Molten salt collector for plasma separations
US6632369B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 11, 2001 |
| Grant date | Oct 14, 2003 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 11, 2021 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01J49/28
- WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A collector for use in removing metal ions from a plasma in a vacuum chamber includes a collector plate that is mounted inside the chamber and formed with an internal cooling channel. An injector introduces a dissociated salt into the chamber with a first throughput value, and it introduces a plasma including metal ions into the chamber with a lower second throughput value. A pump is used to pump a liquid coolant through the cooling channel to maintain the collector plate at a temperature that forms a portion of the salt as a protective layer on the collector plate, and causes the salt to thereafter deposit on the layer in a molten condition at a faster rate than evaporation therefrom to trap metal ions therein. The trapped metal ions are then removed with the molten salt from the chamber.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.