JPH0416956B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention provides a method for operating an iodine laser device capable of continuous oscillation. This invention relates to a method of operating an iodine laser device that can supply alkali (caustic soda or caustic potash) to adjust the liquid concentration, maintain heat balance, and obtain continuous and stable laser output for a long period of time.

[Conventional technology]

Recently, chemically excited iodine lasers (chemically
Research on pumped iodine laser (CPIL) has been conducted,
Successfully generated high-power laser oscillation with a wavelength of 1.315μm. This CPIL has the advantage that it does not require electrical energy as a pumping source for laser oscillation, can oscillate with chemical fuel, and has a relatively simple structure.

The basic principle of CPIL is the energy transfer reaction according to the following equation.

O ₂ ^* ( ¹ Δ) + I ( ² P _3/2 ) O ₂
( ³ Σ) + I ^* ( ² P _1/2 )...(1) In equation (1), the reaction from the left side to the right side is fast, so pumping is performed efficiently and I ^* ( ² P _1/2 ) is generated. be done. This I ^* ( ² P _1/2 ) becomes the laser medium, and the wavelength
Generates a 1.315μm laser beam. The most important thing here is how efficiently O ₂ ^* ( ¹ Δ), which is the pumping source, is generated. The most efficient method currently known is the decomposition reaction of hydrogen peroxide shown by the following formula.

H ₂ O ₂ +2NaOH+Cl ₂ →O ₂ ^* +2H ₂ O+2
NaCl...(2) Add sodium hydroxide solution to a highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide solution to make it alkaline, and then bubble chlorine gas into this mixed solution to reduce O ₂ ^* ( ¹ Δ)
occurs easily.

As shown in Fig. 2, a conventional iodine laser device includes an excited oxygen generator 1 that introduces an aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution and an aqueous alkaline solution and generates excited oxygen by contacting them with chlorine gas, and an excited oxygen generator 1 that generates excited oxygen by introducing an aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution and an aqueous alkaline solution and bringing them into contact with chlorine gas. A steam trap 2 is introduced to remove water vapor as ice, and excited oxygen from which water vapor has been removed is introduced and iodine is supplied therein to excite iodine by an energy transfer reaction from excited oxygen to iodine. It consists of a laser oscillator 3 that generates laser oscillation, and a vacuum pump 4 that sucks gas from the laser oscillator.

However, in the conventional iodine laser device shown in Fig. 2, the components of the solution in the excited oxygen generator 1 change as the reaction progresses, making it impossible to continuously obtain stable excited oxygen. This was a major factor in not being able to obtain laser light.

For this reason, the present inventors developed an iodine laser device as shown in Fig. 3, and have already filed a patent application for
A patent application has been filed as No. 80724. That is, this iodine laser device differs from the conventional device shown in FIG. 2 in that, as shown in FIG. A premixer 5 is provided, and this premixer and the excited oxygen generator 1 are connected via a solution circulation line 6 so that the solution partially reacted in the excited oxygen generator can be recovered. 7 is a circulation pump, and 8 is a water vapor trap.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

As shown in Figure 3, in the elementary laser device,
The steam trap 8 is for removing water that increases during continuous operation and keeping the solution concentration constant. However, since the aqueous alkaline solution is supplied to the premixer 5, the water in the solution increases and is removed. There was a disadvantage that the amount of water to be collected increased and the size of the steam trap 8 increased.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and by introducing solid alkali into the premixer instead of an aqueous alkali solution, surplus water can be eliminated or reduced, and the water vapor trap connected to the premixer can be The object of the present invention is to provide a method of operating an iodine laser device that can reduce the size of the iodine laser or eliminate it.

[Means for solving problems]

The method of operating the iodine laser device of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1. In the excited oxygen generator 1, an alkaline hydrogen peroxide aqueous solution is brought into contact with chlorine or a chlorine compound to generate excited oxygen. After
This excited oxygen is introduced into the laser oscillator 3 and iodine is supplied to excite the iodine through an energy transfer reaction from the excited oxygen to the iodine, thereby obtaining laser oscillation. A premixer 5 is provided on the upstream side of the generator 1, and a hydrogen peroxide aqueous solution and a solid alkali are introduced and mixed into this premixer to reduce surplus water, while also reducing the reaction between the alkali and water. The temperature equilibrium state is maintained by generating water vapor using heat or by circulating a solution cooled by the heat of vaporization of refrigerant or water in the excited oxygen generator to the premixer 5.

[Effect]

A hydrogen peroxide aqueous solution and a solid (pellet, flake, etc.) alkali (NaOH, KOH, etc.) are supplied to the premixer 5 to form an alkaline hydrogen peroxide aqueous solution. At this time, due to the heat of reaction between the alkali and water, an amount of water corresponding to the heat of reaction evaporates. An aqueous solution is introduced into the excited oxygen generator 1, and the aqueous solution is brought into contact with chlorine gas or a chlorine compound to generate excited oxygen. This excited oxygen is introduced into the laser oscillator 3, iodine gas is supplied into the excited oxygen, and iodine is excited by an energy transfer reaction from the excited oxygen to iodine, thereby forming an inverted population between iodine atoms. Obtain laser light by this. The solution that has partially reacted in the excited oxygen generator 1 is recovered to the premixer 5 through the solution circulation line 6, and the concentration is adjusted by newly supplying an appropriate amount of hydrogen peroxide aqueous solution and solid alkali.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. However, unless there is a specific description, the shapes of the components described in this example, their relative positions, etc. are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention to these, but are merely illustrative examples. Only.

