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Patent 1052094 Summary

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Claims and Abstract availability

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(12) Patent: (11) CA 1052094
(21) Application Number: 1052094
(54) English Title: DEVICE FOR MELTING-DOWN SCRAP, SPONGE-IRON, OR THE LIKE
(54) French Title: APPAREIL POUR LA FUSION DE LA FERRAILLE, DU FER SPONGIEUX ET D'AUTRES METAUX DU GENRE
Status: Term Expired - Post Grant Beyond Limit
Bibliographic Data
Abstracts

English Abstract


Abstract of the Disclosure
Iron-containing materials are loaded into the top of a shaft
furnace to form therein an upright column of the materials. A burner forms
a flame above the floor of the furnace to heat the base of the column and
thereby melt the materials at the base of the column into a liquefied-iron
melt on the floor of the furnace and a layer of slag on the melt. In
addition this flame formed by the burner forms a deposit in the furnace on
which the column is supported. Slag is continuously withdrawn from the
furnace at a location substantially level with the deposit and the melt is
withdrawn from the furnace at a location below the layer of slag and is
heated as it is withdrawn. This melt is withdrawn through an iron-drain
conduit having an outlet end vertically positioned to be horizontally even
with the lower surface of the slag and a refining vessel working inductively
or by means of an electric arc may be provided in this outlet conduit for
the continuous transformation of the liquefied iron into steel.


Claims

Note: Claims are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.


THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A method of smelting comprising the steps of continuously and con-
comitantly: feeding metal-containing materials into the top of a shaft fur-
nace to form therein an upright column of said materials; forming a flame
above the floor of said furnace and thereby heating the base of said column
to melt the materials at the base of said column into a liquefied-iron melt
on said floor and a layer of slag on said melt and to form in said furnace a
deposit; supporting said column on said deposit; withdrawing said slag from
said furnace at a location substantially level with said deposit; and with-
drawing said melt from said furnace at a location below said layer of slag
and heating the withdrawn melt.
2. The method defined in claim 1, wherein after withdrawal from said
furnace, said melt is conducted along a path having a highest point level with
the undersurface of said layer of slag.
3. The method defined in claim 2, wherein said flame is formed by
mixing and burning oxygen and a combustible in said furnace.
4. The method defined in claim 3, wherein said metal is iron and after
withdrawal from said furnace and before solidifying said melt is refined into
steel.
5. The method defined in claim 4, wherein said melt is after withdrawal
from said furnace heated and refined inductively.
6. A smelting plant comprising: a shaft furnace having a floor and
defining an upright elongated chamber; means for feeding metal-containing
materials into the top of said chamber for forming therein an upright column

of said materials; means including a burner above the floor of said furnace
for forming a flame at the base of said column, whereby said materials at the
base of said column are melted into a liquefied-metal melt and a layer of
slag on said melt and a deposit is formed in said furnace, said column being
supported on said deposit; a slag drain in said furnace at the level of said
deposit for withdrawal of said slag; a metal-drain conduit having an inlet
end opening into said furnace below said layer and an outlet end substantially
at said layer and formed as a trap preventing flow back into said furnace,
whereby said metal passes out of said furnace through said conduit and remains
at a level in said furnace determined by the level of said outlet end; and
means for heating metal in said conduit between said ends.
7. The plant defined in claim 6, further comprising a vessel in said
conduit between its said ends and means for conducting some of said slag
into said vessel, said means for heating including refining electrodes in
said vessel.
8. The plant defined in claim 7, wherein said slag drain has a branch
opening into said vessel constituting said means for conducting.
9. The plant defined in claim 6, wherein said means for heating
includes an inductive-heating coil at said conduit intermediate said ends.
10. The plant defined in claim 6, wherein said conduit is provided
intermediate its ends with a refining vessel.

Description

Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.


