CA1114158A - Gas distributing closure plug for metallurgical reactor - Google Patents
Gas distributing closure plug for metallurgical reactorInfo
- Publication number
- CA1114158A CA1114158A CA320,762A CA320762A CA1114158A CA 1114158 A CA1114158 A CA 1114158A CA 320762 A CA320762 A CA 320762A CA 1114158 A CA1114158 A CA 1114158A
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- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- plug
- reactor
- interior
- wall
- conical
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
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- Manufacture Of Iron (AREA)
- Manufacture Of Metal Powder And Suspensions Thereof (AREA)
- Manufacture And Refinement Of Metals (AREA)
Abstract
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
Improved cooling of sponge iron in the cooling re-actor of a multi-stage gaseous reduction system for particul-ate iron ore is achieved by using a hollow foraminous closure plug at the bottom of the reactor. The plug is pivotally mounted for movement from a reactor-closing to a reactor-discharge position and has a cooling gas inlet nipple which, when the plug is in its reactor-closing position, registers with the discharge end of a cooling gas supply conduit to cause cooling has to flow into the plug and through the wall there-of to cool the adjacent portion of the sponge iron bed with-in the reactor. The plug can also be used to distribute hot gas to an ore bed in a reduction reactor.
Improved cooling of sponge iron in the cooling re-actor of a multi-stage gaseous reduction system for particul-ate iron ore is achieved by using a hollow foraminous closure plug at the bottom of the reactor. The plug is pivotally mounted for movement from a reactor-closing to a reactor-discharge position and has a cooling gas inlet nipple which, when the plug is in its reactor-closing position, registers with the discharge end of a cooling gas supply conduit to cause cooling has to flow into the plug and through the wall there-of to cool the adjacent portion of the sponge iron bed with-in the reactor. The plug can also be used to distribute hot gas to an ore bed in a reduction reactor.
Description
P~
~ his invention relates to an improvement in re~
actors of the type that are commonly used in the gaseous re-duction of fixed beds of particulate metal ores. For con-venience the reaotor will be described as applied to the re-duction o iron ore and to the cooling o~ the sponge ironthu~ produced, although as the description proceeds, it will become apparent that the reactor can also be u3ed in the treatment of other types of ores as well~
Such reactors are commonly used in multi-.tage batch sy~tem~ wherein the reactors are so interconnected as to be functionally interchangeable at the end o a predeter-mined period o~ operationO I, fo:r example, the reduction system comprises a first and second ~tage reduction reactori, a cooling reactor and a charging and discharging reactor, the connections between the reacto:rs at the end of each operating cycle are shifted to cause the first stage reduc-tion reactor to become a second stage reduction reactor, the secQnd ~tage reduction reactor to become a cooling reactor, the cooling reactor to becoma a di~charging and charging re-20. actor, and the freshly charged reactor to become a firststage reduction reactor~ In the ~ollowing description a re-actor at the cooling stage will be referred to as a cooling reactor and a react~r at the reduction stage will be referred to as a reduatton reactor, although it i9 evident that each reactor will at one time be a cooling reactor. and at another time a reduction reactor. Sy~tems of this type are disclosed ; in U.S Patent~ Nos. 3,116,623; 3,423,201; and 3,B90,142.
~9 sh~wn in thesP patents, such system. include, in addition to two or more reduction reactors, a cooling reactor for -~ ' cooling the reduced ore from the reducing temperature to a temperature close to that of the ambient atmosphere. The present invention is especially useful when incorporated in a reactor structure to provide improved cooling of the sponge iron produced by reduction of the iron ore, although a~
pointed out below, it may also be used to achieve improved gas di~tribution in a reduction reactor.
In the prior art fixed bed systems the reactors are provided at the bottom with a downwardly converging dis-charge zone such as that shown in Celada et al. Patent3,467,368, and may have a removable closure plug at the bottom thereo'~. The plug i~ movable from a reactor-closing position wherein it closes and seals t~e discharge port of ` the reactor to a reactor-discharge position to one side of the discharge port ~o that the particulate sponge iron can ~low out of the rsactor. ~he plug can be mounted on a pivot-ed arm and suitable hydraulic mechanism provided for moving the plug between its operative and inoperative positions.
I In a ga~eous reduction system o~ the type disclosed 1 20 in the above patents the cooling of the sponge iron is an ¦ impor,tant part of the process. Upon removal from the reactor the ~ponge iron has a tendency to reoxidize, especially if portions o~ the product are insuXficiently cooled. In general, the raoxidation reactions are exothermic and temper-ature ~ensitive. Hencs, hot ~pol:s in the mass of sponge iron removed from the reactor can inil:iate a chain reaction lead-I ing to a con~iderable decraase in the degree of metalliæation.
