CA2142193C

CA2142193C - Methods and apparatus for high-shear material treatment

Info

Publication number: CA2142193C
Application number: CA002142193A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Richard A. Holl
Original assignee: Holl Technologies Co
Current assignee: Kreido Laboratories
Priority date: 1992-08-26
Filing date: 1993-08-24
Publication date: 2003-12-30
Anticipated expiration: 2013-08-24
Also published as: CA2142193A1; JP3309093B2; DE69326897D1; EP0656814B1; US5538191A; WO1994004275A1; US5279463A; EP0656814A4; EP0656814A1; JPH08500524A; DE69326897T2

Abstract

High-shear treated materials are passed through a high-shear treatment zone which allows the coexistence of free supra-Kolmogoroff eddies larger than the smallest possible Kolmogoroff eddy diameter and forced sub-Kolmogoroff eddies smaller than this diameter. This zone includes a subsidiary higher-shear zone for suppressing these free eddies. The passage walls (40, 44, 102, 108) move relative io one another transverse to the flow to force the simultaneous development of supra-Kolmogoroff and sub-Kolmogoroff eddies while maintaining liquid films adherent to the passage surfaces. The movement produces only forced sub-Kolmogoroff eddies in the susidiary zone while maintaining a non-turbulent flow. Ultrasonic oscillations (52) may be appli-ed to cause elastohydrodynamic pressure and viscosity increases and/or production of smaller sub-Kolmogoroff eddies. One ap-paratus includes an inner cylinder rotatable (46) inside a hollow outer cylinder (38), another consists of two circular coaxial plates, and the rotational axis can be vertical or horizontal.

Description

Methods and Apparatus for Hiqh-Shear Material Treatment Technical Field The invention is concerned with methods and apparatus for high shear treatment of flowable materials, the term high-shear as used herein including both mixing and milling, the term mixing in turn including dissolving, suspending and dispersing, and the term milling in turn including grinding, comminuting and deagglomerating. The flowable materials employed each comprise at least two components, one of which is a liquid. The invention is concerned more especially, but not exclusively, with such methods and apparatus in which the flowable materials comprise slurry suspensions of finely divided ceramic materials.
Background Art Increasingly a number of manufacturing processes require the use of finely divided starting materials of, for example, particle size less than 5 microns, frequently of particle size less than 1 micron, and increasingly of particle size as small as 0.1 micron. This is particularly the case with processes for ceramics, where the use of such finely-divided raw materials makes it possible to produce articles having improved properties, such as improved strength, mechanical and thermal shock resistance, and of maximum or near maximum theoretical density after firing or sintering. The particle size distribution is also an increasingly important criterion, and particularly the requirement that all of the particles are of a size within a W~ 94/04275 ~~ ~ 4 '~ ~ t~ ~ PCd'/US93/07931 z narrow range about the nominal value. In industrial practice the achievement of such uniformity of particle size is extremely difficult and considerably increases the cost of production. .
For example, the manufacture of a ceramic part may require that the starting material be of average particle size 0.3 micron and maximum particle size 1.0 micron, such a small maximum size being necessary to permit, for example, the part to be superplastically forged. It is expected v that the particle size distribution will have the typical bell-shape characteristic, with the majority of the material (e. g. about 70% by weight) of about the average size, while small portions te.g. about 15% each) are oversize and undersize. Even though the material was milled to be of that average size, it is unlikely that as received by its ultimate user it is still in the same state o~ relatively uniform fine division, since with all particles, and particularly with such fine particles, agglomeration begins immediately the powder leaves the grinding mill, and z0 continues during subsequent handling. Frequently the powders are pelletized to facilitate their transport and handling, and must subsequently be de-palletized by grinding. The result is that the mateiial is now non-uniform with at least a portion outside the specified range, and there is a high probability it includes a large number of big particles whose presence causes defects in the resultant sintered products. It is also important that the processing of the material, particularly the grinding, does ' not introduce any appreciable amount of contaminating particles, e.g. less than 0.1% by weight, and preferably less than 0.01% by weight.
Stone (carborundum) and colloid mills are known for use is paint pigment grinding and milling and consist essentially of two accurately shaped smooth stones working against each other, one of which is held stationary while the other is rotated at high speed 13600 to 5400 rpm) with a gap that is regarded by this industry as very small W~ 94/O~t275 PC'iL/US93/07931 separating the two relatively movable surfacesd Thus, typically the spacing between the two faces is adjustable from positive contact to_an appropriate distance, which with such mills is usually from a minimum of 25 micrometers to 3s much as 3,000 micrometers, but is usually of the order of 50-75 micrometers. In the typical stone mill a charge which is already mixed is fed through a truncated conical gap to the milling region, which has the shape of a flat annular ring, while in a colloid mill, which also requires an already mixed charge, the milling region has the shape of a truncated cone. The grinding of the pigment in its liquid vehicle is produced by the high shear rate smearing action tha takes place between the parallel faces of the stones as the material is fed into the gap by gravity, or under pressure. A separation gap of 75 micrometers is said to produce a particle grind having an average garticle size of 2-3 micrometers, although the particle size distribution is not given, and substantially larger particles are ;~ cer ainly present. Such mills are satisfactory for such 20, purpbses where the uniformity, particle size distribution, maximum particle size and the degree of contamination are relatively uncritical.

~I~S~,OSURE 03~ I~~NTION .
It is a principal object of the invention to provide new methods and apparatus for the high-shear treatment of flowable materials comprising at least two components, one of which is a liquid,, such high-shear ' ~ treatment comprising for example uniform mixing, which includes suspension, dispersion, and solution of gases and powdered materials in liquid vehicles, and/or uniform milling, which includes grinding, deagglomeration, and comminution o powdered materials in slurry suspensions thereof .

It is a more specific object to provide such methods and apparatus that are particularly applicable to ,f, .., ,.~~. . .,;~ .,.;,...., . ' ~',~.,. --;;. , ' .:,:', ~,;~....; ,:... ~w '::r..
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'VV~ 94/04275 rc .. C PCT/US93/07931 the uniform milling of finely divided ceramic materials in slurry suspensions thereof, Tn accordance with the present invention there is ' provided new methods for high-shear treatment of flowable materials as defined herein, the methods comprising:
passing the material to be treated in a flow direction in a flow path constituted by a passage between two closely spaced passage surfaces provided by respective mill members. the passage having an inlet thereto and an outlet therefrom;
characterised in that:
the flaw path includes an overall high-shear treatment zone in which the spacing between the passage surfaces allows the coexistence of free supra-Ko:lmogoroff eddies which are larger than the smallest Kolmogoroff eddy diameter for the flowing material and forced sub-Kolmogoroff .
eddies which axe smaller than the smallest Kolmogoroff eddy diameter; :»:.
the overall high-shear treatment zone includes at least a portion thereof in which.the passage spacing is smaller than in the remainder of the zone to provide a subsidiary higher-shear treatment zone in which free supra-Kolmagoroff eddies are suppressed during passage of .the material therethrough; and while the material is moving in the ovexall high-shear treatment zone the mill members are moved relative to one another to thereby move the mill passage surfaces ' relative to one another in a direction transverse to the ' ~ flow direction at a relative speed such as to force the simultaneous development of supra-Kolmogoroff and sub-Kolmogoroff eddies for the treatment of the material therein on a supra-micron and sub-micron scale with maintenance of the respective liquid films adhereing to the relatively moving passage surfaces, so as to thereby render the treated material as uniform as possible;
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2:142193 dV0 94/04275 PCf/U593/07931 such relative movement producing in the subsidiary higher--shear treatment zone only forced sub-Kolmogoroff eddies with maintenance of non-turbulent flow.

Also in accardance with the present invention " 5 there is provided new apparatus for high-shear treatment of flowable materials employing the methods as defined in the immediately preceding paragraph.

Preferably the subsidiary higher-shear treatment zone includes a gap of minimum spacing between the passage la surfaces towards which the passage surfaces spaeing decreases for the generation of hydrodynamic pressure in the flowing material and resultant local increase in viscosity in the material for enhancement of the treatment action.

Longitudinal pressure oscillations may be applied i5 to a wall of the passage in the overall high-shear treatment for enhancement of the treatment action by producing in o ne z the material increases in the local viscosity resulting from v 'an elastohydrodynamic s9~ze film effect in the liduid films, and/or from the production of forced sub-Kolmogoroff 20 eddies therein.

The mill members may be respectively a stationary hollow outer cylinder and a rotatable inner cylindex, mounted within the stationary hollow outer cylinder for rotation about a ~espeetive longitudinal rotational axis, and the two 25 cylinders may also,be mounted for movement relative to one another transverse to the rotational axis to thereby vary the spaeing between the two opposed flow passage surfaces.

. alternatively the mill members may be circular plates mounted for rotational movement relative to one 30 another about a common rotational axis passing through their centres, the passage surfaces being constituted by respective opposed surfaces of the two plates, the plates also being mounted for movement relative to one another along the rotational axis to vary the distance between the I 35 two opposed surfaces.