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Back~round of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of and an apparatus for
smelting. More particularly this invention concerns a system and plant for
smelting and refining iron in a shaft furnace.
It is possible in a shaft furnace to smelt iron-containing scrap,
sponge iron, pelletized iron-containing ore, iron dross, and the like by
introducing this iron-containing material into the top of the furnace to form
therein an upright column of such material. A burner heats the base of the
column to form at the bottom of the shaft furnace a liquefied-iron melt
covered by a layer of slag. In addition this burner causes the formation of
a scale or deposit on the refractory lining of the furnace and the column is
supported on this deposit.
The burner at the bottom of the furnace typically mixes right in
the furnace oxygen and combustible. This hot flame and the extremely active
FeO slag tend to eat away the refractory furnace lining at the floor and
lower regions of the walls of the furnace. It is essential to minimize this
erosion in the furnace as well as in any other treatment vessels. Also the
liquified iron in the melt at the bottom of the furnace must not be allowed
to solidify.
Summary of the Invention
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an
improved method of and apparatus for smelting. `
Yet another object is the provision of an improved smelting method
and plant which minimizes the damage that can be done by the very hot and
corrosive FeO slag to the furnace lining without solidification of this melt.
These objects are attained according to the present invention in
a shaft furnace wherein slag is continuously withdrawn from the furnace at
a location substantially level with the deposit formed by the flame above the
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1OS'~094
floor of the furnace and the melt is withdrawn from the furnace at a loca-
tion which determines the vertical position of the undersurface of the layer
of slag and the melt is heated as it is withdrawn. In accordance with this
invention the shaft furnace is provided with an iron-drain conduit having an
inlet end opening into ~he furnace below the slag layer and an outlet end
substantially at the level of the undersurface of the slag layer so that the
iron passes out of the furnace through the conduit and remains at a level in
the furnace determined by the level of the outlet end. This conduit may have
an intermediate portion higher than both of its ends so as to function like
a siphon. In effect the drain passage acts as a trap, permitting the liqui-
fied iron to flow out, but preventing reverse entry of air or any other
fluid back into the furnace.
Thus in accordance with the present invention the highly active
ferrous-oxide slag is continuously removed from the shaft oven as it forms.
Later stages in the plant are therefore not subjected to this highly active
material and even a possible reaction between this slag and the lining of
the furnace is minimized since the slag layer is maintained at the level of
the continuously renewed iron-scale deposit in the furnace. Since the liquid
iron tends to flow down over this scale to the bottom of the furnace the
slag practically does not co~e into contact with the lining of the furnace
so that the service life of this lining is increased considerably. Further-
more the oxidizing region inside the smelting zone is completely separated
from any subsequent reducing stage.
According to yet another feature of this invention the melt is
indirectly heated as it is withdrawn. It is possible to effect this by means
of an induction coil according to the present invention or by means of re-
fining electrodes in a refining vessel provided between the ends of the iron-
drain conduit. In the latter case in accordance with this invention the
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slag drain is provided with a lateral branch that feeds a minor portion of
the slag into this refining vessel so that the iron can be continuously
refined into steel directly as it is withdrawn from the blast furnace.
When particularly pure materials are loaded into the blast furnace
in accordance with this invention it is possible merely to heat the iron-
drain conduit in order to prevent solidification of the melt in it or in
the bottom of the furnace. This also serves to make the melt more fluent
and to protect the floor of the furnace from the heat of the flame and chemical
activity of the slag. In such an arrangement the automatic separation-out
of the slag directly in the furnaces gives a very pure and a readily usable
product.
It is therefore possible according to the present invention to
process relatively impure iron ores in a furnace without rapidly wearing
out the lining of this furnace. The lining is, indeed, continuously
protected both by the liquid-metal melt at the bottom of the furnace and
by the deposit formed naturally in the furnace by the burner. Virtually
any metal-containing material can be loaded into the top of such a furnace
and relatively pure metal can be withdrawn from the bottom. In particular
the system can be used for the production of steel. The combination of
this system with the subsequent refining step makes it possible continuously
to produce steel from the most disparate products.
The novel features which are considered as characteristics for
the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The
invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of
operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be
best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when
read in connection with the accompanying drawings.
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Brief Description of the Drawings
