Metal Flow Reactor Module Bonding Without Organic Gaskets
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for producing metal flow modules, especially stainless steel ones with enclosed through-passages, are costly and limited in operating temperatures and pressures, as they often rely on expensive manufacturing techniques or organic materials like gaskets that are incompatible with high-temperature processes.
Innovation Solution
A method involving stacking metal plates with flow channels and using a carbide powder flux to thermally bond them in a non-oxidizing atmosphere, allowing for mechanical fastening and creating a robust seal without organic materials, enabling high-temperature operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional manufacturing techniques (micromachining, laser ablation, etching, laser sintering, molding) are used to produce metal flow modules, then manufacturing precision and reliability are improved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The flow module is divided into multiple separate metal plates that can be manufactured independently using conventional techniques, then assembled together. This allows each plate to be manufactured with standard precision methods while the overall module achieves complex geometry through the assembly of segmented components rather than requiring expensive single-piece manufacturing
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple metal plates with flow channels are combined through thermal bonding to create a unified sealed structure. This merging of separately manufactured plates achieves the precision and reliability of conventional techniques while reducing cost by allowing parallel manufacturing of multiple components and eliminating the need for expensive single-piece fabrication
2Ease of manufacture
If compressed elastomeric gaskets are used to seal mating surfaces of metal plates, then ease of manufacture is improved, but operating temperature range and reliability are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The mechanical sealing system (elastomeric gaskets) is replaced with a thermal bonding system that creates metallurgical bonds between plate surfaces. This substitution eliminates the temperature limitations of organic gasket materials while maintaining assembly feasibility through a standardized thermal processing step
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing mechanism changes from relying on elastic deformation of gasket materials at room temperature to utilizing thermal energy to create permanent metallurgical bonds. This parameter change (from mechanical elastic sealing to thermal bonding) enables operation across a wide temperature range including high temperatures where gaskets would fail
3Ease of manufacture
If organic materials like gaskets are used for sealing, then ease of manufacture is improved, but adaptability to high-temperature processes deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Organic gasket-based sealing is replaced with inorganic metal-to-metal thermal bonding, substituting a temperature-sensitive material system with a temperature-resistant one. This allows the module to adapt to high-temperature processes while maintaining manufacturing simplicity through a straightforward thermal bonding procedure
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing approach transitions from using organic composite materials (gaskets) to using inorganic metal materials that can withstand high temperatures. This material substitution enhances adaptability to high-temperature processes while the thermal bonding method remains relatively simple to implement
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 provides a low-cost, robust, and high-temperature capable metal flow reactor module with a durable seal, simplifying the connection process and eliminating the need for organic materials, thus enhancing the module's performance and versatility.
Implementation Method 1
heating the plates together in a non-oxidizing atmosphere to thermally bond the contacting portions of the respective first major surfaces
Implementation Method 2
a layer of flux positioned in between contacting portions of the respective first major surfaces
Data Source
AI summary
A method for forming a metal flow module includes stacking together a first metal plate having opposing first and second major surfaces and one or more flow channels defined at least in part in the first major surface with a second metal plate having opposing first and second major surfaces, the plates stacked together with their respective first major surfaces facing each other and with a layer of flux positioned in between contacting portions of the respective first major surfaces defined as those portions of the respective first and second major surfaces which would be in contact absent the flux; then heating the plates together in a non-oxidizing atmosphere to thermally bond the contacting portions of the respective first major surfaces of the first and second metal plates. Resulting modules are also disclosed.