The rotational axis may be vertical or horizontal. .

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~r~,~rRgPTT~'' n~' THE DI~AWIN~
Particular preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, wherein.
Figure 1 is a perspective view from one side of a drum mill which is a first embodiment of the invention, and in which the mill members rotate relative to one another y about a horizontal axis;
Figure 2 is a transverse cross section through the .
body of the druyri mill of Figure 1, taken on the line 2-2 therein;
Figure 3 is a partial transverse cross-section, taken on the same line as in Figure 2, illustrating another embodiment;
Figure 9 is a partial side elevation and partial longitudinal cross section of the drum mill of Figures 1 and 2 the mill base and. inner mill member being in side ~ vation, while the outer mill member is in longitudinal ele ~rbss section taken on the line 4-~ in Figuxe 2;
Z~ Figure 5 is a transverse eross section similar to Figure 2 through a drum reactor for gas-liquid reactions in accordance with the invention;
Figure 6 is a particle size distribution cumulative graph showing as a solid line the particle distribution of a pre-dispersed zirconia slurry, and as a broken line the particle distribution after processing using the plate mill of Figure 1l;
Figure ? is a vertical transverse cross section .
talon on the line 7-? in Figure 8 of a platy mill which is a urther embodiment, and in which the mill members rotate f relative to one another about a vertical axis;
Figure 8 is a horizontal cross section through the plate mill of Figure 7, taken on the line 8-8 therein;
Figure 9 is a vertical transverse cross section similar to Figure ? of a plate mill which is a still further ' embodiment of the invention, and in which the mill members rotate relative to one another about a horizontal axis;

Figure 10 is an enlarged view of the portion 10 of Figure 9 enclosed in a broken line circle:
Figure 11 is a vertical transverse cross section similar to Figure a of a plate mill which is a still further embad iinent;
Figure 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating a continuous ~low slurry milling system employing a plurality of drum mills of the invention in series, the system also comprising a single reverbatory ultrasonic mixer in a recirculating premixing circuit that feeds the mills; and Figure 33 (sheet 7) is a schematic diagrsam to illustrate a batch processing system employing a single plate mill through which the slurry is recirculated.
Similar or equivalent parts are given the same reference number in all of the figures of the drawings, wherever that is possible.
The spa~ings between cooperating surfaces of the mills are considerably exaggerated for clarity of illustration.
r~uuE~ i OR O,i~FRYT~G OUT TFIE IN~"~.~~.
The embodiments of Figures 1-5 are characterised herein as "drum" mills, in that the cooperating cylindrical shaped mill surfaces are provided by respective drum shaped members, while the embodiments of Figures 6-11 are 5 characterised as "plate" mills, in that the cooperating mill surfaces are provided by respective plate shaped members.
Before describing the construction of the mills, and their ' respective modes of operation, typical systems far the roduction of ceramic slurries employing the mills will be P
described. w In the continuaus flow system illustrated by Figure 12 finely divided powder is to be milled so as to be uniformly dispersed in a liquid vehicle and ground (with any a lomeration) to a smaller particle size.
necessary de gg powder from a supply.hoppex 10 is fed to a drum mill 12 while a liquid dispersion vehicle is fed from a supply tank 19, a preliminary rapid coarse dispersion being obtained by circulating the mixture ir: a closed circuit comprising the reservoir of drum mill i~', a pump 1E>, and a high flow capacity reverbatory ultrasonic zr~ix,er (RUM m_i.xer) L0.
The .Liquid di:per~;ion veh::icle, whether aqueous or non-aqueous, w:i_11 usual:Ly include a dispersing agent or agents and usually wi.Ll ai_so ir:.c:l.ude other functional additives, such as binders, plasticizer~ anci lubricants. The relative proportions of the powdcm- orv powder:,, the t~unctior~al additives, and of the dispersion vc~ty:ic:le, arc. usually made such that the final dispersion is of ~_,u fi.cient~ l.i_quid content i.n order to avoid problems assc~ciatc:~ci wi th dl.lal~ency.
Prefc~rab~~ y them il.U-NI mixer i s cf the type disclosed in my U.S. Patent No. 4,07:1.,'.%2'~. Briefly, such a mixer comprises an elongated chamber of tr~i.n rect.an<~ular transverse cross section having the two E:~aral_ 1e1_ wider walls formed by two flat, very closely spaced plav_E:~~. 2Ci, each of which h~~s a plurality of ultrasonic transducers i::2 mc;unted oro its exterior so as to direct the pre:~sure osc:,:.:l:lat:ions into the cha:cnber and towards the opposite wall, the c:~sc-~i Nations from the cy>posed transducers interfering with one another in reverberation and in a manner which produces intense ~mal:l, ecidie> i~hat are particularly ezfect~ive °:::o produce m:i_xing and pre-dispersion of the powder into the med:i.um.,.
As is we_! l kn<>wri t:o those ski l ied in this art, the thorough disper=sion of ::irue powders i.nte a liquid dispersing vehicle using the c:onve-~t::ic~x~al hi_c~h shear mechanical stirring mixers, or bat=L or sand rui.ll s, is a lengthy and tedious process, often req~.zirin~ ~,everal days tc~ r~btain an acceptable dispersion. 'Chere are a nu..mber c,f reas.ons fore this, such as the increasing surface !~rrea t:o be wettec~i as the particle size decreases, the inhf~rent ci.a.fj=i.c:ulty ~=~f wetting ~>uch fine particles, and the diff i_c~~:~:lt:y of deagglomeratirug the agglomerates that :i.nevit~a.b_iv are pr_~~sent.. Other reasons will be discussed bE~low. A E~.L!NI mixer such as that disclosed and briefly described above _i.~