,l In ~n integrated st~l mill where the discharged sponge iron i9 transferred in a ralatively shor~ period'of time to a steel~making furnace, the tendency o the ~ponge iron ~o re-oxidize does not ordinarily cau~e any difficulty. However, whare the 2ponge iron is to be stored for an ~xtended period o time in ~ontact wi~h atmo~pheric air or shipped to a re-mote point or use, hot spots may initiate reoxidation of ` 35 the iron.
In conventional systems o~ the type disclo~ed in the ~bove patenk~ ~ooling of th~ ~pQnge iron ~s effa~ed by .. . . . .
-3~
passing a current of cooled gas downwardly through the hot reduced sponge iron bed. While theoretically any cool, non-oxidizing gas could be used, it has been customary to use the fresh reducing gas as a cooling medium and then pass it in series through the reduction reactors of the system for effecting reduction of the iron ore. The downwardly flowing cooling gas is removed through a plenum chamber near the bottom of the reactor, then cooled and a portion thereof re-cycled for further cooling of the sponge iron bed in the cooling reactor. The remainder of the cooled gas flows to the last stage reduction reactor. The flow pattern within the cooling reactor is such that a small portion of the sponge iron bed at the very bottom of the reactor is out of the main stream of cooling gas flow. With this flow pattern it becomes possible for a certain proportion of the sponge iron particles at the very bottom of the reactor to be in-sufficiently cooled. Such insufficiently cooled sponge iron particles can form "hot spots" in the mass of discharged sponge iron. While such "hot spots" can be eliminated by spreading the sponge iron over a large area and quenching the spots individually, the elimination of "hot spots" in this way is a laborious and time-consuming process.
It is accordingly an object of the present inven~
tion to so modify the structure of a reactor of a gaseous reduction system as to provide improved gas distribution in a bed of metal-bearing material i.n the reactor. It is a further object of the invention to pr~vide cooling at the~
very bottom of a cooling reactor without complicating the structure of the reactor and without introducing structural elements that might interfere with the free flow of sponge iron during discharge of the reactor. Other objects of the invention will be in part obvious`and in part pointed out hereafter.
In accordance with the invention there is provided apparatus-for the gaseous reduction of metal ores comprising a reactor adapted to contain a bed of particulate ore to be reduced and having a discharge port near the bottom thereof .~
.
' ' . ' ,: : ' .
.
through which reduced metal ore can be discharged, character-ized by a hollow, substantially frusto-conical, upwardly con-verging closure plug defining a substantially frusto-conical chamber therein, said plug being constructed and arranged to ~:
5 be positioned within and to seal said discharge port and hav- :
ing an inlet connection for a cooling or heating fluid, the frusto-conical wall of said plug having a plurality of lateral openings formed therein through which said fluid can flow to the interior of said reactor.
The objects and advantages of the invention can best be understood and appreciated by reference to the accompanying drawings which il~lustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention and wherein:
Figure 1 is a semi-diagrammatic vertical section through a cooling reactor showing a bottom closure plug in-corporating the present invention in its reactor-closing position;
Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical section taken through the lower portion of the reactor showing the plug in elevation in its reactor-closing position;
Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 but showing the closure plug in its reactor-discharge position;
Figure 4 is a still further enlarged vertical sec-tion through the closure plug showing the interior of the plug;
Figure S is a top plan view of the plug as shown in ; Figure 4;
Figure 6 is a detailed section showing the opera-tive relationship between the gas inlet connection of the ; 30 closure plug and the cooling gas supply conduit;
Figure 7 is a section taken on the line 7-7 of Figure 2 and further showing the location of the cooling gas supply conduit within the wall of the reactor;
Figure 8 is a fragmentary view of the skirt of the closure plug showing a modification of the plug wherein a hinged door is provided to facilitate cleaning the interior ;, .
:. . .. `
.. . . ~ , ~ . . .
. ... -.: . : ' ' ~5 of the plug; and Figure 9 is a vertical section through the closure plug similar to Figure 4 but showing a modified form of gas flow openings.
Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to Figure 1, the cooling reactor 10 there shown is of a generally cylindrical configuration and has a refractory in-sulated wall 12, the lower portion of which converges to form a bottom section 1~. Within the reactor 10 there is a bed 16 of particulate sponge iron made by reduction of iron ore in a previous cycle of operations. In the bottom section 14 there is a frusto-conical baffle 18 that cooperates with the wall of the reactor to form a plenum chamber 20 through which gas may flow.
The reactor 10 has a number of inlet and outlet ports as shown. Thus, there is an inlet connection 22 at the top of the reactor through which the reactor may be charged with particulate iron ore to be reduced. Also, at the top of the reactor there is an inlet connection 24 that 2Q can be used to admit hot reducing gas for reducing the iron ore during the reduction cycle within the reactor. The con-nection 24 is out of service during the cooling cycle which is described herein. The third connection near the top of the reactor identified by the numeral 26 serves a~ an inlet for the cooling gas used to cool the sponge iron formed in the ore reduction cycle of the operation. The cooling gas flows down through the particulate bed of sponge iron 16 under the bottom of the ba~fle 18 into the plenum chamber 20 and then leaves the reactor through discharge connection 28.