1 is an excited oxygen generator, 2 is a water vapor trap, 3 is
is a laser oscillator, 4 is a vacuum pump, 5 is a premixer, 6 is a solution circulation line, 7 is a circulation pump, 8a
is a water vapor trap.

In the iodine laser device configured as described above, an aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution and a solid alkali are introduced and mixed into the premixer 5, and an amount corresponding to the reaction heat is generated by the reaction heat between the alkali and water. The water is evaporated or the cooled solution returned from the circulation pump 7 is warmed. The water vapor is introduced into the water vapor trap 8a, cooled by a refrigerant, and removed as ice. In this case, since the alkali is supplied in solid form, the surplus water is eliminated or reduced, so that the steam trap 8a is smaller than the steam trap 8 in FIG. 3, or even eliminates the steam trap. It becomes possible.

On the other hand, the solution at the bottom of the excited oxygen generator 1 is circulated to the premixer by a solution circulation line 6.

After the water vapor is introduced into the excited oxygen water vapor trap 2 and removed as ice, it is introduced into the laser oscillator 3, where the excited oxygen is introduced into the iodine injector along with a carrier gas (an inert gas such as argon gas or nitrogen gas). Laser light is obtained by exciting iodine through an energy transfer reaction from excited oxygen to iodine and forming an inverted population between iodine atoms.

The pressure at the inlet of the vacuum pump 4 is usually around 1 Torr, inside the laser oscillator 3 around 1.2 Torr, and inside the excited oxygen generator 1 around 1.4 Torr. Further, the temperature inside the excited oxygen generator 1 is controlled to be around -20°C, and the temperature inside the premixer 5 is also controlled to approximately the same level as that of the oxygen generator.

Next, the heat balance when solid caustic soda is used will be explained. First, the reaction formula in the method of the present invention is as follows.

H ₂ O ₂ +2NaOH+Cl ₂ →O ₂ ^* +2NaCl+2H ₂ O+27
.5kcal/mol……(3) H ₂ O ₂ +OH ^- →HO ₂ ^- +H ₂ O＋23kcal/mol……(
4) 2NaOH＋2H ₂ O→2Na ⁺ ＋2OH ^- ＋2H ₂ O＋21.3k
cal/mol...(5) In equation (5), the heat of dissolution is actually not infinite dilution, so it was taken as 10.65 kcal/mol, which is 50%.

The amount of heat and amount of steam water are as follows.

(1) Total heat: 61.1kcal/mol (heat of solution is
10.65kcal/mol) (2) Evaporable water content: 5.67mol (3) Generated water: 2mol (4) H ₂ O ₂ entrained water (per 1 mol) 35wt%: 3.51mol 60wt%: 1.26mol Therefore, H In the case of ₂ O ₂ 35wt%, the amount of evaporable water is 5.67 mol ≒ 2 mol of generated water + 3.51 mol of H ₂ O ₂ accompanied water
Therefore, if H ₂ O ₂ is 60wt%, the amount of water that can be evaporated is
5.67 mol > 2 mol of generated water + 1.26 mol of H ₂ O ₂ accompanied water, and if H ₂ O ₂ is 60 wt%, there is no need to add heat to evaporate water.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, the present invention supplies solid alkali to the premixer, so surplus water is reduced or
This has the effect that the steam trap connected to the premixer can be made smaller or completely unnecessary.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a device for carrying out the method of operating an iodine laser device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a conventional iodine laser device,
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an iodine laser device that the present inventors have already developed. 1...Excited oxygen generator, 2...Water vapor trap, 3...Laser oscillator, 4...Vacuum pump,
5... Premixer, 6... Solution circulation line, 7...
Circulation pump, 8, 8a...Steam trap.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. After generating excited oxygen by bringing an alkaline hydrogen peroxide aqueous solution into contact with chlorine or a chlorine compound in an excited oxygen generator, this excited oxygen is introduced into a laser oscillator and iodine is supplied. When operating an iodine laser device that excites iodine through an energy transfer reaction from excited oxygen to iodine and obtains laser oscillation, a premixer is installed upstream of the excited oxygen generator, and this premixing By adding and mixing an aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution and a solid alkali in a container, we aim to reduce excess water, and on the other hand, generate water vapor by the reaction heat between the alkali and water, or use refrigerant or water in an excited oxygen generator. 1. A method for operating an iodine laser device, characterized in that a temperature equilibrium state is maintained by circulating a solution cooled by the heat of vaporization in a premixer.