CN113751717B

CN113751717B - Aerosolization apparatus and method thereof

Info

Publication number: CN113751717B
Application number: CN202111001462.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陈洋; 卢德勇; 吴文恒; 顾孙望; 卢林; 张亮; 车鹏; 宋登湘
Original assignee: Zhongtian Shangcai Additive Manufacturing Co ltd
Current assignee: Zhongtian Shangcai Additive Manufacturing Co ltd
Priority date: 2021-08-30
Filing date: 2021-08-30
Publication date: 2023-05-26
Anticipated expiration: 2041-08-30
Also published as: CN113751717A

Abstract

The invention discloses an aerosolization device and a method thereof, which relate to the field of metal powder preparation by vacuum aerosolization, wherein the aerosolization device comprises: a smelting chamber; an auxiliary bin arranged beside the smelting chamber; the support frame can rotate around the rotating shaft and is arranged in the smelting chamber and the auxiliary bin; the tundish units are circumferentially distributed around the rotating shaft and can move into the smelting chamber and the auxiliary chamber under the rotation of the supporting frame; a melting crucible provided in the melting chamber for heating and melting the metal raw material and pouring the molten metal into a tundish unit located in the melting chamber; the aerosolization device has at least the following operating positions: one tundish unit is located in the smelting chamber and the other tundish unit is located in the auxiliary chamber. The utility model provides a can solve the water conservancy diversion mouth and receive the fracture inefficacy problem after long-time high temperature washout.

Description

Aerosolization apparatus and method thereof

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of metal powder preparation by vacuum gas atomization, in particular to a gas atomization device and a method thereof.

Background

The raw material of the metal 3D printing technology is metal powder with a certain particle size range, and the metal powder is required to have pure chemical components, low oxygen content, high sphericity and good fluidity. The metal powder is prepared by vacuum smelting inert gas atomization technology, and the principle is that a crucible is filled with a certain raw material, the metal raw material is heated by medium frequency electricity in an induction way and melted, a guide nozzle below the crucible is poured into a tundish to flow out a metal liquid with a certain diameter, the metal liquid is smashed and atomized into tiny metal liquid drops under the action of high-pressure inert gas, and the required metal powder can be obtained after flying and cooling.

At present, the charging amount of domestic vacuum induction melting gas atomization equipment is 300kg at most, on one hand, because refractory materials such as a guide nozzle and the like are washed by high-temperature melt, the bearing time is about 30min at most, and if the atomization time is prolonged continuously, the guide nozzle can be broken to cause heavy risks such as reverse spraying and the like of atomization; on the other hand, due to overlong atomization time, the risk of blocking the tundish is increased, and the method is commonly called blocking. If the blocking phenomenon occurs, the crucible can only wait for about 1h, and after the metal liquid in the crucible is cooled and solidified, a new tundish is taken out and replaced, and vacuumizing and argon backfilling are performed again, so that the production efficiency is greatly reduced and the production cost is increased. Moreover, the oxygen contacting the molten metal after the smelting chamber is opened can cause the oxygen content of the final finished product to be higher, namely the quality of the product is seriously reduced, and even the product can only be scrapped. In addition, domestic gas atomization equipment generally uses single tundish units, namely single spray disc and flow guide nozzle specifications, and after a tundish is installed and vacuumized, only smooth atomization or midway atomization failure can be achieved, and the spray disc and flow guide nozzle specifications cannot be changed midway during atomization to achieve maximization of benefits of each furnace (under the premise of smooth atomization, the yield of target section powder is highest), namely the high-flexibility target of the atomization process cannot be achieved. Therefore, how to realize high capacity and high flexibility of the gas atomization device so as to greatly improve the production efficiency, the atomization success rate and the process adjustability is a difficult problem to be solved at present.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to overcome the defects in the prior art, the technical problem to be solved by the embodiment of the invention is to provide an air atomization device and a method thereof, which can solve the problem that a flow guiding nozzle breaks and fails after being subjected to long-time high-temperature flushing.

The specific technical scheme of the embodiment of the invention is as follows:

an aerosolization device, the aerosolization device comprising:

a smelting chamber;

an auxiliary bin arranged beside the smelting chamber;

a support frame rotatable about an axis, the support frame being disposed in the smelting chamber and the auxiliary bin;

the tundish units are arranged on the supporting frame and are distributed circumferentially around the axis, and the tundish units can move into the smelting chamber and the auxiliary chamber under the rotation of the supporting frame;

a melting crucible provided in the melting chamber for heating and melting a metal raw material and pouring molten metal into the tundish unit located in the melting chamber;

the aerosolization device has at least the following operating positions: one of the tundish units is located in the smelting chamber and the other tundish unit is located in the auxiliary chamber.

Preferably, the aerosolization device comprises a vacuum unit for evacuating the auxiliary chamber and the smelting chamber.

Preferably, a shared side wall is arranged between the auxiliary bin and the smelting chamber, a first bin gate is arranged on the shared side wall, and when the first bin gate is opened, the support frame rotates to enable at least one tundish unit to be switched between the auxiliary bin and the smelting chamber through the first bin gate.

Preferably, the support frame comprises a rotation center part connected with the driving mechanism, and a plurality of support arms extending along the radial direction, wherein one end of each support arm is connected with the rotation center part, and the other end of each support arm is provided with one tundish unit.

Preferably, a gas flow channel is formed in the supporting arm, the tundish unit comprises a spray disc, and the gas flow channel is communicated with the spray disc; the aerosolization device further includes: the first inert gas pipelines are respectively connected with the gas flow passages in the supporting frame, and each first inert gas pipeline is provided with a first opening and closing valve.

Preferably, a support wheel capable of rolling is mounted at the lower end of each support arm, and the aerosolization device further comprises: the guide rail is arranged in the smelting chamber, the guide rail is circular, and the supporting wheels are arranged on the guide rail.

Preferably, the upper end surface of the auxiliary bin is provided with a second bin door which can be opened.