;; 30 At the bottom of the reactor there is a closure plug 30 which during the normal operation of the reactor, i.e., the reduc-tion and cooling cycles, is positioned within and seals a discharge port 32 through which the reduced and cooled sponge ` iron can be discharged from the reactor.
Referring now to Figures 2 and 3 o~ the drawings, the plug 30 is movable from a reactor~closing position as shown in Figure 2 wherein it is positioned within and seals ' :
' --6~
the discharge port 32 to a reactor-discharge position as shown in Figure 3 wherein it is positioned away from the port 32 to permit cooled sponge iron to be discharged from the re-actor through the discharge port. Fixed to the bottom of the plug 30 there is an arm 34 which at its end remote from the plug is connected by a pivot pin 36 to a brace 38 secured to the exterior wall of the reactor in such manner that the plug is swingable about the pivot 36 between its reac-tor-closing position and its reactor-discharge position.
Swinging movement of the plug is effected by means of an actuating mechanism 40 comprising a frame 42 secured to and supported by a fixed I-beam 44. An arm 46 of the frame 42 is secured to pivot 36 to provide additional support for the swinging plug. Movement of the plug 30 is effected by a hydraulically operated toggle mechanism mounted on the frame 42. ~he toggle mechanism comprises the. links 48 and ~`
50, connected at their adjacent ends by a pivot pin 52. The distal end of link 48 is connected to the elbow of arm 34 by a pivot pin 54 and the distal end o link 50 is connected to frame 42 by a pivot pin 56. A hydraulic cylinder 58 is mounted on the frame 42 and has a piston rod pivotally secured to an intermediate point of the link 50 by the pivot pin 60. The hydraulic cylinder !;8 is supplied with hydraulic fluid in known manner and operates through the toggle linkage 48-50 to move the plug 30 into its reactor-closing position or its reactor-discharge pOSitiOII as dasired.
As indicated above r the plug 30 is so constructed as to permit its use as a source of cooling gas for cooling the bed of sponge iron within the reactor. Referring to Figures 4 and 5, as well as to Figures 2 and 3, the plug 30 is provided with a hollow, generally frusto-conical head 62 defining an unobstructed frusto-conical chamber and having a rela~ively thin wall 64 pierced by the slots 66 through which cooling gas may flow. As shown in Figure 4, the slots 66 may be lateral openings formed in the side wall of the plug and may also be ~ormed in the top of the plug.
At a level slightly below the middle of head 62 the ~ ' . .. , . . : . . . .
~''' :" : - . .' ':;', ; ' ' ' , :- ' ' ' . ' ' ' , : ,, . " ~ ~ .'.~ :' wall 64 is provided with a series of relatively large open-ings 68. These larger openings are provided to facilitate removal from the interior of the head 62 any iponge iron particles that may penetrate to the interior of the head of the plug. For admission of cooling gas to the plug the head 62 is provided with a gas inlet nipple 70 secured through a collar 72 to the exterior of wall 64. A brace 74 is secured to wall 64 and nipple 70 to provide structural strength.
Reverting now to Figure 2 and referring also to Figure 7, supplementary cooling gas to be supplied to the head 62 of plug 30 enters the reactor through a pipe 76 that is largely positioned within the reactor wall. Thus, the inner portion of the pipe 76 is positioned within a channel 78, the central a~is of which is generally parallel to the exterior wall of the reactor. The gas supply pipe 76 supplies supplemental cooling gas to th~ inlet nipple 70 of plug 30 in a manner best shown in Figure 6. Referring to Figure 6, the interior of the discharge end of pipe 76 has a ring 80 secured thereto having a central opening 82 that registers with the inlet end of nipple 70 when the plug is in its reactor-closing position. Thus, when cooling gas is supplied to the lower part of the reactor through pipe 76, most of it flows through the nipple 70 into the interior of plug 30 and is then distributed through the slots 66 to the sponge iron in the bottom of the reactor. In this way the portion of the sponge iron that is outside the main stream of cooling gas flowing around the bottom of the baffle 18 into the plenum chamber 20 is thoroughly cooled before being dis-charged from the reactor.
I~ has been found that over a long ~eriod of time there is a tendency for fine particles of sponge iron to penetrate into the interior of the head of plug 30. To facilitate removal of particulate material from the interior of the head, a cleanout door may be provided in the lower ; 35 portion of the head as illustrated in Figure 8 of the draw-ings. Reerring to Figure 8, an arcuate door 84 is secured by hinges 86 to the skirt 88 o~ head 62. The door 84 is so , ..
located and hinged that it opens due to the force of gravity as the plug 30 moves to its reactor-discharge position.
