| abstract |
The present invention relates to a reaction vessel adapted to withstand pressures and temperatures of the magnitude associated with the manufacture of diamond products and boron nitride (BN) and similar hard materials. The reaction vessel has an outer chamber or shell formed from steel and an inner reaction chamber. Known vessels of this type must be provided with a thick layer of insulating material between the reaction chamber and the outer steel shell to protect the outer shell from the heat of the diamond-forming process carried on in the reaction chamber. The quantity of insulating material required within the vessel for adequate protection of the outer shell is relatively large as compared to the area of the outer shell. Accordingly, the amount of available space remaining within the vessel for the diamond-forming reaction is limited, thus limiting the size of the diamonds formed. The present invention provides a reaction vessel with a cooling system which eliminates the need for the large quantity of insulating material in the known vessels. As such, the reaction vessel provides a significantly larger reaction chamber for the diamond-forming process, and the resultant diamonds are up to a thousand times larger than those formed from known reaction vessels. In one embodiment of the invention, the cooling system includes a plurality of truncated steel pyramids arranged to form flow passages or channels for a cooling fluid adjacent to the inner wall of the vessel's outer steel shell to absorb and disperse heat before it penetrates the outer steel shell. |