Preferably, the aerosolization device further comprises: a second inert gas pipe communicated with the auxiliary bin, and a second opening and closing valve is arranged on the second inert gas pipe;

and a third inert gas pipeline communicated with the smelting chamber, wherein a third opening and closing valve is arranged on the third inert gas pipeline.

Preferably, the aerosolization device further comprises:

a drive mechanism, comprising: a motor; a first bevel gear connected to an output shaft of the motor; a second bevel gear and a first gear coupled together by a first shaft, the first bevel gear being meshed with the second bevel gear; and the second gear is connected with the rotation center part through a second rotating shaft and meshed with the first gear.

An aerosolization method employing an aerosolization apparatus as described in any preceding claim, the aerosolization method comprising:

vacuumizing the smelting chamber and then introducing inert gas;

after inert gas is introduced, heating and melting metal raw materials in a smelting crucible into molten metal;

introducing inert gas into a spray disc of a tundish unit to be poured of the smelting crucible, and pouring molten metal in the smelting crucible into the tundish unit to realize atomization of the molten metal;

Adjusting parameters of another tundish unit positioned in the auxiliary bin according to the atomization condition of the molten metal in the tundish unit, vacuumizing the auxiliary bin after the adjustment is completed, and then introducing inert gas;

stopping pouring the smelting crucible after atomization reaches a preset time, and then rotating a support frame to enable the other tundish unit in the auxiliary bin to move to a pouring position of the smelting crucible in the smelting chamber;

and introducing inert gas into a spray disc of another tundish unit of the smelting crucible to be poured, and pouring molten metal in the smelting crucible into the other tundish unit to realize atomization of the molten metal.

The technical scheme of the invention has the following remarkable beneficial effects:

1. the gas atomizing device in this application can be located in the smelting chamber one the atomizing time of tundish unit reaches the time of predetermineeing the back, stops the pouring of smelting crucible, removes other tundish units to the pouring position department of smelting crucible through the rotation of support frame to realize smelting crucible's continuation pouring, continue to atomize through another tundish unit, so, constantly circulate, thereby realize atomizing in turn, prevent that the water conservancy diversion mouth in the tundish unit from receiving the long-time high temperature and flushing the back fracture inefficacy, finally lengthen the atomizing time, realize smelting crucible's large capacity.

2. If the tundish unit breaks down during atomization, the tundish unit can be moved to the auxiliary bin through the supporting frame, and the tundish unit breaks down in the auxiliary bin is maintained while the tundish unit is atomized in the smelting chamber, so that the production efficiency is greatly improved.

3. Finally, parameters of the tundish unit in the auxiliary bin can be adjusted according to atomization conditions of the tundish unit in the smelting chamber, and then the tundish unit is moved into the smelting chamber through the support frame to be atomized, so that the purposes of continuously changing the specification of the spray disc, the specification of the flow guide nozzle, the pressure of inert gas used for atomization and the like in the atomization process of one-pot molten metal in the smelting crucible are achieved, and the benefit maximization of each furnace is achieved, namely, the high flexibility target in the atomization process is achieved.

Specific embodiments of the invention are disclosed in detail below with reference to the following description and drawings, indicating the manner in which the principles of the invention may be employed. It should be understood that the embodiments of the invention are not limited in scope thereby. Features that are described and/or illustrated with respect to one embodiment may be used in the same way or in a similar way in one or more other embodiments in combination with or instead of the features of the other embodiments.

Drawings

The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way. In addition, the shapes, proportional sizes, and the like of the respective components in the drawings are merely illustrative for aiding in understanding the present invention, and are not particularly limited. Those skilled in the art with access to the teachings of the present invention can select a variety of possible shapes and scale sizes to practice the present invention as the case may be.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an aerosolization apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged schematic view of a portion of an aerosolization apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a supporting frame according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the structure of the supporting wheels and the guide rails according to the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a tundish unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Reference numerals of the above drawings:

1. a smelting chamber; 2. an auxiliary bin; 21. a second bin gate; 3. smelting a crucible; 4. a tundish unit; 401. a tundish heater; 402. a graphite sleeve; 403. a graphite sleeve; 404. a flow guiding nozzle; 405. heating the cap; 406. a tundish; 407. a spray plate; 5. a support frame; 51. a rotation center portion; 52. a support arm; 521. a gas flow passage; 53. a support wheel; 6. a vacuum pumping unit; 61. a mechanical pump; 62. roots pump; 7. a first bin gate; 8. a first inert gas conduit; 81. a first opening/closing valve; 9. a guide rail; 10. a second inert gas conduit; 101. a second opening/closing valve; 11. a third inert gas conduit; 111. a third opening/closing valve; 12. a driving mechanism; 121. a motor; 122. a first bevel gear; 123. a second bevel gear; 124. a first gear; 125. a second gear; 13. an atomizing chamber; 14. a cyclone separator; 15. a powder collecting tank; 16. a dust remover; 17. a high-pressure fan; 18. a first on-off valve; 19. a second on-off valve; 20. a third cut-off valve; 22. a deflector; 23. a proximity switch; 24. a fourth opening/closing valve; 25. and a fifth opening/closing valve.