As indicated abova, the perforated plug 30 is also useful when incorporated in a reduction reactor. In a typical S reduction reactor of a batch sys~em such as that described herein the main stream of reducing gas is heated outside the re~ctor, introduced near the top of the reactor, e.g., through connection 24, and flows down through the bed of iron-bearing material therein. The flow pattern in the reduction reactor, like that in the cooling reactor, is such that a small portion of the bed at the bottom of the reactor is out-side of the main stream of reducing gas flow~ By supplying a second stream of hot reducing gas to the plug 30 at the bottom of the reactor, the reducing capacity of the reactor can be more fully utilized.
Referring now to Figure 9 of the drawings, in the plug 90 there shown the slots 66 are replaced by relatively large ga~ flow nipples. More particularly, plug 90 comprises a relatively thin rusto-conical wall 92 defining an unob-structed frusto-conical chamber and having the upwardly oriented gas flow nipples 94 mounted therein. The upward orientation of the nipples is provided to inhibit flow of particulate material from the reactor to the interior of the plug. By using such upwardly oriented conduits the gas flow area per opening aan be made substantially larger than when the ~lots 66 are used.
From the foregoing description it should be apparent that the present invention provides an effective means for cooling the sponge iron or reducing the partially reduced ore at the very bottom of the reactor and theraby reducing the probability of the occurrence of "hot spots" in the cooled sponge iron discharged from the reactor or increasing the re-ducing efficiency of a reduction reactor.
It is of course to be understood that ~he foregoing ~
35 description is intended to be illustrative only and that ~-- numerous changes can be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended ~, claims.
.
... . . . . . . . . .
~. , : .:
'. ' ~ , ' ' , . .: ~
' '
~ his invention relates to an improvement in re~
actors of the type that are commonly used in the gaseous re-duction of fixed beds of particulate metal ores. For con-venience the reaotor will be described as applied to the re-duction o iron ore and to the cooling o~ the sponge ironthu~ produced, although as the description proceeds, it will become apparent that the reactor can also be u3ed in the treatment of other types of ores as well~
Such reactors are commonly used in multi-.tage batch sy~tem~ wherein the reactors are so interconnected as to be functionally interchangeable at the end o a predeter-mined period o~ operationO I, fo:r example, the reduction system comprises a first and second ~tage reduction reactori, a cooling reactor and a charging and discharging reactor, the connections between the reacto:rs at the end of each operating cycle are shifted to cause the first stage reduc-tion reactor to become a second stage reduction reactor, the secQnd ~tage reduction reactor to become a cooling reactor, the cooling reactor to becoma a di~charging and charging re-20. actor, and the freshly charged reactor to become a firststage reduction reactor~ In the ~ollowing description a re-actor at the cooling stage will be referred to as a cooling reactor and a react~r at the reduction stage will be referred to as a reduatton reactor, although it i9 evident that each reactor will at one time be a cooling reactor. and at another time a reduction reactor. Sy~tems of this type are disclosed ; in U.S Patent~ Nos. 3,116,623; 3,423,201; and 3,B90,142.
~9 sh~wn in thesP patents, such system. include, in addition to two or more reduction reactors, a cooling reactor for -~ ' cooling the reduced ore from the reducing temperature to a temperature close to that of the ambient atmosphere. The present invention is especially useful when incorporated in a reactor structure to provide improved cooling of the sponge iron produced by reduction of the iron ore, although a~
pointed out below, it may also be used to achieve improved gas di~tribution in a reduction reactor.
In the prior art fixed bed systems the reactors are provided at the bottom with a downwardly converging dis-charge zone such as that shown in Celada et al. Patent3,467,368, and may have a removable closure plug at the bottom thereo'~. The plug i~ movable from a reactor-closing position wherein it closes and seals t~e discharge port of ` the reactor to a reactor-discharge position to one side of the discharge port ~o that the particulate sponge iron can ~low out of the rsactor. ~he plug can be mounted on a pivot-ed arm and suitable hydraulic mechanism provided for moving the plug between its operative and inoperative positions.
I In a ga~eous reduction system o~ the type disclosed 1 20 in the above patents the cooling of the sponge iron is an ¦ impor,tant part of the process. Upon removal from the reactor the ~ponge iron has a tendency to reoxidize, especially if portions o~ the product are insuXficiently cooled. In general, the raoxidation reactions are exothermic and temper-ature ~ensitive. Hencs, hot ~pol:s in the mass of sponge iron removed from the reactor can inil:iate a chain reaction lead-I ing to a con~iderable decraase in the degree of metalliæation.
