Apparatus and methods of ceramic pre-cursor batch rheology control

• Main Authors: Walsh, Conor James, Malarkey, Christopher John
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 11.01.2022
• Subjects: AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING; CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOIDCHEMISTRY; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL; PRESSES; PRESSES IN GENERAL; SHAPING CLAY OR OTHER CERAMIC COMPOSITIONS, SLAG, OR MIXTURESCONTAINING CEMENTITIOUS MATERIAL, e.g. PLASTER; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDEDFOR; SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS; TRANSPORTING; WORKING CEMENT, CLAY, OR STONE; WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE, IN GENERAL

A system (100) and method to control rheology of ceramic pre-cursor batch during extrusion is described herein. An extrusion system (100) comprises an extruder (122) with an input port (144) configured to feed ceramic pre-cursor batch into a first section (120) of an extruder barrel and a discharge port configured to extrude a ceramic pre-cursor extrudate (172) out of the extruder barrel downstream of the input port (144). A liquid injector (210) is configured to inject liquid into the ceramic pre-cursor batch. A sensor (106) is configured to detect a rheology characteristic of the ceramic pre-cursor batch. A controller (108) is configured (i) to receive the rheology characteristic from the sensor (106), (ii) compare the rheology characteristic to a predetermined rheology value of the ceramic pre-cursor batch, and (iii) generate a command based on the comparison. A liquid regulator (110) is configured to receive the command and adjust liquid flow to the liquid injector (210) based on the command.