Key features
Overview
Porous pellets are loaded into 12 individual stainless steel baskets which are placed into the system. The system picks a basket and places to 1 of 6 dipping vessels using an XYZ gantry robot. Each dipping vessel contains a glass pot filled with a liquid solution. A vacuum is drawn in the dipping vessel, removing air from the pores within the pellets. The pot is raised to submerge the pellets and impregnate with the liquid solution. Nitrogen gas vented into the dipping vessel, releasing the vacuum and creating an inert local environment.
The basket is removed from the dipping vessel and tilted to drain off any excess liquid solution back into the pot. The basket is returned to the rack, where an individually controlled heater dries the pellets in each rack position. During the drying process, baskets are periodically agitated to “shuffle” the pellets within the basket to improve drying.