,l In ~n integrated st~l mill where the discharged sponge iron i9 transferred in a ralatively shor~ period'of time to a steel~making furnace, the tendency o the ~ponge iron ~o re-oxidize does not ordinarily cau~e any difficulty. However, whare the 2ponge iron is to be stored for an ~xtended period o time in ~ontact wi~h atmo~pheric air or shipped to a re-mote point or use, hot spots may initiate reoxidation of ` 35 the iron.
In conventional systems o~ the type disclo~ed in the ~bove patenk~ ~ooling of th~ ~pQnge iron ~s effa~ed by .. . . . .
-3~
passing a current of cooled gas downwardly through the hot reduced sponge iron bed. While theoretically any cool, non-oxidizing gas could be used, it has been customary to use the fresh reducing gas as a cooling medium and then pass it in series through the reduction reactors of the system for effecting reduction of the iron ore. The downwardly flowing cooling gas is removed through a plenum chamber near the bottom of the reactor, then cooled and a portion thereof re-cycled for further cooling of the sponge iron bed in the cooling reactor. The remainder of the cooled gas flows to the last stage reduction reactor. The flow pattern within the cooling reactor is such that a small portion of the sponge iron bed at the very bottom of the reactor is out of the main stream of cooling gas flow. With this flow pattern it becomes possible for a certain proportion of the sponge iron particles at the very bottom of the reactor to be in-sufficiently cooled. Such insufficiently cooled sponge iron particles can form "hot spots" in the mass of discharged sponge iron. While such "hot spots" can be eliminated by spreading the sponge iron over a large area and quenching the spots individually, the elimination of "hot spots" in this way is a laborious and time-consuming process.
It is accordingly an object of the present inven~
tion to so modify the structure of a reactor of a gaseous reduction system as to provide improved gas distribution in a bed of metal-bearing material i.n the reactor. It is a further object of the invention to pr~vide cooling at the~
very bottom of a cooling reactor without complicating the structure of the reactor and without introducing structural elements that might interfere with the free flow of sponge iron during discharge of the reactor. Other objects of the invention will be in part obvious`and in part pointed out hereafter.
In accordance with the invention there is provided apparatus-for the gaseous reduction of metal ores comprising a reactor adapted to contain a bed of particulate ore to be reduced and having a discharge port near the bottom thereof .~
.
' ' . ' ,: : ' .
.
through which reduced metal ore can be discharged, character-ized by a hollow, substantially frusto-conical, upwardly con-verging closure plug defining a substantially frusto-conical chamber therein, said plug being constructed and arranged to ~:
5 be positioned within and to seal said discharge port and hav- :
ing an inlet connection for a cooling or heating fluid, the frusto-conical wall of said plug having a plurality of lateral openings formed therein through which said fluid can flow to the interior of said reactor.
The objects and advantages of the invention can best be understood and appreciated by reference to the accompanying drawings which il~lustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention and wherein:
Figure 1 is a semi-diagrammatic vertical section through a cooling reactor showing a bottom closure plug in-corporating the present invention in its reactor-closing position;
Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical section taken through the lower portion of the reactor showing the plug in elevation in its reactor-closing position;
Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 but showing the closure plug in its reactor-discharge position;
Figure 4 is a still further enlarged vertical sec-tion through the closure plug showing the interior of the plug;
Figure S is a top plan view of the plug as shown in ; Figure 4;
Figure 6 is a detailed section showing the opera-tive relationship between the gas inlet connection of the ; 30 closure plug and the cooling gas supply conduit;
Figure 7 is a section taken on the line 7-7 of Figure 2 and further showing the location of the cooling gas supply conduit within the wall of the reactor;
Figure 8 is a fragmentary view of the skirt of the closure plug showing a modification of the plug wherein a hinged door is provided to facilitate cleaning the interior ;, .
:. . .. `
.. . . ~ , ~ . . .
. ... -.: . : ' ' ~5 of the plug; and Figure 9 is a vertical section through the closure plug similar to Figure 4 but showing a modified form of gas flow openings.
Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to Figure 1, the cooling reactor 10 there shown is of a generally cylindrical configuration and has a refractory in-sulated wall 12, the lower portion of which converges to form a bottom section 1~. Within the reactor 10 there is a bed 16 of particulate sponge iron made by reduction of iron ore in a previous cycle of operations. In the bottom section 14 there is a frusto-conical baffle 18 that cooperates with the wall of the reactor to form a plenum chamber 20 through which gas may flow.
The reactor 10 has a number of inlet and outlet ports as shown. Thus, there is an inlet connection 22 at the top of the reactor through which the reactor may be charged with particulate iron ore to be reduced. Also, at the top of the reactor there is an inlet connection 24 that 2Q can be used to admit hot reducing gas for reducing the iron ore during the reduction cycle within the reactor. The con-nection 24 is out of service during the cooling cycle which is described herein. The third connection near the top of the reactor identified by the numeral 26 serves a~ an inlet for the cooling gas used to cool the sponge iron formed in the ore reduction cycle of the operation. The cooling gas flows down through the particulate bed of sponge iron 16 under the bottom of the ba~fle 18 into the plenum chamber 20 and then leaves the reactor through discharge connection 28.
