Patent ID: 6705850
Filing Date: 2004-03-16
Classification: D01D,D01F

Abstract:
An apparatus for forming a biopolymer fiber from a biopolymer stream, the apparatus comprising:a fiber-formation tube defining a tube axis and extending generally vertically from an upper end to a lower end, the fiber-formation tube having an inner wall defining a bore, a fluid inlet coupled to the upper end of the fiber-formation tube for establishing an increasingly uniform laminar flow of coagulation fluid within a laminar zone of the bore, the laminar flow being generally parallel to the tube axis and defining an upstream direction and a downstream direction along the tube axis, a spinneret coupled to the bore at a point downstream from the fluid inlet and adapted to introduce the biopolymer stream into the laminar zone, the fiber-formation tube being cylindrical at the point at which the biopolymer stream is introduced into the laminar zone, the biopolymer stream being surrounded by coagulation fluid so as not to contact the inner wall of the bore in the laminar zone and being swept downstream by the laminar flow, and a fluid outlet disposed downstream from the spinneret at a distance selected to enable the biopolymer stream to coagulate, in the presence of the coagulation fluid, into a biopolymer fiber upstream from or at the fluid outlet.