Detailed Description

The details of the invention will be more clearly understood in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and description of specific embodiments of the invention. However, the specific embodiments of the invention described herein are for the purpose of illustration only and are not to be construed as limiting the invention in any way. Given the teachings of the present invention, one of ordinary skill in the related art will contemplate any possible modification based on the present invention, and such should be considered to be within the scope of the present invention. It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "disposed on" another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may also be present. When an element is referred to as being "connected" to another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or intervening elements may also be present. The terms "mounted," "connected," "coupled," and "connected" are to be construed broadly, and may be, for example, mechanically or electrically connected, may be in communication with each other in two elements, may be directly connected, or may be indirectly connected through an intermediary, and the specific meaning of the terms may be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the specific circumstances. The terms "vertical," "horizontal," "upper," "lower," "left," "right," and the like are used herein for illustrative purposes only and are not meant to be the only embodiment.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application belongs. The terminology used herein in the description of the application is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the application. The term "and/or" as used herein includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

In order to solve the problem that the flow guiding nozzle fails to break after being subjected to long-time high-temperature flushing, an aerosolization device is provided in the present application, fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a mechanism of the aerosolization device in an embodiment of the present invention, fig. 2 is an enlarged schematic diagram of a part of the aerosolization device in an embodiment of the present invention, fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a support frame in an embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in fig. 1 to 3, the aerosolization device may include: a smelting chamber 1; an auxiliary bin 2 arranged beside the smelting chamber 1; a support frame 5 capable of rotating around the axis, the support frame 5 being arranged in the smelting chamber 1 and the auxiliary chamber 2; the tundish units 4 are arranged on the supporting frame 5, the tundish units 4 are circumferentially distributed around the axis, and the tundish units 4 can move into the smelting chamber 1 and the auxiliary chamber 2 under the rotation of the supporting frame 5; a melting crucible 3 provided in the melting chamber 1 for heating and melting a metal raw material and pouring molten metal into a tundish unit 4 located in the melting chamber 1; the aerosolization device has at least the following operating positions: one tundish unit 4 is located in the smelting chamber 1 and the other tundish unit 4 is located in the auxiliary chamber 2.

The gas atomizing device in this application can be located in the smelting chamber 1 and the atomizing time of a tundish unit 4 reaches the time of predetermineeing after, stop pouring of smelting crucible 3, remove other tundish units 4 to the pouring position department of smelting crucible 3 through the rotation of support frame 5, thereby realize smelting crucible 3's continuation and empty, continue to atomize through another tundish unit 4, so, constantly circulate, thereby realize alternate atomizing, prevent that the water conservancy diversion mouth 404 in the tundish unit 4 from receiving the fracture inefficacy after long-time high temperature scour, finally lengthen the atomizing time, realize smelting crucible 3's large capacity. Meanwhile, if the tundish unit 4 malfunctions during atomization, it can be moved into the auxiliary chamber 2 through the supporting frame 5, and the malfunctioning tundish unit 4 in the auxiliary chamber 2 is maintained while the tundish unit 4 is atomized in the melting chamber 1, thus greatly increasing the production efficiency. Finally, parameters of the tundish unit 4 in the auxiliary bin 2 can be adjusted according to the atomizing condition of the tundish unit 4 in the smelting chamber 1, and then the parameters are moved into the smelting chamber 1 through the support frame 5 to be atomized, so that the purposes of continuously changing the specification of the spray disc 407, the specification of the flow guide nozzle 404, the pressure of inert gas used for atomization and the like in the atomizing process of one-pot molten metal in the smelting crucible 3 are achieved, and the maximization of each furnace benefit, namely the high flexibility target of the atomizing process is achieved.

As shown in fig. 1, the aerosolization device may include: a smelting chamber 1, an auxiliary bin 2, a supporting frame 5, a plurality of tundish units 4, a smelting crucible 3 and the like. Wherein, the smelting crucible 3 is arranged in the smelting chamber 1, and the smelting crucible 3 can use a large-capacity specification. The melting crucible 3 is used for accommodating a metal raw material, and the metal raw material is melted into molten metal by intermediate frequency electric heating, and the heating power can be determined according to actual needs. The melting crucible 3 can be poured with the aid of auxiliary machinery so that the molten metal is poured into a tundish unit 4 located in the melting chamber 1 in a pouring position.

As shown in fig. 1, the auxiliary chamber 2 is disposed beside the smelting chamber 1, both of which are located in the same horizontal direction. As a practical matter, the auxiliary chamber 2 and the smelting chamber 1 have a common side wall, and the common side wall has a first door 7 thereon.

As shown in fig. 1, a support 5 is provided in the smelting chamber 1 and the auxiliary chamber 2. A part of the support frame 5 is positioned in the smelting chamber 1, and a part of the support frame 5 is positioned in the auxiliary chamber 2. As shown in fig. 2, a plurality of tundish units 4 are arranged on a support frame 5, the plurality of tundish units 4 are circumferentially distributed around the axis, and the tundish units 4 can be moved into the smelting chamber 1 and the auxiliary chamber 2 under the rotation of the support frame 5. As a possibility, the tundish units 4 may be two, which may be symmetrically arranged; the number of the tundish units 4 can be three, and the adjacent tundish units 4 can be adjacent to each other by 120 degrees; the tundish unit 4 may also be four or more.

As shown in fig. 1, the aerosolizing device has at least the following operating positions, one tundish unit 4 being located in the smelting chamber 1 and the other tundish unit 4 being located in the auxiliary chamber 2. The tundish unit 4 located in the melting chamber 1 may be located in the pouring position of the melting crucible 3 to receive molten metal poured from the melting crucible 3 to effect atomization of the molten metal. The tundish unit 4 in the auxiliary bin 2 can adjust parameters of the tundish unit, wherein the parameters can comprise the specification of the spray disc 407, the specification of the flow guide nozzle 404, the pressure of inert gas used for atomization and the like, and the tundish unit 4 with faults can be maintained, and after the maintenance is completed, the tundish unit 4 is switched into the smelting chamber 1 through the supporting frame 5, so that the atomization operation can be continued.

As shown in fig. 1, when the first door 7 is opened, the support frame 5 is rotated to switch at least one tundish unit 4 between the auxiliary bin 2 and the smelting chamber 1 through the first door 7. The first bin gate 7 may be one or two. When the first door 7 is one, the first door 7 is larger, which needs to ensure that the tundish unit 4 in the auxiliary chamber 2 is moved out to the smelting chamber 1 and the tundish unit 4 in the smelting chamber 1 is moved out to the auxiliary chamber 2 when the support frame 5 is rotated. When the two first bin gates 7 are separated by a certain distance, the tundish unit 4 in the auxiliary bin 2 is moved out to the smelting chamber 1 through one first bin gate 7, and the tundish unit 4 in the smelting chamber 1 is moved out to the auxiliary bin 2 through the other first bin gate 7 when the supporting frame 5 rotates.