WO 94!04275 able to produce acceptable dispersions in periods as short as 5-15 minutes, although with some processes it may be referred to employ longer mixing periods of perhaps 30-45 minutes. If a completely continuous system is preferred the single RUM mixer can be replaced by a series of such mixers.
Upon completion of this preliminary step the coarsely dispersed slurry is discharged via a pump 26 and a cooler 28 to a series of drum mills 30 of the invention, only two of which are shown. A pump and cooler are provided fox each mill to permit control o~ the x:ate, pressure and temperature at which the slurry is 9:ed to the res active mill. the cooler compensating fox heai~in9 of the p slurry produced by the preceding mill. A plurality of 5 late mills or a mixture of drum and plate mills can also be .
1 p used.
Figure 13 illustrates the manner in which a single mill, shown herein as a plate mills 32, is used in a circuit to carry out~a batch process.
recirculating p premixed slurry from a RUM mixer system is fed to a drum mixer 24 and is delivered by the single pump 26 and cooler 28 to the mill.inlet. The mill outlet pipe discharges back to the drum mixer 24, and the slurry is recirculated until the desired particle size distribution has been obtained.
25 The process will usually be operated with a Predetermined protocol whereby the mill initially treats the slurry for a maximum operative particle size, and is adjusted as the roce~s proceeds, either progressively or stepwise, until it P
is producing particles of the required minimum size. A
30 single drum mill can instead be used.
Referzing now to Figures 1-3 a drum mill comprises an apparatus base frame 34 on which is mounted by means of an intermediate casing 36 a stationary outer hollow cylindrical mill member 38, inner cylindrical surface 40 of 35 which constitutes one operative wall of an annular passage 42 forming a flow path for the material to be treated. The other operative wall of the passage is constituted by outer cylindrical surface 44 of an inner cylindrical mill member ' 5 i~VO 94104275 , . ~ 3 PCT/US93/07931 46, which in this embodiment is a solid cylinder mounted on a shaft 48 fox rotation within the hollow cylinder about a horizontal axis 50. Transducers 52 (Figure 2) are mounted within the casing 36 and connected to the outer cylinder 38 5 so as to direct the longitudinal pressure oscillations that they generate into the adjacent portion of the passage 42, and also to vibrate at least the adjacent portion of the cylindzical wall to cyclically vary the passage thickness, at least thin portion of the passage constituting an overall 10 high-shear treatment zone, as will be discussed below. The transducers are connected to a power source (not shown) for synchronous, in-phase operation and are supplied with cooling fluid via an inlet 59 and an outlet 56. As much as possible of the remainder of the exterior of member 38 is e~aclosed by a cover plate 58 forming a part annular enclosure for the passage of cooling water that enters through an inlet 60 and leaves through an outlet 62. The space between the cover plate and the member exterior is lied with wire mesh 69 to increase the cooling efficiency fi ~20 of the enclosure.
The interior of the cylindrical member 38, is closed by two circular cover plates 66 attached to respective end Flanges, one.of the cover plates mounting a slurry inlet pipe 68 at its lowermost point, while the other mounts a slurry outlet pipe 70 at its uppermost point.
The two plates are provided with aligned enlarged holes 72 through whieh the shaft 48 passes while permitting movement of'the shaft and the inner mill member relative to the stationary outer member for adjustment of the size of an axially extending linear gap G (Figure 2) in the treatment zone. An annular gasket seal 79 at each end is sandwiched between respective cover plate 66 and a retaining washer 76 to prevent escape of material.
The shaft 48 is mounted for rotation by two bearings 78, each of which is carried by a respective crossbar 80 that is in turn mounted on the top ends of two transversely spaced vertically extending rectangular cross section posts 82 and 89. The top surface of each post 82 PCT/tJ893/07931 W~ 94/04275 is inclined inward and downward to the horizontal, so that the post outer edge constitutes a knife edge pivot for the crossbar about an axis 86 parallel to the shaft axis 50.
This end of the crossbar is attached to the respective post 82 by a flexible strap 88 (Figure Z) that allows the required pivoting movement. The other end of the crossbar is supported above its respective post upper end by a spring assembly comprising a vertically extending screw threaded rod 90 that passes freely through a bore in the crossbar end. The end is suspended between a pair of compression ::, springs 92, the compressions of the springs and the corresponding vertical position of the shaft 48 Iaeing adjusted as required by operation of a nut 94 at its upper end, Because of the knife edge pivot the motion of the horizontal shaft axis 50 will be in an arc about the axis ,.;:
86, and such motion will vary the eccentricity of the relative rotation of the two mill members. thus varying the w size of the line gap G. The spring assembly also ensures ,.
that the twa mill members cannot be jammed against their 2p relative rotation by any unusually large particles that enter the treatment zone. The shaft A8 is connected via a flexible coupling 95 to a motor by which it is driven.
The inner mill member 96 preferably is made entirely of a sufficiently hard material, such as silicon carbide, with its external surface 94 ground accurately and smoothly to the required limits, but it can instead comprise a cylindrical tube of the hard material mounted on a suitable interior frame. The outer cylinder can also be of the same material, but for economy can be of stainless steel with an insert 96 of the same hard material as the inner cylinder over its lowermost arc segment where the gap G is formed. The portion of the overall high-shear treatment zone containing and immediately adjacent the insert constitutes a subsidiary higher-shear treatment zone within the overall high-shear treatment zone and is the zone in which the majority of the milling action takes place, as will be discussed below. The two mill members are rotated eccentrically relative to one another, so that the gap G is I
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smaller than the diametrically opposite gap H between the upper portion of the inner mill member and the opposed ortion of the outer mill member. The annular passage 42 p is therefore circumferentially alternate~.y convergent from ap H to Gap G, at which the passage walls are spaced a g minimum distance apart and the maximum shear is obtained in the flowing material; the passage is then divergent from gap G to gap H.
In this preferred embodiment the insert is of rectangular transverse cross section, so that the surface 98 thereof which provides the corresponding surface of the subsidiary higher-shear treatment zone gap is flat and the two cooperating mill surfaces are counterformal (also sometimes referred to as non-conformal), so that 'their convergence and subsequent divergence in and immediately adiacent to the gap is much greater than over the remainder of the overall high-shear treatment zone . The surface 98 .,;~a .
is also ground accurately and smoothly to the required lunits.
yn another embodiment illustrated by.Figure 4 the cooperating mill surfaees 44 and 98 are instead eonformal, i.e. they are so closely matched in contour and dimensions that they are separated by only a small gap over a relatively large area, the inner milling surface 98 of the insect being ground to the necessary concave profile and smoothness; the convergence and divergence of the two surfaces at the treatment zone is then due solely,to the ,.
eccentricity of the two surfaces. The flat surface 98 of the embodiment of Figures 1-3 can be regarded as' being of infinite radius, and it can be given any required value between flat and the conformal value of the embodiment of Figure 9.
Typical fine powder materials that will be .
rocessed using the apparatus of the invention are alumina, P
silica and zixconia, all of which are available eommercially as agglomerated primary particles of 5 micrometers or less, and particularly are available as agglomerated primary particles of the nominal size range 0.3-1 micrometer, the w~ 9~~~az~s 2 ~. ~ 219 3 Pc-~rivs9mo7~m agglomerate sizes being as large as 200 micrometers. The quantities of the powdered material and the functional additives that are introduced into the dispersion vehicle will of course depend upon the purpose of the slurry, but usually it is desired to keep the quantities of both the dispersing vehicle and the additives as law as possible to ,.: .
facilitate subsequent processing. Its cansistency needs to be kept relatively thin to prevent dilatency that can be obtained with such materials.
1~ In a speeific embodiment intended for the processing of ceramic slurries, in which the maximum required particle size is one micrometer, the inner member 46 is of l5cm t6lns) length and diameter and is rotated at speeds in the range 200-2000 rpm, preferably X00--600 rpm.
The circumferential width of the insert 96 is at>out 2.5cm tlin). When used for milling the size of the chap G will usually be the maximum particle size of the powder material after being ground, and for most ceramic~slurries therefore it will vary in the range 0.1-5 micrometers, more usually in the range below 2 micrometers. A somewhat larger gap may be necessary if the slurry is particularly viscous so as to y obtain an adequate flow through the mill. The use, of longitudinal pressure oscillations permits the gap to be somewhat larger, as will be explained below. Although the ~,, 2.5 processes and apparatus of the itW ention are particularly and unusually effective with materials incorporating such fine particles, they are still operative advantageously with matex.ials o~' larger particle size. The gap G will y therefore vary in the range 1-500 micrometers, preferably in the range 1°100 micrometers, as will be discussed below, while the diametrically opposed gap H will have a maximum ';
value of about 5mm t0.20in). The gap sizes when the mills are employed as dissolvers, reactora o.c mixers are discussed below.
An example of the effectiveness of the methods and apparatus of the invention is given by Figure 6, which is a combined cumulative graph showing in solid line the particle size distribution of a pre-dispersed slurry material, and in . . . . , .. .. ,.,. , .. ,. , ,.,. : ., . , .. ., . : , ,.. ; ., ; ; ~ . .. _ ' , ,. ; . ,.. , ' T. , T.
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broken line the distribution of the sane material after recessing in the plate mill of Figure 11. The material ' p employed was spray dried, partially stabilised zirconia of nominally 0.3 micrometer particle size that had been letized using a water soluble binder to prevent dusting Pel and to permit its ready transport, the pellets being 100-150 icrometer in size. Fifty (50) grams of these pellets were m predispersed for 30 minutes in 100 grams of water with a small amount of a surfactant (0.3% by weight of the zirconia) using an ultrasonic bath, which should have been sufficient to fully deagglomerate the raw gowder. The solid line characteristic shows that in the material after such processing only 82% is of a size smaller than 0.8 micrometers, there is virtually no material of size between 0.8 and 1O micrometers, and the remaining 18% is of size 0 and 80 micrometers. This is partly the result j.
between 1 of agglomeration, but mainly the result of hardening of the pellets, making them difficult to restore to the original article size without complete expensive remilling of the ial... The broken line characteristic shows the result mater of processing the same material in the plate mill for the a eriod of 30 minutes; it will be seen that all of the sam p material is below 0.8 micrometers, 99.25% is below 0:7 micrometers, and 96% is below 0.6 micrometers.
The folloiain9 discussion of the methods and a axatus of the invention constitute an attempt to provide PP