;; 30 At the bottom of the reactor there is a closure plug 30 which during the normal operation of the reactor, i.e., the reduc-tion and cooling cycles, is positioned within and seals a discharge port 32 through which the reduced and cooled sponge ` iron can be discharged from the reactor.
Referring now to Figures 2 and 3 o~ the drawings, the plug 30 is movable from a reactor~closing position as shown in Figure 2 wherein it is positioned within and seals ' :
' --6~
the discharge port 32 to a reactor-discharge position as shown in Figure 3 wherein it is positioned away from the port 32 to permit cooled sponge iron to be discharged from the re-actor through the discharge port. Fixed to the bottom of the plug 30 there is an arm 34 which at its end remote from the plug is connected by a pivot pin 36 to a brace 38 secured to the exterior wall of the reactor in such manner that the plug is swingable about the pivot 36 between its reac-tor-closing position and its reactor-discharge position.
Swinging movement of the plug is effected by means of an actuating mechanism 40 comprising a frame 42 secured to and supported by a fixed I-beam 44. An arm 46 of the frame 42 is secured to pivot 36 to provide additional support for the swinging plug. Movement of the plug 30 is effected by a hydraulically operated toggle mechanism mounted on the frame 42. ~he toggle mechanism comprises the. links 48 and ~`
50, connected at their adjacent ends by a pivot pin 52. The distal end of link 48 is connected to the elbow of arm 34 by a pivot pin 54 and the distal end o link 50 is connected to frame 42 by a pivot pin 56. A hydraulic cylinder 58 is mounted on the frame 42 and has a piston rod pivotally secured to an intermediate point of the link 50 by the pivot pin 60. The hydraulic cylinder !;8 is supplied with hydraulic fluid in known manner and operates through the toggle linkage 48-50 to move the plug 30 into its reactor-closing position or its reactor-discharge pOSitiOII as dasired.
As indicated above r the plug 30 is so constructed as to permit its use as a source of cooling gas for cooling the bed of sponge iron within the reactor. Referring to Figures 4 and 5, as well as to Figures 2 and 3, the plug 30 is provided with a hollow, generally frusto-conical head 62 defining an unobstructed frusto-conical chamber and having a rela~ively thin wall 64 pierced by the slots 66 through which cooling gas may flow. As shown in Figure 4, the slots 66 may be lateral openings formed in the side wall of the plug and may also be ~ormed in the top of the plug.
At a level slightly below the middle of head 62 the ~ ' . .. , . . : . . . .
~''' :" : - . .' ':;', ; ' ' ' , :- ' ' ' . ' ' ' , : ,, . " ~ ~ .'.~ :' wall 64 is provided with a series of relatively large open-ings 68. These larger openings are provided to facilitate removal from the interior of the head 62 any iponge iron particles that may penetrate to the interior of the head of the plug. For admission of cooling gas to the plug the head 62 is provided with a gas inlet nipple 70 secured through a collar 72 to the exterior of wall 64. A brace 74 is secured to wall 64 and nipple 70 to provide structural strength.
Reverting now to Figure 2 and referring also to Figure 7, supplementary cooling gas to be supplied to the head 62 of plug 30 enters the reactor through a pipe 76 that is largely positioned within the reactor wall. Thus, the inner portion of the pipe 76 is positioned within a channel 78, the central a~is of which is generally parallel to the exterior wall of the reactor. The gas supply pipe 76 supplies supplemental cooling gas to th~ inlet nipple 70 of plug 30 in a manner best shown in Figure 6. Referring to Figure 6, the interior of the discharge end of pipe 76 has a ring 80 secured thereto having a central opening 82 that registers with the inlet end of nipple 70 when the plug is in its reactor-closing position. Thus, when cooling gas is supplied to the lower part of the reactor through pipe 76, most of it flows through the nipple 70 into the interior of plug 30 and is then distributed through the slots 66 to the sponge iron in the bottom of the reactor. In this way the portion of the sponge iron that is outside the main stream of cooling gas flowing around the bottom of the baffle 18 into the plenum chamber 20 is thoroughly cooled before being dis-charged from the reactor.
I~ has been found that over a long ~eriod of time there is a tendency for fine particles of sponge iron to penetrate into the interior of the head of plug 30. To facilitate removal of particulate material from the interior of the head, a cleanout door may be provided in the lower ; 35 portion of the head as illustrated in Figure 8 of the draw-ings. Reerring to Figure 8, an arcuate door 84 is secured by hinges 86 to the skirt 88 o~ head 62. The door 84 is so , ..
located and hinged that it opens due to the force of gravity as the plug 30 moves to its reactor-discharge position.