As shown in fig. 1, the auxiliary chamber 2 has a second door 21 on an upper end surface thereof, which can be opened. When the tundish unit 4 in the smelting chamber 1 is undergoing an atomizing process, the second door 21 may be opened to perform a corresponding operation on the tundish unit 4 in the auxiliary chamber 2 when maintenance or parameter adjustment of the tundish unit 4 in the auxiliary chamber 2 is required. After the re-operation is completed, the gas in the auxiliary chamber 2 is treated again to be replaced with inert gas. In the atomization process, the parameters of the tundish unit 4 in the auxiliary bin 2 are adjusted and maintained in real time, so that the production efficiency, the atomization success rate and the process adjustability can be greatly improved, the manufacturing cost is reduced, and the purposes of high capacity and high flexibility of the gas atomization equipment are finally realized.

As shown in fig. 2 and 3, the entire support frame 5 may be in a solid of revolution structure. As a possibility, the support 5 may comprise a rotation center portion 51 connected to the driving mechanism 12, a plurality of support arms 52 extending in the radial direction. The rotation center portion 51 has a through hole in which a second rotation shaft is penetrated to be in driving connection with the driving mechanism 12. The support arms 52 are circumferentially distributed about the rotation center portion 51, and preferably, in order to ensure balance of the support frame 5, the support arms 52 are uniformly circumferentially distributed about the rotation center portion 51. One end of each support arm 52 is connected to the rotation center portion 51, and the other end of each support arm 52 is provided with one tundish unit 4.

As possible, the tundish unit 4 may comprise a tundish heater 401, a graphite jacket 402, a graphite jacket 403, a flow nozzle 404, a heating cap 405, a tundish 406 and a spray disk 407. Fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a tundish unit in the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 5, a tundish heater 401 and a spray disc 407 are horizontally arranged at an upper-lower interval, a graphite sleeve 402 is also coaxially sleeved in the tundish heater 401, the graphite sleeve 402 is of an open-top U-shaped structure, a tundish 406 is also coaxially sleeved in the tundish 402, the tundish 406 is of an open-top V-shaped structure, and the inside of the tundish 406 is communicated with the inside of the smelting chamber 1. The graphite small sleeve 403 is a vertically arranged revolving body structure, the upper end and the lower end of the graphite small sleeve 403 are respectively provided with external threads, the graphite small sleeve 403 is embedded in the middle position of the bottom of the tundish heater 401, and the upper end of the graphite small sleeve extends vertically upwards and is in threaded connection with the middle position of the bottom of the graphite sleeve 402 and the middle position of the bottom of the tundish 406 in sequence; the interior of the graphite small sleeve 403 is communicated with the interior of the tundish 406, a heating cap 405 is also sleeved at the lower end of the graphite small sleeve coaxially, the upper end of the heating cap 405 is in threaded connection with the lower end of the graphite small sleeve 403, and the lower end of the heating cap vertically extends downwards to form a tundish heater 401 and is in threaded connection and fixation with the middle position of the spray disc 407; the inside of the heating cap 405 is also sleeved with the diversion nozzle 404 in a coaxial way, and the heating cap 405 plays a role in heating and preserving heat for the diversion nozzle 404, thereby preventing nodulation and blockage caused by cooling of molten steel. The inlet end of the flow nozzle 404 communicates with the interior of the tundish 406 through the graphite jacket 403, and the outlet end communicates with the interior of the atomizing chamber 13 through the spray disk 407. The invention adopts the assembly mode of threaded connection, has higher matching precision and realizes the tight combination of the tundish unit 4. Wherein, after adding the refractory clay in the inner threaded hole at the bottom of the tundish 406, the refractory clay is connected with the upper end of the graphite small sleeve 403 in a threaded manner, so that the molten steel is prevented from leaking.

As shown in fig. 3, the support arm 52 is provided with a gas flow passage 521, and the gas flow passage 521 communicates with the nozzle plate 407 in the tundish unit 4. As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the aerosolization device may include: the plurality of first inert gas pipes 8 are connected one to one with the plurality of gas flow passages 521 in the support frame 5, respectively, and each first inert gas pipe 8 is provided with a first opening and closing valve 81. By controlling the first on-off valve 81 on each first inert gas pipe 8, the inert gas can be controlled to enter different gas flow passages 521 on the support arm 52, respectively, to enter the shower tray 407 of the tundish unit 4 at different positions on the support arm 52.

As shown in fig. 2, the aerosolization device may include: a drive mechanism 12 comprising: a motor 121; a first bevel gear 122 connected to an output shaft of the motor 121; a second bevel gear 123 and a first gear 124 coupled together by a first shaft, the first bevel gear 122 being meshed with the second bevel gear 123; the second gear 125 is engaged with the first gear 124 through a second gear 125 connected to the rotation center portion 51 by a second rotation shaft. For example, the reduction ratio between the first bevel gear 122 and the second bevel gear 123 may be controlled to be 10:1 to 100:1, the reduction ratio between the first gear 124 and the second gear 125 may be controlled between 5:1 and 50: 1. Through the structure, on one hand, a large reduction ratio can be realized, on the other hand, the output shaft of the motor 121 can be transversely arranged, so that the motor 121 can be conveniently fixed and arranged, and meanwhile, the overall height of the driving mechanism 12 in the vertical direction is reduced, the driving mechanism is conveniently installed in the smelting chamber 1, and the layout of other mechanisms is not influenced. A proximity switch 23 is provided near the pouring position of the tundish unit 4, and when the proximity switch 23 detects that the tundish unit 4 is rotated to the pouring position, the motor 121 is controlled to stop rotating.

