Method of sealing of ceramic wall structures

Claim 1

A method of sealing the pores in a sintered ceramic heat exchanger designed to be used in a hot gas turbine engine, wherein the heat exchanger wall structure is formed of a material selected from silicon nitride and silicon carbide, the heat exchanger wall structure defining two separate flow passages for different gases when the heat exchanger is placed in service: said method comprising the steps of pumping a first reactant gas into one of the flow passages; pumping a second reactant gas into the other flow passage; maintaining each reactant gas at a sufficient pressure to cause the gases to penetrate into the pores of the heat exchanger walls where they will chemically react to form solid permanent sealing fillers within the pores; and heating the heat exchanger walls while the reactant gases are chemically reacting within the pores; said pumping steps being carried out so that the pressures of the reactant gases are maintained substantially equal during the major part of the time that the chemical reaction is taking place, and the pressures of the reactant gases are selectively varied during the final stages of the reaction to cause one reactant gas to advance further into the porous walls than the other reactant gas; the first reactant gas being a material selected from silicon hydride, silane and silicon tetrachloride; the second reactant gas being a material selected from ammonia and hydrogen; the reactant gases being selected so that the reaction product is the same material as the material originally used to form the heat exchanger wall structure.

Claim 2

A method of sealing the pores in a sintered ceramic heat exchanger designed to be used in a hot gas turbine engine, wherein the heat exchanger wall structure is formed of a material selected from silicon nitride and silicon carbide, the heat exchanger wall structure defining two separate flow passages for different gases when the heat exchanger is placed in service: said method comprising the steps of pumping a first reactant gas into one of the flow passages; pumping a second reactant gas into the other flow passage; maintaining each reactant gas at a sufficient pressure to cause the gases to penetrate into the pores of the heat exchanger walls where they will chemically react to form solid permanent sealing fillers within the pores; and heating the heat exchanger walls while the reactant gases are chemically reacting within the pores; said pumping steps being carried out so that the pressures of the reactant gases are maintained substantially equal during the major part of the time that the chemical reaction is taking place, and the pressures of the reactant gases are selectively varied during the final stages of the reaction to cause one reactant gas to advance further into the porous walls than the other reactant gas; the first reactant gas being a material selected from silicon hydride, silane and silicon tetrachloride; the second reactant gas being a material selected from ammonia and hydrogen; the reactant gases being selected so that the reaction product is the same material as the material originally used to form the heat exchanger wall structure.