The production of lithium oxide microspheres from the disintegration of a liquid jet

Journal Article · Fri Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 1989 · Fusion Technology; (USA)

OSTI ID:6716177

Al-Ubaidi, M R ^[1]; Anno, J N ^[2]

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1. Univ. of Cincinnati, OMI College of Applied Sciences, Cincinnati, OH (US)
2. Univ. of Cincinnati, College of Engineering, Cincinnati, OH (US)

Microspheres of lithium hydroxide (LiOH) were produced from in-flight solidification of droplets formed by the disintegration of an acoustically driven, mechanically vibrated cylindrical liquid jet of molten LiOH. The molten material at 470 to 480{degrees}C was fed through a 25-gauge (0.0267-cm bore diameter) nozzle, interiorly electroplated with silver, under {approximately}27.6-kPa (4-psig) pressure, and at a mechanical vibration frequency of 10 Hz. The resulting jet issued into a 5.5-cm-diam vertical glass drop tube entraining a 94.5 cm{sup 3}/s (12 ft{sup 3}/h) argon gas stream at 75{degrees}C. The 100-cm-long drop tube was sufficient to allow the droplets of molten LiOH resulting from jet disintegration to solidify in-flight without catastrophic thermal shock, being then collected a solid microspheres. These LiOH microspheres were then vacuum processed to lithium oxide (Li{sub 2}O). Preliminary experiments resulted in microspheres with diameters varying from 120 to 185 {mu}m, but with evidence of impurity contamination occurring during the initial stages of the process.

• OSTI ID: 6716177
• Journal Information: Fusion Technology; (USA), Vol. 16:4; ISSN 0748-1896
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ARGON
COLLISIONS
LITHIUM HYDROXIDES
MECHANICAL VIBRATIONS
LITHIUM OXIDES
MICROSPHERES
DROPLETS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
MOLTEN SALT FUELS
ALKALI METAL COMPOUNDS
CHALCOGENIDES
DATA
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
FLUIDS
FUELS
GASES
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROXIDES
INFORMATION
LIQUID FUELS
LITHIUM COMPOUNDS
MATERIALS
NONMETALS
NUCLEAR FUELS
NUMERICAL DATA
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PARTICLES
RARE GASES
REACTOR MATERIALS
360201* - Ceramics
Cermets
& Refractories- Preparation & Fabrication