As indicated abova, the perforated plug 30 is also useful when incorporated in a reduction reactor. In a typical S reduction reactor of a batch sys~em such as that described herein the main stream of reducing gas is heated outside the re~ctor, introduced near the top of the reactor, e.g., through connection 24, and flows down through the bed of iron-bearing material therein. The flow pattern in the reduction reactor, like that in the cooling reactor, is such that a small portion of the bed at the bottom of the reactor is out-side of the main stream of reducing gas flow~ By supplying a second stream of hot reducing gas to the plug 30 at the bottom of the reactor, the reducing capacity of the reactor can be more fully utilized.
Referring now to Figure 9 of the drawings, in the plug 90 there shown the slots 66 are replaced by relatively large ga~ flow nipples. More particularly, plug 90 comprises a relatively thin rusto-conical wall 92 defining an unob-structed frusto-conical chamber and having the upwardly oriented gas flow nipples 94 mounted therein. The upward orientation of the nipples is provided to inhibit flow of particulate material from the reactor to the interior of the plug. By using such upwardly oriented conduits the gas flow area per opening aan be made substantially larger than when the ~lots 66 are used.
From the foregoing description it should be apparent that the present invention provides an effective means for cooling the sponge iron or reducing the partially reduced ore at the very bottom of the reactor and theraby reducing the probability of the occurrence of "hot spots" in the cooled sponge iron discharged from the reactor or increasing the re-ducing efficiency of a reduction reactor.
It is of course to be understood that ~he foregoing ~
35 description is intended to be illustrative only and that ~-- numerous changes can be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended ~, claims.
.
... . . . . . . . . .
~. , : .:
'. ' ~ , ' ' , . .: ~
' '
Claims (18)
1. Apparatus for the gaseous reduction of metal ores comprising a reactor adapted to contain a bed of particulate ore to be reduced and having a discharge port near the bot-tom thereof through which reduced metal ore can be discharg-ed and a hollow, substantially frusto-conical, upwardly converging closure plug defining a substantially frusto-conical chamber therein and constructed and arranged to be positioned within and to seal said discharge port, said plug having an inlet connection for a cooling or heating fluid and a plurality of lateral opening through the frusto-conical wall of said plug through which said fluid can flow to the interior of said reactor.
2. Apparatus for the gaseous reduction of metal ores comprising a reactor adapted to contain a bed of particulate ore to be reduced and having a discharge port near the bot-tom thereof through which reduced ore can be discharged, a hollow, substantially frusto-conical, thin walled, upwardly converging plug defining an unobstructed frusto-conical chamber, constructed and arranged to be positioned within and to seal said discharge port, said plug having an inlet connection fox a cooling or heating fluid and a plurality of openings formed in said thin wall through which said fluid can flow laterally from the interior of said plug to the interior of said reactor, and a fluid supply conduit extend-ing through the wall of said reactor and having a discharge end within said reactor, the inlet connection of said plug being positioned to register with the discharge end of said supply conduit when said plug is positioned in said discharge port.
3. Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said openings are elongated slots.
4 Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said open-ings are formed by internal nipples mounted in the wall of said plug and extending upwardly into the interior thereof.
5. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fluid flow openings of said plug are lateral openings interconnect-ing the interior of said plug and the interior of said re-actor.
6. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the wall of said plug is provided with a plurality of relatively large openings to facilitate removal of particulate ore from the interior thereof.
7. Apparatus for the gaseous reduction of metal ores comprising a reactor adapted to contain a bed of particulate ore to be reduced and a discharge port near the bottom there-of through which the reduced ore can be discharged, a hollow, substantially frusto-conical, upwardly converging closure plug mounted for swinging movement from a reactor-closing position within said port to a reactor-discharge position away from said port, actuating means for moving said plug between said two positions, and a gas supply conduit ex-tending through the wall of said reactor and having a dis-charge end positioned to deliver gas to said plug when said plug is in its reactor-closing position, said plug having a gas inlet nipple that extends into said supply conduit and is withdrawn therefrom when said plug moves from its reactor-closing to its reactor-discharge position.
8. Apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said actu-ating means comprises a system of pivoted levers connected to said plug.
9. Apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said system of pivoted levers includes a hydraulic power cylinder for actuating said lever system to swing said plug toward and away from said reactor.
10. A removable closure for the bottom discharge port of a gaseous reduction reactor for reducing metal ores com-prising a hollow, substantially frusto-conical upwardly con-verging closure plug defining a substantially frusto-conical chamber therein, said plug having an inlet connection for a cooling or heating fluid and a plurality of lateral openings through the frusto-conical wall of said plug through which said fluid can flow to the interior of said reactor.