Fig. 4 is a schematic view of the structure of the support wheels and the guide rail in the embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in fig. 2 and 4, a support wheel 53 capable of rolling is mounted at the lower end of each support arm 52. The aerosolization device may include: the guide rail 9 is arranged in the smelting chamber 1, the guide rail 9 is circular, and the supporting wheels 53 are arranged on the guide rail 9. With the above-described structure, the support of the weight of the support arm 52 and the tundish unit 4 is achieved by means of the support wheels 53, while the rotation of the support arm 52 is also facilitated. As a possibility, as shown in fig. 4, the supporting wheel 53 has a groove, and the guide rail 9 has a protrusion matching the groove. The mechanism can realize the stability and concentricity of the supporting arm 52 in the rotating process, thereby realizing the stable atomization of the molten metal.

As shown in fig. 1, the gas atomization apparatus may include an atomization chamber 13, where the atomization chamber 13 is disposed in parallel with the smelting chamber 1, the atomization chamber 13 is communicated with the smelting chamber 1, and the atomization chamber 13 is located below the smelting chamber 1. The atomizing chamber 13 is located in particular below the tundish unit 4 in the melting chamber 1 where the melting crucible 3 is dumped, to receive the atomized metal powder. The upper inlet of the tundish unit 4 communicates with the interior of the smelting chamber 1 and the lower outlet communicates with the interior of the atomizing chamber 13. As a possibility, as shown in fig. 1, a deflector 22 is arranged above the connection between the atomizing chamber 13 and the smelting chamber 1. The deflector 22 is located in the smelting chamber 1, the horizontal cross section of the deflector 22 is circular, and the smelting chamber 1 is used for introducing the metal powder generated by atomizing the tundish unit 4 into the atomizing chamber 13, so as to prevent the metal powder from entering the smelting chamber 1.

As a possibility, a vacuum gauge may be provided in the middle of the outer wall of the atomizing chamber 13, the monitoring end of which is disposed in the direction of the inside of the atomizing chamber 13.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the lower end of the atomizing chamber 13 is in sealed communication with the input end of the cyclone 14, the lower end of the cyclone 14 is connected with a powder collecting tank 15, and a first on-off valve 18 is arranged between the powder collecting tank 15 and the lower end of the cyclone 14. The gas outlet of the cyclone 14 is connected with the dust remover 16 in a sealing way, and a second on-off valve 19 is arranged between the gas outlet of the cyclone 14 and the dust remover 16. The lower extreme of dust remover 16 is also connected with album powder jar 15, is provided with third on-off valve 20 between the lower extreme of dust remover 16 and the album powder jar 15. The dust remover 16 is communicated with a high-pressure fan 17 in a sealing way, and metal powder to be generated is collected through a powder collecting tank 15 under the suction effect of the fan.

As shown in fig. 1, the aerosolization device may include: a second inert gas pipe 10 communicating with the auxiliary chamber 2, the second inert gas pipe 10 being provided with a second opening/closing valve 101; a third inert gas pipe 11 communicating with the melting chamber 1, and a third on-off valve 111 is provided in the third inert gas pipe 11.

As shown in fig. 1, the aerosolization device may comprise a vacuum evacuation unit 6 for evacuating the auxiliary chamber 2 and the smelting chamber 1. The evacuation unit 6 can be in communication with the auxiliary chamber 2, which can also be in communication with the smelting chamber 1. Since the melting chamber 1 is in communication with the atomizing chamber 13, the evacuation unit 6 can be in direct communication with the atomizing chamber 13. The evacuation unit 6 communicates with the auxiliary chamber 2 through a line provided with a fourth on-off valve 24, and the evacuation unit 6 communicates with the atomizing chamber 13 or the smelting chamber 1 through a line provided with a fifth on-off valve 25. In order to increase the degree of vacuum drawn by the vacuum drawing unit 6, the vacuum drawing unit 6 may include a Roots pump 62 and a mechanical pump 61. The mechanical pump 61 is connected to a Roots pump 62, and the Roots pump 62 can be communicated with the auxiliary chamber 2 and the atomizing chamber 13 or the smelting chamber 1 through pipelines respectively. After the vacuumizing unit 6 vacuumizes the auxiliary bin 2 and/or the smelting chamber 1, introducing inert gas into the auxiliary bin 2 through the second inert gas pipeline 10; and then inert gas is introduced into the smelting chamber 1 through a third inert gas pipeline 11, so that the phenomenon that the oxygen contacts with molten metal to cause the oxygen content of metal powder of a final finished product to be higher is prevented, and the quality of the product is seriously reduced.

The aerosolization method of the aerosolization device in the present application may include the steps of:

the melting crucible 3 is filled with a metal raw material, a tundish unit 4 is mounted on a support frame 5, and a proper specification of a spray disc 407 and a proper specification of a guide nozzle 404 are selected. The same specification of the spray disc 407 and the diversion nozzle 404 can be adopted for carrying out split capacity production, and different specifications of the spray disc 407 and the diversion nozzle 404 can be adopted for carrying out process gradient test. As a practical matter, the circumferential slot size of the nozzle 407 may be selected between 0.4mm and 1.8mm, and the diameter of the nozzle 404 may be selected between 3mm and 8 mm.

The cover of the smelting chamber 1 and the second door 21 of the auxiliary chamber 2 are closed. And vacuumizing the smelting chamber 1 until the inert gas is introduced, for example, vacuumizing the smelting chamber 1 until the pressure in the equipment is 100-103 kPa, closing the vacuumizing unit 6, introducing inert gas such as argon through a third inert gas pipeline 11 until 99.999% of high-purity inert gas is introduced into the smelting chamber 1, and stopping charging after the pressure in the equipment is 100-103 kPa. In the process, a first bin gate 7 between the smelting chamber 1 and the auxiliary bin 2 can be opened, so that the smelting chamber 1 and the auxiliary bin 2 are in a communicated state; the first bin gate 7 between the smelting chamber 1 and the auxiliary bin 2 can be closed, and the smelting chamber 1 is vacuumized and then inert gas is introduced.