an explanation based on current knowledge of the new and cted mechanisms which result in the new and unexpected unexpe improved performance and operation. Therefore I do not intend to be bound by this explanation in that further investigation may show that other new and unexpected mechanisms are instead or also responsible.
As was described above, it is well known to those skilled in the production of ceramic slurries that with small particles, even with high-power. high-shear, mixers a tivel long period of "aging" is required to obtain rela Y
complete dispersion, and this period is not shortened ciabl by increases in mixing power. or by increasing appre Y
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Vd0 .94/04275 ~ ~, ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ PCT/1LJ~93/07931 the speed of rotation of the stirrer so as to increase the shear velocity. A study by Dr. A.N. Kolmogoro~f of such mixing processes gave what appears to be a possible explanation for this, and for the fact that initially the 5 mixing proceeds rapidly but then slows dramatically. He showed that the mixing depends upon the production of eddies, and that with conventional mixers using, for example, water as the dispersion vehicle and at a temperature of 20°C, it is impossible to obtain eddies of :, 10 diameter smaller than about 10 to 20 micrometers. Liquid elements and entities, such as entrained particles, of smaller size than this become part of these smallest eddies and are thereby shielded against the effect of turbulence, so that any mass transfer is no longer governed by 15 convection but by the much-slower molecular diffusion within the eddies as a result of internal concentration gradients.
The smallest movement that can be regarded as an eddy (a Kolmogoroff eddy) and that could be produced bye hese mixezs would be obtained when the local Reynolds numberlapproaches and equals unity, and for such small eddies at low Reynolds numbers viscous forces are more important than inertial f orce~ . , On the assumption that Kolmogoroff has provided a satisfactory explanation for this phenomenon, in the methods and appagatus of the invention the spacing of the walls of the flow passage, at least in the overall high-shear treatment zone, is such as to allow the coexistence of free supra-Kolmogoroff eddies which ,are larder than the smallest Kolmogorof~ eddy diameter for the flowing material and 3p forced sub-Kolmogoroff eddies which are smaller than the smallest Kolmogoroff eddy diameter. The overall high-shear treatment zone includes at least a portion thereof in which the passage spacing is smaller than in the remainder of the zone to provide a subsidiary higher-shear treatment zone in which the free supra-Kolmogoroff eddies are suppressed.
One important result of this limitation is that the flow through the subsidiary higher-shear treatment zone must be laminar and therefore non-turbulent. In this embodiment ~2y~~2193 TWO 94/04275 PCT/~JS93/07931 the linear axially extending gap G, comprising the portion of the flow passage of minimum wall spacing, constitutes the subsidiary higher-shear treatment zone, while the overall high-shear treatment zone comprises all of the flow passage in which the prescribed maximum spacing is obtained.
Itolmogoroff also showed that in a system with isotropic turbulence, when the distribution of eddies has come to equilibrium, the eddy diameter tusually referred to as the eddy length) expressed as L,~ can be determined in term of the power input to unit mass IP~s) of the stirring system by the relation: .
L,~ - tv'/P~)"
where v is the kinematic viscosity of the fluiel. This restrfiction of the flow passage therefore has an important i5 additiona7l unexpected beneficial effect on the efficiency of power utilisation of the new millsr in a conventional prior art system most of the turbulence energy resides in the large and medium size eddies and very little in the small eddies of size of the order of Lx, so that most of the power ~f the system has been dissipated uselessly in the production of eddies that are only effective to maintain the initial dispersion, while the remaining ''aging" dispersion is produced by the molecular diffusion. With the~methods and apparatus of the invention. in the overall high-shear treatment zone, and particularly in the subsidiary higher--sheaz treatment zone, only eddies equal to oz smaller than the minimum can be~generated, while useless larger eddies are suppressed. The relation'also shows that any increase in viscosity.of the fluid normally results in an increase in eddy diameter; the considerable increases in viscosity that do occur are discussed below, but any consequent increases ! in eddy diameter are again prevented.
The slurry moves axially firs the annular flow path constituted by the passage 42 under the urge of its respective pump 26, which operates at a relatively low pressure, e.g. usually in the range 0.07-0.7 Kg/sq.cm. (l-10 p.s.i.). Under the effect of surface energy forces the flowing material forms respective thin adherent films on the _ a::
»rr .~-...~..r..>~..r , Y~ .. .
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?,.. , , a , r. , . . > ' . ,. " 10 . . . . , . . ,. . , . , ..PL...m.~rnfi~'.wi..hk,J4~~:~, . ,n,_.._,,2 ....~v o , . . .. a , WO 94!04275 ~ t~ :, ~.~,~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ PCT/U~93/07931 surfaces 40, 44 and 98, each of which films includes a respective boundary layer. The gap H will usually be sufficiently large that these two films axe separated by an intervening layer, which has a maximum thickness at the gap H and which decreases progressively in thickness to a minimum in the line processing gap G, at which the maximum shear conditions are obtained. The gap G may be so small that a layer identifiable as an intervening layer is no longer present and the flow therefore consists of the two thin films which intercept one another. The gap may also be so small that it is possible to regard the films as consisting only of the two boundary layers which intercept one another.
In accordance with the invention the two mill members are moved relative to one another so as to move the flow passage walls relative to one another transverse to the flow direction and at a relative speed such as to force the simultaneous development in the overall high-shear treatment v zone of both supra-Kolmogoroff and sub-Kolmogoroff eddies in the.flowing material while maintaining the integrity of the respective films, and also maintaining the flow in the subsidiary higher-shear treatment zone non-turbulent, so that the two films can interact with one another to produce the desired milling action. If the gap H is large enough, which in practice will usually be the case, as the two surface adherent films are dragged by the relative rotation of the mill members out of the gap G and toward the gap H
they are separated and fresh material enters between them to form an intervening layer in which supra-Kolmogoroff eddies can be established, whereupon macro-mixing can take place in this part of the passage, only to have the films move together again to eliminate the intervening layer, to suppress the supra-Kolmagoroff eddies, and to force their eonversion to sub-Kolmogoroff eddies, this cycle repeating with each rotation of the inner mill member 46. The material is therefore treated in the overall high-shear treatment zone on a supra-micron and sub-micron scale to produce the desired thorough uniform mixing, while an even WO 94/04275 ~ 1 ~ 2 ~ ~ ~ P~1'fUS93/07931 more intense and thorough uniform mixing is produced in the subsidiary higher-shear treatment zone, together with uniform grinding and deagglomeration to an extent that it is believed has not been possible with prior art milling systems.
It is believed that an understanding of the new methods and apparatus of the invention is facilitated by considering that attempts hitherto to mill fine particles have been what may be characterised as three-dimensional "volume " systems, in that the body of the mill comprises a large volume container big enough to contain a stirring mechanism or a milling medium. Balls, beads and even sand are used as the milling media, but the mills are'relatively inefficient since in order to, be ground the material particles must be present between the contacting point areas of the colliding media elements, and statistically this is an infrequent event which becomes even~more infrequent as the pazticles are reduced in size. As has also been explained the possibility of contamination is also high, 20..e.g. frequently as much as 0.2% by weight, which is unacceptable ~in.that the maximum value for most electronic eeramic applications is 0.01%. By contrast, my process and apparatus must be regarded as a two-dimensional'"area"
system in that at least in the subsidiary higher-shear treatment zone, even if a thin intermediate layer is present, any possibility of turbulence has been eliminated by making it impossible to establish supra-Kolmogoroff eddies. Tt is an inherent characteristic of such thin non-turbulent.surface films, and particularly of their boundary layers, that almost independently of the aetual viscosity of the material passing in the flow path, they act as very viscous liquid skins that hold firmly entrained any tine particles that are therein. The relative transverse movement of the two mill members then forces these firmly entrained particles into milling engagement with each other, and with the mill member surfaces, to produce the superior results as illustrated by Figure 6.
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3('.:;:.,:..., '. . ....,. .. y..;.:.u . ~w.:'v.. ., s.,..'~, ,.: ...;..,., .
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WO 94/4275 ~ ~ ~ ~ PCT/US93/07931 I9 ,.
In further possible explanation, it is known from tribology, the study of friction and wear of engineering materials, that a lubricating layer that is hydrodynamic is produced between two relatively moving con~ormal surfaces that converge and are subjected to a load, and the lubricant forming such a layer has a viscosity greater than that of the unloaded material. Such a layer is formed by the adherent films obtained in the mills of Figures 1-4, so that the local viscosity of the slurry will increase in the overall high-shear treatment zone, and particularly in the subsidiary higher-shear treatment zone with its minimum gap G, which will augment the uniform mixing and grinding action in these zones. Further increases in local vi~~,cosity, without long-term effect on the overall viscosity of the slurry material, can be obtained if the films are also made to be elastohydrodynamic, as will be explained below. It is known to those skilled in the art that the breakup of particle agglomerates is very effective when a high shear rate smearing action encounters strong viscous ~~esistance, '20. the deagglomeration becoming more effective as the resistance increases. To achieve the required high viscosity conventional processes use either a dispersing liquid of high viscosity, or the highest possible solids volume fraction. The present invention instead obtains the desired viscosity i'nerease by a localized tribological , hydrodynamic and/or elastohydrodynamic effect within the narrow boundaries of the overall high-shear treatment zone, and particularly within the subsidiary higher-shear treatment zone, without the need for special selection of the proper high liquid viscosity or high solids volume fraction.
The degree of convergence required for the two surfaces is quite small and the ratio of minimum to maximum film thickness in the treatment zone is in the range 1:2 to 1:50, preferably in the range 1:2 to 1:10. Too great a degree of convergence is to be avoided, since there is then the opportunity for counterflow to be established upstream of the zone that entrain the particles, particularly the ;;;. ;,v., .; ." . ;; : .:: : ~ ; ; , , ~. ..
,.,._- ,. ,..: " .~ . y; y . w ... ~.." ; ,. ,. ; , ;. , :; , ' ~:. ; .,; .- .
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t '6~V~ 9/04275 PCT/US93/07931 larger particles, and prevent them from being drawn into the zone for processing.

