Patent ID: 8142619

Claim:
A method of conditioning a reactive mixture, the method comprising: providing a constricting chamber having a first end, a second end opposite the first end, and an interior surface formed between the first end and the second end and disposed circumferentially around and defining an interior space and a longitudinal axis of the constricting chamber, a frusto-conical surface formed from the interior surface and narrowing as it extends away from the first end and into the second end, and a cover disposed at the first end of the constricting chamber substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and comprising a center substantially aligned with the longitudinal axis; an energy supply device applying a plasma stream to a precursor material, thereby vaporizing the precursor material and forming the reactive mixture, wherein the reactive mixture comprises vaporized precursor material entrained within the plasma stream, and wherein the precursor material is provided to the energy supply device in powder form; flowing the reactive mixture into the interior space of the constricting chamber through a reactive mixture injection port disposed on the cover of the constricting chamber proximate the center; flowing a conditioning fluid into the interior space of the constricting chamber through an annular supply portion in an annular formation along the interior surface of the constricting chamber, wherein the annular supply portion comprises one or more supply ports disposed circumferentially around the longitudinal axis, and the annular supply portion comprises one or more supply ports disposed on the cover in an annular formation around the reactive mixture injection port and configured to supply conditioning fluid into the constricting chamber along the interior surface, wherein the annular supply portion is distinct from the reactive mixture injection port such that the conditioning fluid is supplied into the interior space of the constricting chamber through a different port than the reactive mixture, wherein the one or more supply ports disposed on the cover comprise one or more openings in a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the constricting chamber; cooling the reactive mixture within the interior space of the constricting chamber, thereby forming a cooled mixture; and flowing the cooled mixture through an ejection port disposed at the second end of the constricting chamber, wherein the ejection port is substantially aligned with the longitudinal axis.