The motor 121 is started, the supporting frame 5 is driven to rotate through the driving mechanism 12, the rotation speed can be 1r/min to 100r/min, and after the tundish unit 4 reaches the position right above the deflector 22, the proximity switch 23 gives out a signal, and the motor 121 stops. The metal raw material in the melting crucible 3 is heated and melted into molten metal. Specifically, the intermediate frequency power, for example, the intermediate frequency power may be 100kw to 500kw to heat the metal raw material by turning on the melting crucible 3. Meanwhile, the power of the tundish unit 4 can be started, for example, the power is 10kw to 40kw, so that the tundish 406 and the flow guiding nozzle 404 are ensured to have a certain temperature, and molten metal blockage during atomization is prevented.

Inert gas is introduced into the tundish unit 4 of the tundish 407 where the melting crucible 3 is ready to be poured, and molten metal in the melting crucible 3 is poured into the tundish unit 4 to effect atomization of the molten metal. Specifically, the temperature of the molten metal in the crucible 3 to be smelted and the temperature of the inner wall of the tundish 406 reach the process requirement values, the high-pressure fan 17 and the second on-off valve 19 are opened, the first on-off valve 81 of the first inert gas pipeline 8 corresponding to the tundish unit 4 right above the guide plate 22 is opened, the crucible is poured, atomization is started, the atomization pressure can be 3MPa to 5MPa, and the molten metal position in the tundish unit 4 is ensured to be between 1/3 and 1/2 of the total height at the moment.

If the capacity is allocated, a plurality of same tundish units 4 are respectively arranged on the support frame 5 before loading, after the first tundish unit 4 is atomized for a preset time, the smelting crucible 3 is stopped from toppling over after 10 to 15 minutes, a first opening and closing valve 81 of a first inert gas pipeline 8 corresponding to the first tundish unit 4 is closed, and a motor 121 is started to drive the support frame 5 and the tundish unit 4 to rotate; after the second tundish unit 4 reaches the position right above the guide plate 22, the proximity switch 23 gives a signal, the motor 121 stops, the first on-off valve 81 of the first inert gas pipeline 8 corresponding to the second tundish unit 4 is opened, the melting crucible 3 is poured, the atomization process is continued, and the circulation is performed until the molten metal in the melting crucible 3 is atomized.

If a process gradient test is performed, a plurality of tundish units 4 with different specifications are respectively installed on the support frame 5 before loading, parameters of a second tundish unit 4 in the auxiliary bin 2, such as specification of a spray disc 407, diameter of a flow guiding nozzle 404, atomization pressure and the like, can be adjusted in real time according to atomization conditions of the first tundish unit 4 in the smelting chamber 1, and after the adjustment is completed, the auxiliary bin 2 is vacuumized, and then inert gas is introduced. The method specifically comprises the following steps:

Closing a first bin gate 7 between the smelting chamber 1 and the auxiliary bin 2, opening a second bin gate 21 right above the auxiliary bin 2, disassembling and replacing parameters of a tundish unit 4 positioned in the auxiliary bin 2, and closing the bin gate right above; opening the vacuumizing unit 6 and the fourth opening and closing valve 24 to independently vacuumize the auxiliary bin 2, and simultaneously opening the power supply of the tundish unit 4 positioned in the auxiliary bin 2; when the vacuum degree in the auxiliary chamber 2 reaches between 1Pa and 10Pa, a second opening and closing valve 101 on the second inert gas pipeline 10 can be opened for inert gas backfilling, and after the pressure of the auxiliary chamber 2 is 100kPa to 103kPa, a first chamber door 7 between the smelting chamber 1 and the auxiliary chamber 2 is opened; after the first tundish unit 4 is atomized for a preset time, pouring the smelting crucible 3 is stopped after 10-15 min, closing a first on-off valve 81 of a first inert gas pipeline 8 corresponding to the first tundish unit 4, and starting a motor 121 to drive the support frame 5 and the tundish unit 4 to rotate; after the other tundish unit 4 originally located in the auxiliary bin 2 reaches the position right above the guide plate 22, the proximity switch 23 gives a signal, the motor 121 stops, the first on-off valve 81 of the first inert gas pipeline 8 corresponding to the other tundish unit 4 is opened, inert gas is introduced into the spray tray 407 of the other tundish unit 4, which is ready to be poured, of the melting crucible 3, and molten metal in the melting crucible 3 is poured into the other tundish unit 4 to realize atomization of the molten metal.

By analogy, the tundish units 4 with different specifications can be replaced in real time, and even if the phenomenon of blocking occurs, the tundish units 4 can be replaced in real time by using the same method, so that all molten metal in the smelting crucible 3 is atomized, and high-flexibility production of large-capacity gas atomization equipment is realized.

After the molten metal is completely atomized, the first on-off valve 81, the second on-off valve 19 and the high-pressure fan 17 of the first inert gas pipeline 8 can be closed, the pouring of the melting crucible 3 is stopped, and the powder is prepared by the gas atomization device.

