data includes crystal form, grain size, aspect ratio, corrosion resistance and mechanical strength; performing correlation analysis between the performance test data and the processing parameters of the entire production process to locate the front-end control causes of performance fluctuations, and forming a closed-loop control by iteratively optimizing the processing parameters.

7. The synergistic control method for preparing basalt flakes according to claim 1, characterized in that, The average nucleus spacing is calculated based on the number density of metastable nuclei in the basalt melt. The shearing speed of the discharge impeller and the discharge flow rate of the discharge channel are matched and adjusted so that the minimum particle size of the melt droplets after crushing is greater than the average nucleus spacing, so as to ensure that each melt droplet formed by crushing contains at least one metastable nucleus.

8. The synergistic control method for preparing basalt flakes according to claim 1, characterized in that, The collaborative control method further includes: when a tendency for metastable crystal nuclei to agglomerate is detected, vibration is used to break up the agglomerated crystal nuclei by a preset ultrasonic vibration component in order to disperse the agglomerated crystal nuclei.

9. A collaborative control system for preparing basalt flakes, characterized in that, The collaborative control system includes: The raw material adjustment unit is used to adjust the feed ratio based on the mineral content characteristics of the basalt raw material, so as to stably lock the core composition of the melt in the production unit to the target range that is suitable for in-situ controllable crystallization, forming a steady melt without compositional fluctuations. The melting control unit is used to regulate the melting state of the steady melt by controlling the temperature parameters and inert atmosphere parameters of the production device, so as to reserve metastable crystal nuclei of a preset density and maintain the activity of the metastable crystal nuclei to obtain basalt melt; The conveying control unit is used to convey the basalt melt through a preset path, control the melt temperature and use an inert atmosphere for protection to maintain the phase stability and dispersion uniformity of the metastable crystal nuclei; The melt crushing unit is used to control the basalt melt to fall to the discharge rotor. Through the rotational projection and shearing coupling effect of the discharge rotor, the basalt melt is crushed into melt droplets of uniform size and output in a parabolic trajectory. The flake output unit is used to ensure that each molten droplet contains at least one metastable crystal nucleus, and to control the molten droplet to crystallize and form oriented crystals on the metastable crystal nucleus under cooling conditions, thereby obtaining basalt flakes induced by in-situ crystal nuclei.

10. A production apparatus for basalt flakes, characterized in that, This method is used to implement the synergistic control method for preparing basalt flakes as described in any one of claims 1 to 8.

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