In view of the small values reguired for the spacing of the mill surfaces in the overall high-shear 5 treatment zone, and particularly in the subsidiary higher-shear treatment zone, the operative surfaces 90, 44 and 9~

must be ground to corresponding degrees of smoothness and curvature (or flatness in the case of a plate mill) if asperity surface contact and film disruption is to be 10 avoided. The relation M between film thickness F and surface roughness R may be expressed by eguation M = FlR, and in practice M should have a value in the range 1-5, preferably 2.5-3. For example, if the mill is. to produce deagglomeration to 1 micrometer or less, and the value of M

15 is to be maintained at 3, then the surface roughness should b~ 0.33 mierometer or less, which is a dull mirror finish or a good polish. Coarser finishes are permissible for mills that act as reactors, mixers or dissolvers. The mill sutfaees can be diamond coated to increase theix abrasion z0 resistance and the diamond layer can be either crystalline ox amorphous; it can be applied by ion implantation or some ather method that will not change the prafile of the original surface.

The processes and apparatus of the invention can be operated without the aid of longitudinal pressure oscillations and are able to do this by its new and unexpected use of high-shear conditions, e.g. high-shear comminutian, in a high viscosity liguidlsolid system. l~s described above, tribology teaches that liguids suddenly increase their viscosity when they enter the compressed state in the minimum gap in a caunterformal journal bearing.

This effect is put to use in the invention by providing an overall high-shear t~eazment zone in which uniform mixing can take place, and which includes a subsidiary higher-shear treatment zone including a minimum gap between counterformal surfaces with a corresponding highest shear zone in which the viscosity is increased substantially but only locally.

This provides high shear comminution and dispersion in sueh ... .. . ..... ... ; .;,_ ,;.:.~..~_.. . . . .... , :, . ,, ,w. ;., ...
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''1 WO 94/()4275 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ P(.'T/U593/07931 tribologically defined zones without the need to raise the viscosity of the feed material prior to entering the mills by using for example thick binders, thickening additives, or by adding more solids.
It is believed that an explanation of the unexpectedly beneficial effects of the use of longitudinal pressure oscillations Ban, also unexpectedly, be that the processes are two-dimensional "area'° processes, and by the teaching of tribology concerning what is known as the sdueeze-film effect obtained when two relatively moving fluid Boated surfaces also have considerable perpendicular movement toward and away from one another, Thus, it is known that if two cooperating surfaces separated by a thin layer of fluid are counterformal, as are the surfaces 40 and 44, and particularly the surfaces 98 and 44, so that they involve a nominally line-shaped gap, (e.g. the gap G), and are subjected to such perpendicular movement, then the local pressures and viscosities in the gap will generally be much higher than those generated hydrodynamically, and are regarded as being generated elastohydrodynamically. Prior examples of this type of structure are meshing gear teeth and a ball ox roller in its track in a bearing, all of which are lubricated. As calculated using hydrodynamic theory the lubricant layers will be so thin that the perpendicular movements should cause asperity contact between the surfaces, whereas it is found in practice that thicker than predicted layers are produced, and the integrity of the surface films is maintained, so that they remain continuous.
The explanation given by tribology is that the local very high pressure oscillations considerably increase y the viscosity of the fluid over that predicted by hydrodynamic theory, and instead of an increase of only a ~~w percent the resultant local pressure and viscosity in the gap can be very high indeed when elastohydrodynamic conditions prevail. For example, pressures of 500 MPa are obtained and at this pressure the viscosity of a lubricating oil can be more than 20,000 times that of the same material at atmospheric pressure, and it will behave much more like a ...... . ....,....._, ,; . . .,..._ ::~, ~.;. .._,...,._.;, ......; . ~ ..
,..;,,.:..,, . .

v 2~.~~2~~~
Wd) 94/04Z7a ~ ~GT/iJS93/07931 solid than a liquid. The cyclic loading of the stationary mill member relative to the moving mill member by the oscillations produces a corresponding precise, cyclic perpendicular movement or displacement, with a consequent S loading and pressure effect, particularly in the gap G, that results in the squeeze-film effect, independently of the.
hydrodynamic effect, with corresponding unexpectedly high increases in the local viscosity of the flowing material, and a consequent considerable enhancement of the milling action between the highly viscous surface films. It will also be seen that this is a new and unexpected us a of longitudinal pressure oscillations, in that they are producing a direct mechanical effect on the relatively moving mill parts, and an indirect mechanical effect by 1,5 pressure and viscosity increase in the thin cooperating flowing films, that is completely different from the effect of directing such oscillations into a relatively large volume o~ liquid, as with the above-described known prior art attempts. Thus this beneficial effect of the longitudinal pressure oscillations is not due to any direct effect they may have upon the solid particles entrained in the liquid vehicle, but is instead due to its unexpected :, indirect effect upon the pressure and viscosity of the liquid vehicle. The local increases in viscosity in the 25. flowing material due to the squeeze-film effect alsa ensures that the integrity of the adherent surface films is maintained, and they do not become disrupted by the high content of solid material which.they contain, and~despite the very narrow passage wall spacings employed.
Another effect of the use of the longitudinal pressure oscillations is that the perpendicular movements of the passage wall reduces the effective height of the flow passage, so that it performs, insofar as the grinding is concerned, as if it were smaller. In this case for example when a maximum particle size of 1 micrometer is required the gap G can be set to be somewhat larger, to as much as 2 micrometers with the same result. This explanation of the use of longitudinal pressure oscillations does not exclude ... _.. .,_..".. ,... . . .,: ... ; .~ . .. ~: ... .:.v : ..:.... , . ~ .,:..
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~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ PG'r/US93/07931 WC? 94/04275 that they may also be acting directly to simultaneously produce even smaller sub-Kolmogorof~ eddies which are able . to interact with the larger eddies for an unexpected synergistic and beneficial effect in mixing and milling.
The methods and apparatus of the invention may therefore also be regarded as employing a combination of °'macromixing" the flowable material to obtain as much uniformity as possible in the overall high--shear treatment zone, which is that portion of the passage between the two relatively moving surfaces which are sufficiently closely spaced and are moved relative to one another at sufficient speed, and simultaneously '°micromixing" by the application o~ reverbatory longitudinal pressure oscillations to force the production of smaller sub-Kolmogoroff eddies.
The apparatus may also be regarded as functioning by surface action or °'skin-drag" of the rotating outer surface 99 of the inner cylinder 96, which captures a thin film of the slurry and drags it with~i~,~.into engagement with the thin film that is present on the surface 98 of the insert 96. The rate of flow of the slurry through the mill is made such that all of it will be dragged by the rotating surface 44 through the milling gap G, despite the presence of the larger gap H at the upper part of the mill, which may appear from the drawing as though it would short circuit the milling gap; however, as explained above, in this embodiment the maximum value of this gap is only 5mm, and is more usually of the order of lmm, and this is sufficiently small to ensure that with the correct choice of flow rate the I desired passage of all of the material through the treatment zone will be achieved.
Figure 5 shows apparatus according to the invention far carrying out otherwise difficult to perform chemical reactions and physical inter-actions, such as the reaction of a gas with a liquid, or the rapid solution or reaction of a dif~icultly soluble gas in or with a liquid.
This apparatus also consists of an inner cylinder 96 rotating about a horizontal axis 50 within a hollow outer cylinder 38. The carrier liquid to be reacted, or to act . .. .: . ~; , - ; <.

