A New Production System of Ultrafine Metal Particles by Hydrogen Plasma in an Arc

A production system of ultrafine metal particles has been designed and manufactured to examine its industrialization. In this system, metal powders are produced by arc melting in hydrogen and inert gases. The particle generator, a kind of arc furnace, was newly improved so as to produce fine particles and to feed a raw metal rod. The generation rate of ultrafine metal particles became higher with the increasing partial pressure of hydrogen in atmosphere. The generation rate of iron particles was about 30g/h in 50% hydrogen atmosphere (5kW). The diameters of Fe, Cu and Al particles were found to be from 10 to 100nm by the use of a transmission electron microscope.