Example 1

By adopting the application to prepare the 316L powder for 3D printing, the specific process is as follows: 1t of 316L bar raw material is filled in the smelting crucible 3, a plurality of spraying discs 407 and guide nozzles 404 with the same specification are arranged on a supporting frame 5 for carrying out split capacity production, the specification of the spraying discs 407 is a parallel circular seam structure, the circular seam size is 0.8mm, and the diameter of a leakage nozzle is 5mm; closing a second bin gate 21 of the furnace cover of the smelting chamber 1 and the auxiliary bin 2, and opening a first bin gate 7 between the smelting chamber 1 and the auxiliary bin 2 to realize a communication state between the smelting chamber 1 and the auxiliary bin 2; vacuumizing the smelting chamber 1, and then introducing inert gas; the motor 121 is started, the supporting frame 5 is driven to rotate through the driving mechanism 12, and after the tundish unit 4 reaches the position right above the deflector 22, the proximity switch 23 gives out a signal, and the motor 121 stops. Starting intermediate frequency electricity of a smelting crucible 3, wherein the intermediate frequency power is 280kw, and heating metal raw materials; the power of the tundish unit 4 is started, the power is 25kw, the tundish 406 and the diversion nozzle 404 are guaranteed to have a certain temperature, and molten steel blockage during atomization is prevented; when the temperature of molten steel in the crucible 3 to be smelted reaches 1620+/-20 ℃ and the temperature of the inner wall of the tundish 406 is more than or equal to 1200 ℃, the high-pressure fan 17 and the second on-off valve 19 are opened, the first on-off valve 81 of the first inert gas pipeline 8 corresponding to the tundish unit 4 right above the guide plate 22 is opened, the crucible is poured, atomization is started, the atomization pressure can be 4.2MPa, and the molten steel position in the tundish unit 4 is ensured to be between 1/3 and 1/2 of the total height at any time; after the first tundish unit 4 is atomized for 14min, the pouring of the smelting crucible 3 is stopped, the first set of inert gas hand valve is closed, and the motor 121 is started to drive the support frame 5 and the tundish unit 4 to rotate. Closing a first on-off valve 81 of a first inert gas pipeline 8 corresponding to the first tundish unit 4, and starting a motor 121 to drive the support frame 5 and the tundish unit 4 to rotate; after the second tundish unit 4 reaches the position right above the guide plate 22, the proximity switch 23 gives a signal, the motor 121 stops, the first on-off valve 81 of the first inert gas pipeline 8 corresponding to the second tundish unit 4 is opened, the atomization pressure is 4.2MPa, the melting crucible 3 is poured to continue the atomization process, and the circulation is performed until the molten metal in the melting crucible 3 is atomized; after the molten metal is completely atomized, the first on-off valve 81, the second on-off valve 19 and the high-pressure fan 17 of the first inert gas pipeline 8 can be closed, the pouring of the melting crucible 3 is stopped, and the powder is prepared by the gas atomization device.

Example 2

Adopt this application to prepare the COCRMO powder for 3D printing, the concrete process is: 1t of CoCrMo bar raw material is filled in a smelting crucible 3; closing a second bin gate 21 of the furnace cover of the smelting chamber 1 and the auxiliary bin 2, and opening a first bin gate 7 between the smelting chamber 1 and the auxiliary bin 2 to realize a communication state between the smelting chamber 1 and the auxiliary bin 2; vacuumizing the smelting chamber 1, and then introducing inert gas; the motor 121 is started, the supporting frame 5 is driven to rotate through the driving mechanism 12, and after the tundish unit 4 reaches the position right above the deflector 22, the proximity switch 23 gives out a signal, and the motor 121 stops. Starting intermediate frequency electricity of a smelting crucible 3, wherein the intermediate frequency power is 300kw, and heating metal raw materials; the power of the tundish unit 4 is turned on, the power is 30kw, the tundish 406 and the diversion nozzle 404 are guaranteed to have a certain temperature, and molten steel blockage during atomization is prevented; when the temperature of molten steel in the crucible 3 to be smelted reaches 1680+/-20 ℃ and the temperature of the inner wall of the tundish 406 is more than or equal to 1250 ℃, the high-pressure fan 17 and the second on-off valve 19 are opened, the first on-off valve 81 of the first inert gas pipeline 8 corresponding to the tundish unit 4 right above the guide plate 22 is opened, the crucible is poured, atomization is started, the atomization pressure can be 4.5MPa, and the molten steel position in the tundish unit 4 is ensured to be between 1/3 and 1/2 of the total height at the moment; with the first tundish unit 4, the circumferential gap size is 0.6mm, the diameter of the nozzle 404 is 6mm, and the atomization is normal. After the first tundish unit 4 is atomized for 8min, the pouring of the smelting crucible 3 is stopped, the first set of inert gas hand valve is closed, and the starting motor 121 drives the supporting frame 5 and the tundish unit 4 to rotate. Closing a first on-off valve 81 of a first inert gas pipeline 8 corresponding to the first tundish unit 4, and starting a motor 121 to drive the support frame 5 and the tundish unit 4 to rotate; after the second tundish unit 4 reaches the position right above the guide plate 22, the proximity switch 23 gives a signal, the motor 121 stops, the first on-off valve 81 of the first inert gas pipeline 8 corresponding to the second tundish unit 4 is opened, the atomization pressure is 4.5MPa, the circumferential seam size of the second tundish unit 4 is 0.9mm, the diameter of a discharge spout is 5mm, and atomization is normal. After stable atomization for 8min, the melting crucible 3 is stopped to topple over, the first opening and closing valve 81 of the first inert gas pipeline 8 corresponding to the two tundish units 4 is closed, and the motor 121 is started to drive the support frame 5 and the tundish units 4 to rotate. Using the third tundish unit 4 having a circumferential seam of 1.2mm and a discharge spout of 4mm, if the atomizing 30S is blocked, the first on-off valve 81 of the first inert gas pipe 8 corresponding to the third tundish unit 4 is closed to stop pouring the melting crucible 3, and thereafter the tundish unit 4 is replaced by performing the following operations: closing a first bin gate 7 between the smelting chamber 1 and the auxiliary bin chamber 2, opening a second bin gate 21 right above the auxiliary bin chamber 2, disassembling and replacing the first tundish unit 4, circumferentially sewing the replaced spray disc 407 to 0.9mm, and closing the second bin gate 21, wherein the diameter of a leakage mouth is 4 mm; opening the vacuumizing unit 6 and the fourth opening and closing valve 24, and independently vacuumizing the auxiliary bin 2, and simultaneously opening a power supply of the tundish unit 4 positioned in the auxiliary bin 2, wherein the power is 30kw; when the vacuum degree in the auxiliary chamber 2 reaches between 1Pa and 10Pa, a second opening and closing valve 101 on the second inert gas pipeline 10 can be opened for inert gas backfilling, and after the pressure of the auxiliary chamber 2 is 100kPa to 103kPa, a first chamber door 7 between the smelting chamber 1 and the auxiliary chamber 2 is opened; the motor 121 is started to drive the support frame 5 and the tundish unit 4 to rotate, after the first tundish unit 4 reaches the position right above the guide plate 22, the proximity switch 23 gives a signal, the motor 121 stops, the first opening and closing valve 81 of the first inert gas pipeline 8 corresponding to the first tundish unit 4 is opened, inert gas is introduced into the spray disc 407 of the first tundish unit 4 ready to be poured into the melting crucible 3, molten metal in the melting crucible 3 is poured into the first tundish unit 4 to realize atomization of the molten metal, and stable and normal atomization can be found, and the atomization time is 17min. After the molten metal is completely atomized, the first on-off valve 81, the second on-off valve 19 and the high-pressure fan 17 of the first inert gas pipeline 8 can be closed, the pouring of the melting crucible 3 is stopped, and the powder is prepared by the gas atomization device.