as the solvent,. is fed l::r~:cougr~ the :reactor_ from a liquid inlet (not shown) at one end t:c> a liquid cvut:let 70 at-: the other end, with the difference that: in th:is emJ.:~odi_ment both the inlet and the outlet are disposed a.t the lowermost. part caf the outer cylinder, while the otrm:_.r component i~~ fed :into the action/reaction space b:atwE~en the t~~ao c:y_L i.nders by a separate inlet 146, no ~epa:rate m:ct::l et: of c:o~,ar:>e k~ei.ng required since it is being consumed by tX~ ~ <:awrier i ui d. A coupling member 148 interposed between h_r~c~ 1_ransduc~~rs 52 and i~he mill member 38 is provided with pas,:a~cc~fes 7.50 t:or cooling or heating liquid, depending upon whether I:Iife action~'react:ion tak::Lng place in the reaction gap i= exother~:r.:ic~ or endothez.~m~.c', these passages being provided with a~.eat enha::~.c:.i.r~cl insert: 7 52, as disclosed for example i.n my ;~~'.S. Pateot: ~dc_~. 4, 7a4, 27_8. Th.e liquid component is fed at a rate to ensurce that a =l.i.quid pool L54:is formed, confined to th~~ space b~t:wec~n the reel.at::-.z~ely rotating members immediately adj acent to t:tice l.~l_ trasornic 1: r ansduc;ers .
The :mini. mum ga~~ C~ c,an bo of gr_c~ater height than the milling gap of the previ.o~~sl.y described embodiments and c:an be in the range from i micc:v::amet=er_ to 5mrn, wtoi:ie t=~ze opposite gap H
can be in the range from ?~n~:n to =:c;m. ':Ct~e rate of relative movement of th.e two sur f-r~c:es will also o:~ually be much higher than for grinding and, l:i~:r example, w:ii~h an inner cylinder of l5cms (bins) diameter t:he :rc:~tational speed will usually be in the range 200 t:o 20, OOC~ wpm, with a p:re erred range of 500-5, 000 rpm. Mil:1 member:.: of: ;smaller or <.arger diameters will operate at corresponciir c~:l_ y ci:i:f feren.t speeds in order to obtain equivalent angular velc;c:; i t ies . i~r: upper lim:it for the highest possible speed may be et by,~ the pc,5sit>ii.ity of lack of stability in the mater:i.a~.ls being procf=ssc>d, especially long chain molecules, and by the onsei~ c~f ~.~ava..t:.anon. For some applications t:he two mi 11 members may koe operated coaxially, when the whole of the an,:~u.lar passage 4~ c:onstitutes both the overall high-shear treatmeni: zone a.nd 2~.~~193 CVO 94/04275 PC.T/US93/07931 the subsidiary higher-shear treatment zone, the two zones then being coextensive.
Although bath of the embodiments of Figures 1-5 have the axis 50 of relative rotation horizontal, they can 5 also be operated with the axis in other orientations, particularly vertical.
Referring now particularly to Figures 7 and 8, a plate mill 3Z shown therein comprises an apparatus baseplate 34 supporting a cylindrical base casing 36. ~ stationary 10 circular vibratory plate member 100, correspondj.ng to the drum mill member 38 and having a circular surface 102 corresponding to the drum surface 40, is seeure7.y mounted on a ring ox annulus 104 of resilient material, for.'example by being cemented thereto, and this annulus is in turn securely 15 mounted in a counterbore, for example by being cemented therein, provided at the upper end of the casing 36, so that the plate is securely mounted thereon. A. small radial clearance is provided between the cylindrical edge of the plate 100 and the facing cylindrical wall of the 20 eountexbore, so that it can vibrate freely vertically, but is c~nstrained against any appreciable transverse motion.
The plate is vibrated by a plurality of ultrasonic .
transducers 52 attached to its underside and uniformly circumferentially spaced about the plate centre point, the 25 transducers being connected to a suitable electrical power source (which is not shown) for synchronous, in-phase operation, as with the transducers of the drum mill.
A circular rotatable plate member~.106 corresponding to the drum member 46, and having a circulaz surface 108 corresponding to the drum surface 44, is mounted _ above the plate 100 for rotation about a vertical axis 110 that passes through its centre point by drive means comprising a vertical standard 112 attached to the base plate 34. A motorised drive head 114 is mounted on the standard and has a drive shaft 48 extending vertically downward therefrom, the plate member 106 being attached to the lower end of the shaft at its respective centre point so as to rotate therewith. The spacing between the plate 2142.93 .
VSO 9~t104275 PCT/US93/07931 member surfaces 102 and 108 of flow passage 116 is accurately adjustable, either by moving the head 114 vertically on the standard, and/or by moving the shaft 48 vertically in the head, using any suitable micrometer system, as will be well known to those skilled in the art.
The plate member 106 is pressed strongly downward, either by suitable spring or weight means applied via the drive head and tha shaft 48, in oxder to maintain the flow passage spacing at the desired value in the presence of the material flowing between them. It will be seen that in this et~abodiment the surface 102 is concave upward in the form of a highly flattened, straight-sided cone, so that the flow path passage 116 decreases progressively in height from the axis 110 radially outward. The portion of the flow passage '.
in which the spacing is sufficiently small and 'the relative speed of rotation is sufficiently high thus constitutes a convergent overall high-°shear treatment zone, while the radially outer portion of the passage including the minimum height processing gap G constitutes the subsidiary higher-0 shear treatment zone within the overall zone. In this embodiment the gap G is formed between the radially outer edges of the two plates, constituting a circular line zone in which the highest shear conditions are obtained, although in other embodiments, as exemplified by the embodiment of Figure 9 to be described below, the gap may be located lust radially inward of the radially outer edges. In other embodiments the surface 108, or both of the surfaces 102 and 108,.can be suitably shaped to obtain the same effeet:
The coarsely pre-mixed and pre-dispersed slurry is y fed into the mill via an inlet pipe 68, which includes a ' flexible connection 118 so as not to interfere with the vibrations of the plate 100. The slurry enters between the plate members through a cylindrical hole 120 in the centre of the plate 100, this hole thus being the inlet to the flow passage 116, and flows both radially outward in the passage under the effect of the pump pressure, and also circumferentially as the result of the relative rotation of the mill members. Eventually the slurry reaches the ....-. , . ..,. ;,. , _. . ,, ., ..- ....., ,-.. .:, ..,.; .:. .;.: ;:,..~
.:.:.: .w ., ; . :. . >: .. ~, - .. . ..., . . . ; . . . ; , .:.; . : . :.. ..;, . ~, .
. . . ~ ..: :.: .: ... . ..

~:~.~~ 2 :1 PC°T/US93/07931 cylindrical gap G, the outlet from which constitutes the outlet from the passage, and enters an annular outlet plenum . chamber 122 formed between a cylindrical extension 129 of the casing 36, the plates 100 and 106, and a stationary _ 5 annular elastomeric self-sealing gasket 126 attached to the casing 36 and engaging the moving edge of the rotating plate 106; the slurry then discharges from the mill via the outlet pipe 70.
Iluring its flow in the passage 116 the slurry is subjected both to the effect of the close and progressively decreasing spacing between the passage surfaces, the relative rotation between the two plate members, and also to the effect of the longitudinal pressure oscillations or vibrations from the transducers 52, these effects combining , as teas been discussed above for the drum mill to produce within a much reduced period of time a much more complete uniform dispersion and wetting of the solid gowdered '.
material entrained in the slurry, together with the desired highly uniform milling, deagglomeration and comminution thereof, than has been possible with conventional high shear mixers and mills.
In a particular preferred embodiment the two plate members are both of 25cm (loins) diameter and of 6.25mm (0.25in) thickness, and are o~ silicon carbide, preferably diamond coated on their Facing surfaces, both surfaces having a mirror finish and in this embodiment preferably being flat to a limit of 1.5 micrometers over 25cms.
Flatter.suzfaces are possible, but in this particular embodiment are not necessarily economical or essential.
The range of flatness preferred For the apparatus of the invention, depending upon its particular application, is from 500 manometers to 10 micrometers per 25cm.
The maximum height of the vertical spacing between the two plate surfaees is of course indefinite, since they will usually need to be separated for maintenance and inspection, while the minimum height of the gap G during opEration will be as small as 1 micrometer or less, as with the drum mill, which is the processing gap that will usually r :.' .: . . ,:,: ;:: ~ , : ° ;.. . , ,,., , ,, .., ;; .: . : :: , . , :, , ,. ,. , ;, ,, .

,.!
WC~ 94/04275 ~2~14 2 ~ 9 ~ P~TAL7S93107931 be required for processing the smallest particle size slurries, while permitting an adequate flow of slurry between the plates. In normal operation the processing gap size is correlated with the average particle size of the slurry, and in a series of mills will be progressively smaller from the first to the last mill. The range of gap sizes to be employed is from 1 to 500 micrometers, while the , usual range of gap sizes for the processing of powdered materials is 1-10 micrometerso the preferred range, especially for the processing of ceramic raw powders is 1-5 micrometers. The processing of any particular alurry will .;
usually involve a particular protocol which inter-relates the process time and the passage height of the successive '.~
mills; thus the process is initiated in a mill in which the plates are relatively far apart in case any exceptionally large agglomerates are present, and the spacings subsequently are progressively reduced as the process continues and the particle size is reduced. It will ~I i usually be most effective to operate an individual mill with , ~a relatively limited particle size range, and for example a ,.
mill with a feed in the range 0-100 micrometers will. be , , employed to produce a product in the range 0-1 micrometer t0-1,000 nanometers), while one with a ~eed in the range 0- , 1.0 micrometer will be employed to produce a product in the 25~ range 0-0.2 micrometer t0-200 nanometers).
With a plate mill the relative circumferential linear transverse movement between the plates varies progressively from zero on the rotational axis 110 to a maximum at the circumferences, so that the required minimum threshold value will only be obtained at some radial distance from the axis. For the 25cm tl0ins) diameter plates used in this embodiment the linear velocity of their operative surfaces relative to one another should be between 0.5 and 200 meters per minute t20 and 8000 inches per minute); in this specific embodiment measured at a mean radius of 6cm I2.5ins) the rate of rotation of the upper plate should be between about 1 and 400 revolutions per minute, while the preferred rate is between 50 and 200 .: ,.

revolutions per minute. There is also the possibility of decreasing the cost of the plates 100 and 106 by forming the overall high-shear treatment zone with its highly polished and flat operative surfaces only at their annular outer portions.
As with the drum mill it is believed that the local increases in viscosity due to the hydrodynamic and elastohydrodynamic effects are major factors in the operation of the mill. The material elings to the two surfaces in the form of respective thin adherent films, and particularly in the subsidiary higher-shear treatment zone they may be so closely spaced that they engage one another without the presence of any intervening layer,~and this relative motion between the two films is added t:o the radially outward flow of material in the passage due to the pump. The thin surface layers are very strong and resistant to squeezing by movement of the plates together, and therefore require the plate members to be relatively 'd'.'.
rigid and to be pressed strongly together in order to maintain them at the desired small spacing. Whether the transducers 52 are operating to produce the squeeze-film effect, or whether they are operating to generate forced sub-Kolmogoroff eddies, or both, it is not necessary to provide transducers on both surfaces of the processing passage, avoiding the need to provide transducers and an electrical supply to the moving plate member. The size, number and spatial distribution of the ultrasonic transducers 52 will of course be specific for the particular mill, and as a specific example only, in the mill described herein ten transducers are pxovided uniformly spaced in a single circle. Each generator has an output of about 50 watts and operates in a xange of frequencies l6kHz to 50kHz, which is the preferred range and is usually regarded as ultrasonic; the usual more extended range that will be used, depending upon the specific mill design, will be BkHz to 100kHz, which extends below the ultrasonic.
Figure 9 is a longitudinal cross section through another plate mill embodiment in which the two plate members ' ;: , . ;. ..: :. ' ..' , ~ : .. ':. . :: . ~ : , ~. ., ~ v -, . ' ' ,: ; ' .'. , . , . ;
n ~.:.~:v' ..,,:,.,. ,, ,,., .;.,~.; ..:. ,....,:..,,;, :.. ,.,.,. ,.;.. ..
~,... ..~. .. .; , . .,_;;..,.,. ,...., .:.