11. A removable closure according to claim 10, wherein said openings are elongated slots.
12. A plug according to claim 10, wherein said openings are formed by nipples mounted in the wall of said plug and ex-tending upwardly into the interior thereof.
13. A removable closure according to claim 10, wherein the wall of said plug is provided with a series of relatively large openings to facilitate removal of particulate material from the interior thereof.
14. A removable closure according to claim 10, wherein the wall of said plug is provided with a hinged door to facilitate removal of particulate material from the interior of said plug.
15. A removable closure for the bottom discharge port of a gaseous reduction reactor for reducing metal ores com-prising a hollow, substantially frusto-conical plug defining an unobstructed frusto-conical chamber and adapted to the positioned within and to seal said discharge port, said plug having an inlet connection for a cooling or heating fluid and a plurality of lateral openings through the frusto-conical wall of said plug interconnecting the interior of said plug and the interior of said reactor through which said fluid can flow to the interior of said reactor, sand openings of said plug being elongated slots and the wall of said plug being provided with a series of relatively large openings to facilitate removal of particulate material from the interior thereof.
16. A removable closure for the bottom discharge port of a gaseous reduction reactor for reducing metal ores com-prising a hollow, thin-walled, substantially frusto-conical plug defining an unobstructed frusto-conical chamber and adapted to be positioned within and to seal said discharge port, said plug having an inlet connection for a cooling or heating fluid and a plurality of lateral openings formed in said thin wall and interconnecting the interior of said plug and the interior of said reactor through which said fluid can flow to the interior of said reactor, said openings of said plug being elongated slots and the wall of said plug being provided with a series of relatively large openings to facili-tate removal of particulate material from the interior there-of, and said wall also being provided with a hinged door to further facilitate removal of particulate material from the interior of said plug.
17. Apparatus for the gaseous reduction of metal ores comprising a reactor adapted to contain a bed of particulate ore to be reduced and having a discharge port near the bot-tom thereof through which reduced ore can be discharged, a hollow, substantially frusto-conical, upwardly converging plug constructed and arranged to be positioned within and to seal said discharge port, said plug having an inlet con-nection for a cooling or a heating fluid and a plurality of openings through which said fluid can flow to the interior of said reactor, and a fluid supply conduit extending through the wall of said reactor and having a discharge end within said reactor, said plug having a gas inlet nipple that ex-tends into said supply conduit and is withdrawn therefrom when said plug is removed from said reactor.
18. Apparatus for the gaseous reduction of metal ores comprising a reactor adapted to contain a bed of particulate ore to be reduced and having a discharge port near the bot-tom thereof through which reduced ore can be discharged, a hollow, upwardly converging plug having a thin, substantially frusto-conical wall defining an unobstructed frusto-conical chamber, said frusto-conical wall extending uninterruptedly between opposite ends of said plug, said plug being construct-ed and arranged to be positioned within and to seal said discharge port and having an inlet connection for a cooling or heating fluid, said plug also having a plurality of open-ings formed therein through which said fluid can flow from the interior of said plug to the interior of said reactor, and a fluid supply conduit extending through the wall of said reactor and having a discharge end within said reactor, the inlet connection of said plug being positioned to register with the discharge end of said supply conduit when said plug is positioned in said discharge port.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US87636278A | 1978-02-09 | 1978-02-09 | |
| US876,362 | 1978-02-09 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1114158A true CA1114158A (en) | 1981-12-15 |
Family
ID=25367530
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA320,762A Expired CA1114158A (en) | 1978-02-09 | 1979-02-02 | Gas distributing closure plug for metallurgical reactor |
Country Status (6)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| JP (1) | JPS54148103A (en) |
| BR (1) | BR7900735A (en) |
| CA (1) | CA1114158A (en) |
| ES (1) | ES477469A1 (en) |
| MX (1) | MX151324A (en) |
| ZA (1) | ZA79217B (en) |
-
1979
- 1979-01-19 ZA ZA79217A patent/ZA79217B/en unknown
- 1979-02-02 CA CA320,762A patent/CA1114158A/en not_active Expired
- 1979-02-02 MX MX17649579A patent/MX151324A/en unknown
- 1979-02-05 JP JP1213779A patent/JPS54148103A/en active Granted
- 1979-02-05 ES ES477469A patent/ES477469A1/en not_active Expired
- 1979-02-07 BR BR7900735A patent/BR7900735A/en unknown
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| ZA79217B (en) | 1980-01-30 |
| JPS54148103A (en) | 1979-11-20 |
| BR7900735A (en) | 1979-08-28 |
| ES477469A1 (en) | 1980-04-01 |
| JPS5653607B2 (en) | 1981-12-19 |
| MX151324A (en) | 1984-11-12 |
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| MKEX | Expiry |