Process and apparatus for making aluminum particles

Claim 1

IN A PROCESS FOR MAKING SUBSTANTIALLY EQUI-AXED, SMOOTH-SURFACED ALUMINUM PARTICULATE WHEREIN A STREAM OF MOLTEN ALUMINUM IS DIRECTED DOWNWARDLY ONTO AN UPWARDLY CONCAVE SURFACE WHICH IS RAPIDLY ROTATING ABOUT A SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL AXIS, THE MOLTEN ALUMINUM IS THROWN CENTRIFUGALLY FROM SUCH SURFACE AND THEREBY DISPERSED ABOUT ITS AXIS IN THE FORM OF MOLTEN PARTICLES IN GENERALLY RADIAL FLIGHT, AND THE MOLTEN PARTICLES ARE WATER COOLED TO PRODUCE SOLID PARTICLES, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING PROVIDING AT LEAST ONE SUBSTANTIALLY CYLINDRICAL SHEETLIKE ENVELOPE OF DOWNWARDLY-DIRECTED COOLING WATER IN SUBSTANTIALLY UNINTERRUPTED LIQUID PHASE AROUND AND SPACED FROM THE ROTATING SURFACE AND ENTERING AN UNDERLYING BODY OF WATER, ARRESTING THE FLIGHT OF THE MOLTEN PARTICLES WITHIN THE DOWNWARDLY-DIRECTED COOLING WATER WHILE THEY ARE STILL MOVING IN A GENERALLY RADIAL DIRECTION, INITIALLY COOLING THEM IN SUCH DOWNWARDLY-DIRECTED WATER, AND CARRYING THEM IN SUCH DOWNWARDLY-DIRECTED WATER INTO THE UNDERLYING BODY OF WATER.