n\
WO 94104275 ~
~ ' ~ PC,T/US93/07931 are mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis 128. The stationary vibratory plate member 100 is securely fastened at the upper end of a standard 130 mounted on the baseplate 39 and has a cylinder 132 of resilient material fastened to .;,:

its cylindrical periphery, whieh cylinder is in turn fastened to a steel ring 134 attached to an exterior casing ':,:

136; the casing is restrained against rotation by a strap 138. The outlet plenum 129 is formed between the cylinder 132, the ring 139, the casing 136 and the stationary gasket 126: The shaft 98 mounting the movable plate 106 about the axis 128 is mounted in a bearing 190 at~the upper end of a standard 192 mounted on the baseplate 39 and is driven by a motor which is not shown via a coupling 149, which permits the necessary movement of the shaft and the plate along the w axis 128 to vary the flow path height and to permit aecess _., to the flow passage 116 as required. The cross-section of the gap G is shown in greater detail in Figure 10 and it .

will be seen that it is inward of the circumerential plate".

edges, and has a radial extent L, the passage thereafter widening axially to discharge smoothly into the plenum 129.

The passage 116 of the embodiment of Figures 7 and 8 can also take the same form. In a particular embodiment the value of L will be 0.5-5mm, preferably about lmm. The rotational axis can also assume other attitudes than vertical or horizontal since this has no effect upon the operation of the mill.