The comparison of the conventional aerosolization technique using a single tundish unit 4 with the aerosolization technique of the present application is shown in table 1.

Table 1 comparison of conventional single tundish unit 4 aerosolization techniques with those of the present application

The application can achieve the following beneficial effects:

1. the high-capacity smelting crucible 3 and the plurality of tundish units 4 arranged on the supporting frame 5 are arranged in the smelting chamber 1, and the supporting frame 5 is driven to rotate together with the tundish units 4, so that alternate atomization is realized, the nozzle 404 is prevented from being broken and invalid after being flushed at a high temperature for a long time, the atomization time is finally prolonged, the atomization time can be up to 2 times or more, the technical bottleneck problem of domestic high-capacity crucible production is solved, the smelting waiting time of separate times is reduced, and the production efficiency is greatly improved.

2. The support frame 5 is internally provided with a gas flow passage 521, and inert gas output of the spray trays 407 of different tundish units 4 is respectively controlled by a first on-off valve 81 on an external first inert gas pipeline 8, so that inert gas pressures can be respectively different, and the current atomizing gas requirements can be completely met. The bottom of the supporting frame 5 is provided with supporting wheels 53 and rails, concentricity of the tundish unit 4 and the guide plate 22 is guaranteed through the proximity switch 23, and smooth atomization is guaranteed.

3. An auxiliary bin 2 is arranged outside the smelting chamber 1, sealing with the smelting chamber 1 is realized through a first bin gate 7, and a proper specification of a spray disc 407 and a guide nozzle 404 can be selected for a tundish unit 4 positioned in the auxiliary bin 2 during atomization through a single vacuumizing pipeline and an inert gas pipeline for supplementing inert gas; the support frame 5 and the tundish unit 4 are driven to rotate by the driving mechanism 12, so that the tundish unit 4 positioned in the auxiliary bin 2 moves to the position right above the guide plate 22 in the smelting chamber 1. The method can be used for carrying out split capacity production or process gradient test, ensures the capability of timely processing and real-time process adjustment of the blocking package during the production of the large-capacity crucible, greatly improves the production efficiency, the atomization success rate and the process adjustability, and achieves the purposes of large capacity and high flexibility of the gas atomization equipment.

All articles and references, including patent applications and publications, disclosed herein are incorporated by reference for all purposes. The term "consisting essentially of …" describing a combination shall include the identified element, ingredient, component or step as well as other elements, ingredients, components or steps that do not substantially affect the essential novel features of the combination. The use of the terms "comprises" or "comprising" to describe combinations of elements, components, or steps herein also contemplates embodiments consisting essentially of such elements, components, or steps. By using the term "may" herein, it is intended that any attribute described as "may" be included is optional. Multiple elements, components, parts or steps can be provided by a single integrated element, component, part or step. Alternatively, a single integrated element, component, part or step may be divided into separate plural elements, components, parts or steps. The disclosure of "a" or "an" to describe an element, component, section or step is not intended to exclude other elements, components, sections or steps.

In this specification, each embodiment is described in a progressive manner, and each embodiment is mainly described by differences from other embodiments, and identical and similar parts between the embodiments are all enough to be referred to each other. The above embodiments are provided to illustrate the technical concept and features of the present invention and are intended to enable those skilled in the art to understand the content of the present invention and implement the same, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. All equivalent changes or modifications made in accordance with the spirit of the present invention should be construed to be included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An aerosolization device, the aerosolization device comprising:

a smelting chamber;

an auxiliary bin arranged beside the smelting chamber;

The aerosolization device has at least the following operating positions: one of the tundish units is located in the smelting chamber and the other tundish unit is located in the auxiliary chamber;

the support frame comprises a rotation center part connected with the driving mechanism and a plurality of support arms extending along the radial direction, one end of each support arm is connected with the rotation center part, and the other end of each support arm is provided with a tundish unit; the support arm is internally provided with a gas flow passage, the tundish unit comprises a spray disc, and the gas flow passage is communicated with the spray disc; the aerosolization device further includes: the first inert gas pipelines are respectively connected with the gas flow passages in the supporting frame, and each first inert gas pipeline is provided with a first opening and closing valve; the lower extreme of each support arm is installed and is rolled the supporting wheel, aerosolization device still includes: the guide rail is arranged in the smelting chamber, the guide rail is circular, and the supporting wheels are arranged on the guide rail.

2. The aerosolization device of claim 1, wherein the aerosolization device comprises a vacuum unit for evacuating the auxiliary plenum and the melting chamber.

3. The aerosolization device of claim 1 wherein the auxiliary chamber and the melting chamber have a common sidewall with a first door thereon, the support frame rotating when the first door is open to switch at least one of the tundish units between the auxiliary chamber and the melting chamber through the first door.

4. An aerosolization apparatus as in claim 1 wherein the auxiliary chamber has a second openable door on an upper end surface thereof.

5. An aerosolization device in accordance with claim 1 wherein the aerosolization device further comprises: a second inert gas pipe communicated with the auxiliary bin, and a second opening and closing valve is arranged on the second inert gas pipe;

6. An aerosolization device in accordance with claim 1 wherein the aerosolization device further comprises:

7. An aerosolization method employing the aerosolization device of any one of claims 1-6, wherein the aerosolization method comprises:

vacuumizing the smelting chamber and then introducing inert gas;