Hollow glass microspheres for thermonuclear fuels - made by blowing glass frit contg. blowing agent up heated shaft

摘要

Mfr. of small glass spheres comprises (a) provision of a heat-resisting shaft with a vertical cavity; (b) heating the cavity to 1300 degrees C; (c) introducing a stream of glass frit contg. an expansion (blowing) agent into the shaft; (d) moving the frit up the hot shaft in a gas stream; and (e) collecting the resulting hollow glass spheres at the top of the shaft. The pref. device consists of a hollow vertical shaft with a burner for a combustible gas at its base and means for adding the frit to the burner tube at a location remote from the burner jet. Mfrs. hollow microspheres for use as containers for thermo-nuclear fuel, e.g. deuterium or deuterium-tritium exposed to a pulsed laser beam. Process is controllable so that where microspheres of prescribed size and wall-thickness can be obtd.