Figure 1l illustrates an embodiment that was originally: used in the production of the example which resulted in the graph of Figure 6, and it will be seen that the mill surfaces 102 and 108 forming the flow passage are substantially parallel over most of the radial extent of the plates 100 and 106, so that there is no defined minimum gap c.: and in that respect they are conformal. The overall high-shear treatment zone therefore extends from the radial location at which they ate rotating relative to one another at a sufficient speed to the radially outermost edges of the plates, and the subsidiary higher-shear treatment zone has the same radial extent, the two zones therefore being . : ,. .,; _;.. ,;, ,.: ,.. ..~:,: - , -, _,v . . . v v .:. . .
,-. ,,. , . .: .' -.': ..~' , WO 94/14275 ~ ~ ~ ~ pC'T/US93/07931 coextensive. In this embodiment therefore the spacing in the overall high-shear treatment zone flow passage is sufficiently small to meet the condition for the subsidiary higher-shear treatment zone that free supra-Kolmogoroff y eddies are suppressed, and only forced sub-Kolmogoroff eddies are possible. Again, the respective surface films may be so thin that they consist essentially of only the highly viscous boundary layers that engage with one another.
The relative rotation o~ the plates will produce a small hydrodynamic effect on the viscosity of the material as it is dragged circumferentially, and in this embodiment the transducers are found therefore to be particularly desirable in producing their beneficial elastohydrodynamic effect on the grinding ability of the mill. This was originally postulated as being due to the direct generation by the transducer oscillations of smaller sub-Kolmogoroff eddies in the material, superimposed on the sub-Kolmogoroff eddies produced by the relative rotatior.,~~but from the explanation above it is possible that both hydrodynamic and ela~tohydrodynamic effeets are alsa operative. The synehronized and in phase operation of the transducers attached to the stationary mill member produces a strong, high frequency, precise movement or displacement thereof, causing a localized viscosity increase at least in the .
minimum gap G due to the elastohydrodynamic effect of the thus generated squeeze-film.
Due to the fact that in a plate mill all particles must pass through the ring-shaped minimum gap a plate mill will be preferred to a drum mill whenever particle size reduction is required and the the upper size limit of the particle size distribution must be maintained with certainty. Although the method and apparatus of the invention have been described predominately in their application to the treatment of ceramic slurries, it will be apparent that they are applicable generally to the uniform mixing of materials, such as the uniform mixing of two mutually non-soluble or difficultly soluble liquids, the solution of materials including gases in liquids, VVO 94/04275 ~ ~ ~ ~ 3 PGT/ZJS93/07931 particularly fine particle materials anc~ materials that axe of low solubility in the liquid, and the suspension of other materials in suspension vehicles, especially materials that are difficult to wet, and particularly fine particle .' materials.
~. . . ..: ; '. ::; ~: . v:. . :. r: ,:: :-. ; . .,::v :.: ~ . , r ~.~. ~..:.~ ,.,,. . ~-~'. '.. v. ,....:.. : ~.. ~,~..,.r. ;.. :., -.: ~.w .
~.;. ;.,. .. ... ', ~:. ,..,; ~:.. .' f : .~r,',. ~..' '. . ry;,. .. ~';::. '.~ ~, ,',. . ', ':i:: ~.: ~. ~. , ..":..:,.. m.:;~..~; , ~...,.,... ; ; , ,..-.. ~....~ : ~.. . , '., . , ..:,:...,;.......~ , ... ,..,., _.,.
~~~21~3 ~V~ 94/Q4275 PCT/LJS93/07931 z aa~ppEx of ~t~F~RErac~ s z oars G Minimum Gap in Flow Passage H Maximum Gap in Flaw Passage L Radial Extent of Gap G

. 5 x0 Powder Supply Hopper 12 Premixing Circuit Storage Tank 14 Dispersion Vehicle Supply Tank 16 Premixing Circuit Circulating Pump 18 Pxem~,xing Circuit RUM

IO 20 RUM Wall Plates 22 'RUM Ultrasonic Transducers 24 Drum Mixer 26 Feeder Pumps 28 Coolers 15 30 Drum Mill of the Invention 32 Plate Mill ~f the Invention 34 Apparatus Hase Frame 36 Intermediate Casing ~'.

38 Outer Cylindrieal Mill Member 20 40 Ir~nex Surface of Mill Member 38 42 Drum Mill Annular Flora Passage 49 Outer Surface of Mill Member 96 96 Inner Cylindrical Mill Member 48 Shaft for Mill Member 46 25 50 Harizontal Axis of Shaft 48 52 Mill Ultrasonic Transducer 54/56 Transducer Coolant Inlet/Outlet 58 Gover Plate to form Cooling Enclosure 60/62 Mil1'Coolant Inlet/0utlet Pipes 30 64 Wire Mesh Insert 66 End Cover Plates 68/70 Slurry Inlet/Outlet Pipes 72 Holes in End Plates 66 74 Gasket Seals 35 76 Retaining Washers 78 Bearings for Shaft 48 80 Crossbars Supporting Hearings 78 . 82/84 Hearing Posts for Crossbar 80 . ..: . . .v: ; ~ ; . ;,:; , :: . ::'.' , .. , . v ,.,, :v ; , , ,:, ,, .-. -.: . .. ,. . . . . .. . , ,. -.. .
.

VV~ 94/04275 4 ~ ~" ~ ~ P~1'/U~93/0'7931 I NDEX OF REF~REN,~r~E S I GNS

86 Crossbar Fivot Axis 88 Flexible Strap 90 Screw 'threaded Rod 92 Compression Springs 94 Adjustment Nut 95 Drive Coupling 96 Insert for Mill Member 46 98 Milling Surface of Insert 96 100 Stationary Circular Plate Mill Member 102 Mill Surface of Plate Member 100 104 Resilient Mounting Annulus for Member 100 106 Rotatable Circular Plate Mill Member 108 Mill Surface o Plate Member 108 I5 110 Plate Mill vertieal Axis 112 Mill Standard 114 Motorised Mill Drive Head 116 Plate Mill Flow Passage _.~~

118 Flexible Pipe Connection 120 Central Hole in Plate 100 122 Outlet Plenum Chamber for Slurry 126 Plenum_Resilient Gasket 128 Horizontal Mill Rotational Axis 130 Standard 132 Resilient Cylinder 134 Steel Ring 136 External Casing 138 Restraining Strap 140 Hearing 142 Standard 144 Coupling 196 Separate Inlet for Dissolves 148 Coupling Member between Members 3c and 38 150 Passages for Cooling Liquid (Figure 5) 152 Heat Exchange Inserts 154 Liquid Pool

Claims

I CLAIM:

1. Methods for high-shear treatment of flowable materials comprising two or more components, one of which is a liquid, the methods comprising:
passing the material to be treated in a flow direction in a flow path constituted by a passage between two closely spaced passage surfaces provided by respective mill members, the passage having an inlet thereto and an outlet therefrom;
wherein the flow path includes an overall high-shear treatment zone in which the spacing between the passage surfaces allows the coexistence of free supra-Kolmogoroff eddies which are larger than the smallest Kolmogoroff eddy diameter for the flowing material, and forced sub-Kolmogoroff eddies which are smaller than the forced smallest Kolmogoroff eddy diameter;
the overall high-shear treatment zone includes at least a portion thereof in which the passage spacing is smaller than in the remainder of the zone to provide a subsidiary higher-shear treatment zone in which free supra-Kolmogoroff eddies are suppressed during passage of the material therethrough;
and while the material is moving in the overall high-shear treatment zone the mill members are moved relative to one another to thereby move the mill passage surfaces relative to one another in a direction transverse to the flow direction at a relative speed sufficient to force the simultaneous development of supra-Kolmogoroff and sub-Kolmogoroff eddies for the treatment of the material therein on a supra-micron and sub-micron scale with maintenance of the respective liquid films adhering to the relatively moving passage surfaces;
such relative movement producing in the subsidiary higher-shear treatment zone only forced sub-Kolmogoroff eddies with maintenance of non-turbulent flow.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the subsidiary higher-shear treatment zone includes a gap G of minimum spacing between the passage surfaces towards which the passage surfaces spacing decreases for the generation of hydrodynamic pressure in the flowing material and resultant local increase in viscosity in the material for enhancement of the treatment action.

3. A method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the overall high-shear treatment zone includes also a gap H of maximum spacing between the passage surfaces towards which the passage surfaces spacing increases and the relative movement between the passage surfaces produces cyclic changes in the cross sectional thickness of the flowing material between the passage surfaces.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3, and for use in the mixing of the material or entrainment of a component in a carrier liquid, wherein in the gap G
the spacing between the closely spaced passage surfaces is in the range 1 micrometer-5mm, and in the gap H the spacing between the closely spaced passage surfaces is in the range 2mm-2cm.

5. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein in the overall high-shear treatment zone the spacing between the closely spaced passage surfaces is in the range 0.1-500 micrometers.

6. A method as claimed in claim 5, wherein in the subsidiary higher-shear treatment zone the spacing between the closely spaced passage surfaces is such that the liquid films adhering to the relatively moving passage surfaces interact with one another without an intermediate layer between them.

7. A method as claimed in claim 5 or 6, and for use in the grinding of a solid powdered material entrained in a carrier liquid, wherein in the subsidiary higher-shear treatment zone the spacing between the closely spaced passage surfaces is the maximum particle size to which the material is to be ground.

8. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the mill members are moved so as to produce a linear velocity between the closely spaced passage surfaces relative to one another of between 0.5 and 200 meters per minute.

9. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the mill members are respectively a stationary hollow outer cylinder, and a rotatable inner cylinder mounted within the stationary hollow outer cylinder for rotation about a respective longitudinal rotational axis, and wherein the two cylinders are also mounted for movement relative to one another transverse to the rotational axis to thereby vary the spacing between the two opposed flow passage surfaces.

10. A method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the subsidiary higher-shear treatment zone between the mill members is formed between a flat surface portion of the inner surface of the stationary hollow outer cylinder and a cylindrical surface portion of the rotatable inner cylinder to provide increased convergence of the two-surface portions.

11. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the mill members are circular plates mounted for rotational movement relative to one another about a common rotational axis passing through their centers, the passage surfaces being constituted by respective opposed surfaces of the two plates, and wherein the plates are also mounted for movement relative to one another along the rotational axis to vary the distance between the two opposed surfaces.

12. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the overall high-shear treatment zone and the subsidiary higher-shear treatment zone are coextensive with one another.

13. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein longitudinal pressure oscillations are applied to a wall of the passage in the overall high shear treatment zone for enhancement of the treatment action by producing in the material increases in the local viscosity resulting from an elastohydrodynamic squeeze film effect in the liquid films.

14. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein longitudinal pressure oscillations are applied to a wall of the passage in the overall high-shear treatment zone for enhancement of the treatment action by producing in the material increases in the local viscosity resulting from the production of forced sub-Kolmogoroff eddies therein.

15. Apparatus for high-shear treatment of flowable materials comprising two or more components, one of which is a liquid, the apparatus comprising:
an apparatus frame;
first and second mill members mounted by the apparatus frame and providing respective first and second passage surfaces closely spaced from one another to form a flow passage between them constituting a flow path for the flow therein of the material to be treated, the flow path having a corresponding flow direction, the passage having an inlet thereto and an outlet therefrom;
wherein the flow path includes an overall high-shear treatment zone in which the spacing between the passage surfaces allows the coexistence of free supra-Kolmogoroff eddies which are larger than the smallest Kolmogoroff eddy diameter for the flowing material and forced sub-Kolmogoroff eddies which are smaller than the smallest Kolmogoroff eddy diameter;
wherein the overall high-shear treatment zone includes at least a portion thereof in which the passage spacing is smaller than in the remainder of the zone to provide a subsidiary higher-shear treatment zone in which free supra-Kolmogoroff eddies are suppressed during passage of the material therethrough; and wherein motor means are operatively connected to at least one of the mill members to move the member so as to move the first and second passage surfaces relative to one another in a direction transverse to the flow direction at a relative speed in the overall high-shear treatment zone sufficient to force the simultaneous development of supra-Kolmogoroff and sub-Kolmogoroff eddies for the treatment of the material therein on a supra-micron and sub-micron scale with maintenance of the respective liquid films adhering to the relatively moving passage surfaces;
such relative movement producing in the subsidiary higher-shear treatment zone only forced sub-Kolmogoroff eddies with maintenance of non-turbulent flow.

16. Apparatus as claimed in claim 15, wherein the subsidiary higher-shear treatment zone includes a gap G of minimum spacing between the passage surfaces towards which the passage surfaces spacing decreases for the generation of hydrodynamic pressure in the flowing material and resultant local increase in viscosity in the material for enhancement of the treatment action.

17, Apparatus as claimed in claim 16, wherein the overall high-shear treatment zone includes also a gap H of maximum spacing between the passage surfaces towards which the passage surfaces spacing increases and the relative movement between the passage surfaces produces cyclic changes in the cross-sectional thickness of the flowing material between the passage surfaces.

18. Apparatus as claimed in claim 17, and for use in the mixing of the material or entrainment of a component in a carrier liquid, wherein in the gap G
the spacing between the closely spaced passage surfaces is in the range 1 micrometer-5mm and in the gap H the spacing between the closely spaced passage surfaces is in the range 2mm-2cm.

19. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 15 to 18, wherein in the overall high-shear treatment zone the spacing between the closely spaced passage surfaces is in the range 0.1-500 micrometers.

20. Apparatus as claimed in anyone of claims 15 to 19, wherein the mill members are moved by the motor means so as to produce a linear velocity between the closely spaced passage surfaces relative to one another of between 0.5 and 200 meters per minute.

21. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 15 to 20, wherein the mill members are respectively a stationary hollow outer cylinder and a rotatable inner cylinder within the stationary hollow outer cylinder for rotation about a respective longitudinal rotational axis, and wherein the two cylinders are also mounted for movement relative to one another transverse to the rotational axis to thereby vary the spacing between the two opposed flow passage surfaces.

22. Apparatus as claimed in claim 21, wherein the subsidiary higher-shear treatment zone between the mill members is formed between a flat surface portion of the inner surface of the stationary hollow outer cylinder and a cylindrical surface portion of the rotatable inner cylinder to provide increased convergence of the two surface portions.

23. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 15 to 20, wherein the mill members are circular plates mounted for rotational movement relative to one another about a common rotational axis passing through their centres, the passage surfaces being constituted by respective opposed surfaces of the two plates, and wherein the plates are also mounted for movement relative to one another along the rotational axis to vary the distance between the two opposed surfaces.

24. Apparatus as claimed in claim 23, wherein the passage surfaces of the mill members are flat and parallel to one another, so that the overall high-shear treatment zone and the subsidiary higher-shear treatment zone are coextensive with one another.

25. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 15 to 24, wherein at least one longitudinal pressure oscillation producing transducer is connected to a wall of the flow passage in the overall high-shear treatment zone to apply longitudinal pressure oscillations to the material therein for enhancement of the treatment action by producing In the material increases In the local viscosity resulting from an elastohydrodynamic squeeze film effect in the liquid films.

26. Apparatus as claimed In any one of claims 15 to 24, wherein at least one longitudinal pressure oscillation producing transducer Is connected to a wall of the flow passage In the overall high-shear treatment zone to apply longitudinal pressure oscillations to the material therein for enhancement of the treatment action by producing in the material the production of forced sub-Kolmogoroff eddies therein.

27. Apparatus as claimed In any one of claims 15 to 26, wherein the closely spaced passage surfaces of the mill members have a value M in the range 1-5, where M =F/R, where F Is the thickness of the films on the passage surfaces and R is the surface roughness.

28. Apparatus as claimed in claim 27, wherein the closely spaced passage surfaces are polished to have at least a dull mirror surface finish.