Colloidal Silica Aerosol Sealing for Refractory Wall Microcracks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for treating refractory walls in chambers, such as coke oven walls, are inefficient and hazardous due to the use of unstable silane gas and require extensive and difficult surface treatment to address microcrack permeability issues, leading to incomplete sealing of cracks.
Innovation Solution
A method involving spraying a predominantly liquid composition of organosilicon compounds and hydrocarbons into a closed chamber with oxygen, inducing an exothermic reaction to form a colloidal silica aerosol, which spreads and penetrates microcracks, providing comprehensive sealing without the need for precise targeting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If silane gas is used for spraying into the chamber to form a short flame, then the treatment can be applied to refractory walls, but the method becomes hazardous and difficult to apply in practice due to explosive combustion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical state of the organosilicon compound from gaseous (silane gas) to liquid form, and adjusts the composition to include specific hydrocarbons and organosilicon compounds that decompose rather than explode. This parameter change eliminates the hazardous explosive combustion while maintaining the treatment effectiveness on refractory walls.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses readily available, safe-to-handle liquid organosilicon compounds and hydrocarbons instead of hazardous silane gas. These materials are easier to store, transport, and apply, eliminating the need for special safety protocols while achieving the same sealing function.
2Productivity
If conventional spray methods are used to treat refractory walls, then treatment can be applied to visible areas, but complete surface treatment is necessary and time-consuming due to inaccessible areas
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes the decomposition reaction and pressure differential created during the exothermic reaction to propel the colloidal silica aerosol throughout the closed chamber. This pneumatic mechanism ensures comprehensive coverage of all surfaces including inaccessible areas without requiring manual positioning of spray nozzles.
Solution Approach 2:
The treatment composition itself generates the driving force for distribution. The exothermic reaction produces pressure that automatically propels the aerosol to all surfaces, eliminating the need for external pumping systems or manual intervention to reach inaccessible areas.
3Reliability
If precise targeting of microcracks is attempted, then sealing effectiveness improves, but the complexity of locating and accessing all microcracks increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the treatment composition uniformly across the entire chamber interior surface, allowing the colloidal silica to selectively penetrate and seal microcracks where they exist. This approach eliminates the need to locate individual cracks while ensuring comprehensive sealing through the pressure-driven aerosol distribution.
Solution Approach 2:
The treatment composition serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides the sealing material (colloidal silica), generates the distribution mechanism (exothermic reaction and pressure differential), and creates the driving force (pressure) all in one application. This universal approach simplifies the process while ensuring reliable sealing.
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 method ensures thorough coverage and sealing of microcracks across large surfaces with reduced material usage and energy consumption, enhancing the stability and impermeability of refractory walls while being safer and more efficient than previous methods.
Implementation Method 1
at least one hydrocarbon capable, in the presence of oxygen, of giving rise, at a first temperature, to an exothermic reaction
Implementation Method 2
a decomposition of said at least one organosilicon compound with formation of a colloidal silica aerosol in the closed chamber
Implementation Method 3
a spreading of a colloidal silica layer on the refractory walls of said chamber
Data Source
AI summary
Method of treating a chamber having refractory walls, in which: a treatment composition, comprising at least one organosilicon compound and at least one hydrocarbide, is sprayed into said chamber, in the presence of oxygen; and said sprayed treatment composition is heated, the spraying in the presence of oxygen taking place in the closed chamber in which the treatment composition, in a predominantly liquid state, is atomized in the form of suspended particles, the method further including said at least one organosilicon compound decomposing to form a colloidal silica aerosol in the closed chamber, an overpressure being established therein, and a colloidal silica layer being spread over the refractory walls with, as a result of said overpressure, the colloidal silica penetrating into the microcracks.