GB2046414A

GB2046414A - Method and apparatus for lining a wall with a compactible material

Info

Publication number: GB2046414A
Application number: GB8005787A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Frings H H
Current assignee: Frings H H
Priority date: 1979-02-20
Filing date: 1980-02-20
Publication date: 1980-11-12
Also published as: ATA129779A; AT361150B; DE3006149A1; IT8020042A0

Abstract

A method and apparatus for the lining of metallurgical vessels (1) with a compactable material (11), in which a pouring and compacting unit (3) dispenses the material e.g. by centrifugal slinging or tamping, and a support shield (10) arranged in the working zone of the pouring and compacting unit is displaceable with the unit (3) across the surface (1) to be lined. The support shield (10) is linked with a drive device (8) for the generation of a periodic motion e.g. tamping, vibration or rotation. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Method and apparatus for lining a wall with a compactable material The invention relates to apparatus for the lining of a wall, for example a wall of a metallurgical vessel, with a compactable material. The said apparatus is provided with a pouring and compacting unit for introducing the compactable mass and a support for the formation of the inner surface of the lining, the support for the compactable material of the lining being formed by an adjustable support shield arranged in the working zone of the pouring and compacting unit on the side of this unit which is opposite the vessel wall to be lined.

Vessels used in metallurgy intended for holding molten material, for instance transfer crucibles and foundary ladles, require lining with a refractory material. In order to keep the attack of the metal melt on the lining to a minimum, and thus to achieve a maximum working life for the linings, the linings should be as compact as possible and the surface of the lining facing the melt should be as smooth as possible.

Apparatus of the above mentioned kind, as described for instance in the DE-AS 1 483 584 does already have the advantage, in relation to the alternative refractory lining building technique using an inner mould inserted into the vessel and the step of firmly filling the intermediate space between the vessel wall and this inner mould with the ramming mass, that the high expenditure deriving from the use of the inner mould is eliminated. The object of the present invention is to create an apparatus of the above mentioned kind which can operate rapidly and allows a very well-compacted lining to be obtained, which should also exhibit good surface smoothness particularly on the surface facing the melt.

Accordingly the present invention provides apparatus for lining a wall with a compactable material, comprising: a pouring and compacting unit for the compactable material; an adjustable support shield arranged adjacent the pouring and compacting unit on the side of this unit opposite that of the vessel wall to be lined, the support shield being displaceable with the pouring and compacting unit across the surface to be lined; and an oscillatory drive device for imparting to the support shield a periodic motion under which the support shield remains adjacent the pouring and compacting unit.

The periodic motion of the support shield, particularly at the zone of the inwardly facing surface of the lining to be produced, enhances the compacting of the material and assists the effect of the compacting unit and also improves the smoothness of the inner surface of the lining to be produced. This cooperation of the periodic motion of the support shield with the compacting action of the pouring and compacting unit is obtained practically independently of the design of the compacting unit. The compacting unit may, for instance, be a tamping member or a centrifugal slinger or a different type of compacting unit. With regard to the periodic motion of the support shield, many variations are possible, ranging from a reciprocatory movement smoothing the exposed surface of the lining to the provision of a percussion drive and the use of the support shield as a ramming shield.In the latter case, a pronounced compacting is achieved with the support shield driven for movement in the radial direction of the vessel.

If the main intention is to obtain an additional compacting in the zone of the inner surface of the lining, provision may advantageously be made for the driving device to be a linear vibrator and for the support shield to be displaceably mounted in a direction at right angles to the surface to be lined.

To improve the surface smoothness of the exposed surface of the lining, provision may advantageously be made for the drive device to be displaceably mounted in a direction tangential to the surface to be lined.

A very good improvement in surface smoothness is obtained if the support shield is mounted to orbit around an axis extending in a direction perpendiculay to the surface to be lined, and if the support shield is given a corresponding orbiting motion by a vibrator or a rotational drive.

The support shield with its driving device may be mounted on its own adjustable carrier; this is occasionally particularly advantageous with the lining of small vessels with a markedly undercut wall.

But in the interests of simplifying handling as much as possible, it is advantageous for the pouring and compacting unit, and the support shield with its drive device, to be mounted on a common carrier, e.g. a crane or similar device. This is particularly advantageous if the pouring and compacting unit is provided with an automatic guidance device or if it is carried through the vessel wall itself e.g. with supporting arms.

The invention also provides a method of forming a refractory lining on a wall, comprising providing a support surface spaced from the wall to be lined, introducing a compactable material into the gap between the wall and the support surface so as to be compacted in situ, and oscillating the support surface so as to enhance the compacting and/or improve surface smoothness of the lining on its surface away from the wall being lined.