Figure 1 is a vertical section through a plant according to the
present invention;
Figure 2 is a section taken along line II-II of Figure l; and
Figures 3, 4 and 5 are vertical sectional views similar to Figure
1 illustrating further arrangements in accordance with the present invention.
Description of the Preferred Embodiments
As shown in Figure 1 a shaft furnace 1 is provided at its upper
end with a bell 3 that allows iron-containing materials to be introduced
into this furnace to form a column 4 therein. This furnace tapers slightly
upwardly and is made of or lined with refractory material.
Above the floor 5 of this furnace there is provided a plurality
of burner tubes 6 connected to a common manifold 7. Each such burner tube
is actually formed as two concentric tubes to the inner one of which is fed
pure oxygen and to the outer one of which is fed a combustible gas or atom-
ized fuel so that a flame 8 is produced in the lower region 9 of the furnace
1 directly above the floor 5. This flame 8 heats the base of the column 4
and causes sn iron-scale deposit to form on the lining of the furnace 1. The
column 4 is supported on this deposit 10 which also serves to protect the
furnace lining from the flame 8. An outlet pipe 9a serves to draw exhaust
gases out of the top of the furnace 1.
It is possible to use an annular burner spaced inwardly from the
walls of the furnace or to use a central flame in the furnace 1 instead of
the plurality of burners 6 which open radially into the furnace as shown
in Figures 1 and 2. In all such cases deposits 10 in the form of annular
bosses are formed inside the furnace 1, although they may also be formed on
the floor 5 thereof.
The flame or flames 8 liquifies iron in the column 4 and causes
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~OS;~V94
it to flow down over the deposits 10 and form a liquified-iron melt 13 lying
on the base 5 of the furnace 1, and a layer 14 of ferrous-oxide slag on top
of this melt 13. The floor 5 is inclined downwardly toward a drain outlet 11
that opens into the bottom of a refining vessel 2. This drain 11 opens
inside the furnace below the level of the slag 14. In addition there is
provided another drain 12 which opens above the drain 11 and at the level of
the slag 14. This drain 12 terminates at 17 in the vessel 2 above the drain ?
11. In addition another drain 15 extends from the bottom of the vessel 2 up
to a level horizontally even with the underside of the layer 14. The height
of the outlet end of the drain 15 therefore determines the depth of the melt
13 in the vessel 2 and in the bottom of the furnace 1. The slag 14 always
floats on top of this melt so that a slag layer will be formed both in the -
furnace 1 and in the vessel 2 on top of the melt. - ~-~
Electrodes 16 are provided in the vessel 2 and serve to refine
the iron therein into steel which exits at 15 from the vessel 2. Furthermore
it is noted as best shown in Figure 2 that most of the slag is drawn off from
the slag drain 12 via a branch as all of the slag produced in the furnace 1
is not needed in the refining vessel 2.
The arrangement of Figure 3 is identical to that of Figure 1, with
common reference numerals being used for identical structure. Here, however,
a vessel is provided which has an induction coil 18 that serves inductively
to heat the iron coming out of the drain 11 before it exits via the drain 15.
In this arrangement also the iron-drain 11, 15 has its outlet and at a level
horizontally even with or slightly above the underside of the slag layer 14
and serving to establish the depth of the melts 13 in the furnace 1 and in the -
vessel 2a. .
The arrangement of Figure 4 has an inductive heater 19 provided
adjacent the drain 11 and serving to super-heat the iron and to prevent it ~ ;
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105'~094
from solidifying as it is drawn out of the furnace 1. Such an arrangement
is particularly usable when relatively pure starting products are loaded
into the furnace 1 to form the column 4 so that the melt dTawn off at 11
is usable as is.
In the arrangement of Figure 5 an inductive coil 20 surrounds the
drain outlet conduit ll. This coil 20, like the heater 19 and coil 18 is
connected to a suitable source of electrical power and insures that the iron
does not solidify before it exits from the drain 15.
With the arrangement described above it is possible continuously
to smelt iron, using a wide variety of starting products. The lining of
the furnace 1 is protected by the melt 13 and the deposit 10 so that the
service life of this furnace is greatly increased. Furthermore it is
possible to operate continuously since the slag is withdrawn at 12 as
stated above.
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Representative Drawing

Sorry, the representative drawing for patent document number 1052094 was not found.

Administrative Status

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Event History

Description Date
Inactive: Expired (old Act Patent) latest possible expiry date 1996-04-10
Grant by Issuance 1979-04-10

Abandonment History

There is no abandonment history.

Owners on Record

Note: Records showing the ownership history in alphabetical order.

Current Owners on Record
KLOCKNER-WERKE AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
Past Owners on Record
HANS-JURGEN LANGHAMMER
Past Owners that do not appear in the "Owners on Record" listing will appear in other documentation within the application.
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Document
Description 
Date
(yyyy-mm-dd) 
Number of pages   Size of Image (KB) 
Cover Page 1994-04-18 1 14
Drawings 1994-04-18 2 69
Claims 1994-04-18 2 66
Abstract 1994-04-18 1 22
Descriptions 1994-04-18 6 207