Non-Contact Heating for Ceramic Honeycomb Plug Cement Drying
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for manufacturing ceramic honeycomb bodies with plugged channels suffer from defects such as voids and dimples due to the lag time between plugging and drying, which affects the quality of the cement plugs and can lead to inefficiencies and additional process steps like using a heated tamper, which may cause further issues like light leakers.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for non-contact immediate heating of the end face of the honeycomb body after plugging with cement to rapidly dry and stiffen the plug cement, reducing surface defects like voids and dimples, using a heat source such as a hot plate, infrared, or microwave heating without direct contact, allowing partial drying before conventional drying methods like hot air or microwave drying.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional drying methods are used after plugging, then the cement plugs can be dried, but surface defects like voids and dimples occur due to lag time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by immediately heating the end face of the honeycomb body right after plugging with cement, before the cement fully sets. This immediate thermal treatment prevents the formation of surface defects by rapidly evaporating excess moisture and stiffening the cement surface, thereby eliminating the problematic lag time between plugging and drying operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the conventional mechanical contact method (heated tamper) with a non-contact heating system that uses radiant heat or hot air to dry the cement plugs. This substitution eliminates the mechanical pressure that caused light leakers while achieving the same drying effect, thereby improving plug quality without the harmful side effects.
2Manufacturing precision
If a heated tamper is used to dry the cement plugs, then drying can be achieved, but light leakers are caused
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical contact method (heated tamper) with a non-contact heating system that uses radiant heat or hot air to dry the cement plugs. This substitution eliminates the mechanical pressure that caused light leakers while achieving the same drying effect, thereby improving plug quality without the harmful side effects.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary heating medium (hot air or radiant heat) to transfer thermal energy to the cement plugs without direct mechanical contact. This intermediary approach allows drying to occur through thermal radiation or convection, avoiding the mechanical compression that creates light leakers while maintaining effective moisture removal.
3Manufacturing precision
If additional process steps like heated tamper are added, then drying can be improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the drying function into the existing plugging operation by using the same equipment setup. The heating system is integrated into the plugging line, allowing both plugging and drying to occur in a unified process flow without requiring separate dedicated equipment or additional process steps, thereby maintaining simplicity while improving quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent makes the heating system multi-functional by using it for both drying cement plugs and potentially other thermal processing needs in the manufacturing line. This universal approach allows a single heating apparatus to serve multiple purposes, reducing overall device complexity while achieving the desired drying effect.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach eliminates surface defects like dimples and voids, improves manufacturing efficiency by integrating heating into existing processes without additional steps, and ensures consistent plug quality by reducing the time lag between plugging and drying.
Implementation Method 1
heating the end face with a heat source to only partially dry the wet plug cement in the at least some of the cell channels at the end face
Implementation Method 2
rapidly dry and stiffen the plug cement
Implementation Method 3
conventional drying methods like hot air or microwave drying
Data Source
Figure 1~3
Figure 4~6
AI summary
A system and method to dry plug cement in a ceramic honeycomb body during the manufacture of plugged ceramic honeycomb bodies. The system includes a heating element (520) configured to immediately heat without contact a face (502) of a ceramic honeycomb body (500) plugged with a wet plug cement (510) to rapidly dry and stiffen the plug cement (510) on the face (502) of the ceramic honeycomb body (500). The method includes immediately applying heat without contact to a face (502) of a ceramic honeycomb body (500) having wet plug cement (510) disposed in channels (508) of the ceramic honeycomb body at the face, and rapidly drying and stiffening the plug cement on the face of the ceramic honeycomb body.