Method and device for drying an explosive

Abstract

A method and a device for drying an explosive, wherein the explosive contains moisture and microwave radiation causes the explosive to expel the moisture contained in the explosive. Provided is a drying chamber having magnetrons that exert the required microwave radiation on the explosive to be dried and thereby heat the explosive. During heating, the moisture in the explosive is then expelled.

Claims

1. A device for drying an explosive that contains moisture, the device comprising: a drying chamber in which the explosive is dried; a support device on which the explosive is stored; at least one magnetron being associated with the drying chamber, via which the explosive is subjected to microwave radiation, wherein the support device is a transportation belt, which has a transportation direction, wherein a first chamber is provided and is positioned upstream of the drying chamber, wherein the transportation belt extends through the first chamber and the drying chamber so that the transportation belt guides the explosive through the first chamber and then through the drying chamber, wherein the first chamber includes further magnetrons so that a heating of the explosive in the first chamber is provided, and wherein an adsorption device, that subjects the explosive to adsorption, is provided in the first chamber.

2. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one sensor is associated with the drying chamber, which permits a moisture and/or temperature measurement.

3. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a second chamber is downstream of the drying chamber, and wherein the transportation belt extends through the second chamber so that the transportation belt guides the explosive through the second chamber after the drying chamber.

4. The device as claimed in claim 3, wherein cooling elements cool the explosive in the second chamber.

5. The device as claimed in claim 3, wherein an additional adsorption device is provided in the second chamber to subject the explosive to adsorption.

6. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a running speed of the transportation belt is variable.

7. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wavelength of the at least one magnetron is variable.

8. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one fan is provided, which exhausts the air in the drying chamber to outside the drying chamber.

9. The device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the fan has at least one moisture filter.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus, are not limitive of the present invention, and wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a schematic illustration of the method according to the invention, and

(3) FIG. 2 shows a schematic illustration of the device according to the invention

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(4) FIG. 1 shows the explosive 4 to be dried, which contains a certain degree of moisture 2, which is to be expelled from the explosive 4 by the drying procedure.

(5) For this purpose, according to the invention, the explosive 4 is provided with a microwave radiation 1, which heats the explosive 4 and the moisture 2 contained therein. The moisture 2 is expelled from the explosive 4 by the heating, preferably by evaporation.

(6) The explosive 4 to be dried is arranged on a support device 5 and the microwave radiation 1 is applied from above onto the explosive 4 to be dried. To accelerate the drying, the support device 5 can be made reflective for this purpose, so that the microwave radiation 1 firstly penetrates the explosive 4 to be dried, is reflected by the support device 5, and once again penetrates the explosive 4 to be dried.

(7) Alternatively, it is also possible to make the support device 5 radiation-transparent, so that the microwave radiation 1 is not only incident from above on the explosive 4 to be dried, but rather also from below, for example. For this purpose, the microwave radiation 1 firstly penetrates the support device 5 and is then incident on the explosive 4 to be dried.

(8) The explosive 4 to be dried is heated and the moisture 2 contained therein is also heated by the microwave radiation 1. This heating takes place in such a way that the moisture 2 is expelled from the explosive 4. This expulsion preferably takes place upward out of the explosive 4, specifically in the expulsion direction 3.

(9) The corresponding device for drying explosive 4 is shown in FIG. 2. A drying chamber 13 is shown in FIG. 2, as well as a first chamber 12 and a second chamber 16, which are upstream and downstream, respectively, of the drying chamber 13.

(10) The support device 5 is implemented in this case by a transportation belt 11, which moves through the device according to the invention for drying explosive 4 in the transportation direction 10. For this purpose, the explosive 4 is firstly transported through the first chamber 12 by the transportation belt 11.

(11) This first chamber 12 can be used to prepare the explosive 4 to be dried accordingly, before it enters the drying chamber 13. For this purpose, for example, the explosive 4 can be preheated by further magnetrons or by convection heat elements. However, it is also possible to provide an adsorption device for adsorption in the first chamber, to prepare the surface of the explosive 4 to be dried so that due to enrichment of materials on the surface of the solid of the explosive 4, it obtains better heat absorption by the microwave radiation 1 or obtains protection against ignition due to the microwave radiation 1.

(12) After the explosive 4 to be dried has been transported through the first chamber 12, it enters the drying chamber 13 via the transportation belt 11. The drying chamber 13 is equipped with at least one magnetron 14, which can apply microwave radiation 1 to the explosive 4 to be dried.

(13) The explosive 4 to be dried is heated by the microwave radiation 1 and the moisture 2 contained in the explosive 4 is expelled from the explosive 4 due to the heating.

(14) To monitor the optimum expulsion of the moisture 2 from the explosive 4, it is proposed that the drying chamber 13 be equipped with at least one sensor 15 to be able to monitor the environment inside the drying chamber 13. This sensor or the multiple sensors can then monitor the temperature inside the drying chamber 13 or also the moisture 2 inside the drying chamber 13. To monitor the heat inside the drying chamber 13, it is proposed that at least one pyrometer be used as a sensor 15 to limit the temperature measurement to the thermal radiation.

(15) After the explosive 4 to be dried has been transported through the drying chamber 13 on the transportation belt 11, it enters the second chamber 16. This chamber can be used for postprocessing of the explosive 4 to be dried. For this purpose, it can contain cooling elements, for example, to cool down the explosive 4 to be dried to temperatures which permit further processing. However, at least one further adsorber could also be provided, which once again processes the surface of the explosive 4 to be dried for further use.

(16) The running speed of the transportation belt 11 is variable for this purpose to adapt the drying procedure and the dwell time in the drying chamber 13 to the respective explosive 4 to be dried and/or the material thickness. The wavelength of the magnetron 14 is also variable to also ensure an adaptation to the explosive 4 to be dried here. An optimum adaptation to any arbitrary explosive 4 to be dried is ensured by this variability.

(17) In order that the damp air is transported out of the drying chamber 13, a fan (not shown) is preferably provided, which guides the air out of the drying chamber 13. This fan can optionally contain a moisture filter, if it is not desirable for the moisture 2 to reach the outside.

(18) The present invention is not restricted to the above-mentioned features, rather, further designs are conceivable. It is thus conceivable, for example, to provide field monitoring in the drying chamber, which checks the homogeneity of the microwave radiation. For this purpose, corresponding sensors for field monitoring have to be associated with the drying chamber. Furthermore, it is conceivable to vary the power of the individual magnetrons via the path through the drying chamber, so that a drying profile results. Upon the introduction of the explosive to be dried into the drying chamber, firstly little energy is exerted until then the maximum required energy is exerted by the magnetron on the explosive to be dried up to the middle of the drying chamber and then less energy again during the transportation out. The heating of the explosive to be dried during the transportation through the drying chamber 13 can thus be optimized. Alternatively, a continuous homogeneous field can be used to ensure a continuous drying procedure.

(19) Instead of a transportation belt, a filling or metering transportation system can also be used to ensure drying in batches. Finally, a mixture of multiple explosives can also be dried in one drying procedure.

(20) The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are to be included within the scope of the following claims.