Cryogenic Particle Feeder Assembly for Uniform Blast Media Flow
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing particle blast systems face challenges in controlling the feed rate and size of cryogenic blast media particles, particularly in achieving a consistent flow and precise size reduction of particles for effective blasting applications.
Innovation Solution
The system incorporates a feeder assembly with a metering element and a comminutor, where the metering element controls the flow rate of blast media and the comminutor selectively reduces the size of particles from their initial size to a smaller predetermined size, using rollers with adjustable gaps and surface textures to achieve uniform particle size and flow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a particle generator shaves particles from a carbon dioxide block without storage, then the system achieves continuous particle supply, but the feed rate control becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
A feeder assembly is introduced as an intermediary device between the particle generator and the transport gas system. The feeder assembly includes a metering element that receives particles from the generator and metered discharges them into the transport gas flow, providing precise feed rate control while maintaining continuous supply capability
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces manual or simple mechanical feed control with a more sophisticated metering mechanism that uses controlled discharge through a metering element, enabling precise feed rate regulation of cryogenic particles in the gas stream
2Ease of operation
If particles are directly entrained in transport gas without size control, then the system achieves simple operation, but the particle size consistency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The comminutor performs preliminary size reduction action on particles before they are entrained in the transport gas. By pre-sizing particles through roller compression and fracture, the system ensures consistent particle dimensions are achieved prior to gas flow entrainment, maintaining both operational simplicity and size precision
3Manufacturing precision
If a comminutor with adjustable gap is used to reduce particle size, then the particle size precision is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The comminutor utilizes adjustable gap parameters between rollers to control particle size reduction. By changing the gap distance parameter, the system precisely controls the compression force and resulting particle size, achieving high manufacturing precision through parameter adjustment rather than complex mechanical structures
4Productivity
If cryogenic particles are used for blasting, then the blasting effectiveness is improved, but the feed rate control becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The feeder assembly serves as a specialized intermediary designed to handle cryogenic particles. It includes a metering element that can accurately measure and discharge frozen particles into the transport gas, overcoming the difficulty of controlling feed rates for cryogenic materials while maintaining blasting effectiveness
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 configuration ensures precise control over the feed rate and size of blast media particles, enhancing the efficiency and consistency of the blasting process by uniformly reducing particle size and maintaining optimal flow rates, thereby improving the effectiveness of the particle blast system.
Implementation Method 1
the comminutor selectively reduces the size of particles from each particle's respective initial size to a second size which is smaller than a desired maximum size
Implementation Method 2
entrains the carbon dioxide granules in a transport gas flow without storage of the granules
Data Source
AI summary
A particle blast apparatus includes a metering portion, a comminutor and a feeding portion. The metering portion and comminutor may each be configured to provide uniformity in the discharge of particles. The metering portion controls the particle feed rate, and may include a rotor, which may have V or chevron shaped pockets. The comminutor includes at least one roller which may be moved between and including a position at which the gap of the comminutor is at maximum and a position at which the gap is at minimum. The metering portion may discharge particles directly into the feeding portion without a comminutor being present. The comminutor may receive particles directly from a source of blast media without a metering portion being present.