In order that the invention may more readily be understood the following description is given, merely by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a first embodiment of an apparatus in accordance with the invention, wherein the support shield may be caused to vibrate perpendicularly to the inner surface of the lining; Figure 2 shows a variant of the apparatus of Figure 1; Figure 3 shows a support shield designed to perform a tangential vibratory motion; Figures 4a and 4b illustrate a support shield which is eccentrically mounted for circulatory motion and is provided with a rotary drive; Figure 5 depicts an embodiment of an apparatus in accordance with the invention wherein a ramming drive is provided for the support shield; and Figure 6 is a plan view showing a support shield which may be tilted around a vertical axis.

In the apparatus represented in Figure 1 for lining a vessel 1 with a compactable mass, there is provided a pouring and compacting unit 3 with a feed pipe 2 and a centrifugal slinger 4 whose rotor 5 is driven for rotation by a motor 6. The compacting unit 3 is supported by a carrier 7 on which is fixed a linear vibrator 8 whose armature 9 carries a support shield 10. In this embodiment of lining apparatus the support shield 10 is displaceably mounted in the direction perpendicular to the surface to be lined.

The compactable mass fed to the centrifugal slinger 4 leaves rotor 5 at a high velocity and is directed towards the inside of the vessel 1 to be lined. Here, because of the impact of the mass, the mass is compacted and thus a lining 11 is built up. Any tendency of the mass to move towards the inner space of the vessel, which is to be kept clear, is prevented by a support shield 10. The movement of support shield 10, actuated byvibrator8, gives rise to an additional compacting in the zone of the inner surface of the lining 11. The carrier 7 is vertically slidable as shown by the double arrow 12, by means such as a jib or similar device not shown in greater detail where, in order to cover the whole inner surface of the vessel 1, either the vessel 1 is rotated round a vertical axis of symmetry or the jib effects a corresponding rotation.

In order to allow sloping sections or back tapers of lining 11 to be produced, it is advantageous to make provision for the support shield 10 to be adjustable in orientation by articulation around a horizontal axis. In this way, it is for instance possible to form very simply the usual slope to be provided in the transition zone of lining 11 from the side wall to the floor.

In view of the generally relatively large sizes of centrifuges, the design represented in Figure 1 is particularly suitable for the lining of large vessels.

If, with the application of a centrifugal slinger, smaller vessels also are to be lined, the mounting of the support shield in relation to the centrifugal slinger should have a slide facility. Such an example is represented in Figure 2. Here a hydraulic telescopic ram 14 is arranged on the carrier7 which carries the centrifugal slinger 4 which is to be located in operation above vessel 1 to be lined. The vibrator 8 may thus be moved up and down by operation of the ram 14. The vibrator 8 may be supported in a direction radially of the vessel 1 by supporting arms on the inner side of the wall of vessel 1, and furthermore the vibrator carries shield 10 on its armature 9 movable in the directions of double arrow 15.In this way, the shield 10 is displaceable along the height of vessel 1 and effects a compacting movement in a direction perpendicular to the surface to be lined.

Figure 3 shows an example where the support shield 10 is displaceably mounted for oscillation in a tangential direction with respect to the surface to be lined. For this purpose, support rods 31 at the rear of shield 10 are slidably mounted in a carrying yoke 32.

In order to cause the support shield 10 to move in the direction of double arrow 33, a linear vibrator 34 is fixed on the movable support shield.

In the example represented in Figures 4a and 4b, provision is made for an eccentrically circulating movement of the support shield 10 around a geometrical axis extending perpendicular to the surface to be lined. For this purpose, provision is made for an orbital drive source such as a rotor 35, carrying an eccentric disc 36 which is inserted in a bearing ring 37 arranged on support shield 10.

Accordingly, with the rotation of eccentric disc 36, there occurs an orbiting movement of support ring 37; rotation of the support ring 37 along with the disc 36 is prevented by a retaining rod 38 slidably carried by a bracket 39 of the support column 40.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 5, the pouring and compacting unit 3 for the compactable mass is formed by a feed pipe 2 (or a feed channel or conveyor belt) and a pneumatic tamper 16. The compactable mass is conveyed to the wall zone of the vessel 1 to be lined, via the feed pipe 2, and is compacted into a lining 11 by the pneumatic tamper 16. Pneumatic tamper 16 is fitted on a supporting angle frame 41 which also carries a ramming drive 42 whose armature 43 carries the support shield 10 as a ramming shield. The support shield 10 here effects a sliding movement pointing towards and away from the operating zone of the compacting unit 3 also carried by the supporting angle frame 41.

Moreover, with this embodiment, provision is made for an extractor device 45 for surplus compactable material which remains loose in the course of the compacting process. The aspirator of the extractor device 45 is annular in shape and surrounds support shield 10.

Figure 6 is a plan view showing a support shield 10 seated on a two part carrier arm 47a, 47b which is joined together by a vertical pivot pin 48. Provision is made for locking this swivel joint which is not represented in detail. In this way, the facility of swivelling the support shield 10 around a vertical axis makes it possible to line vessels whose contours differ markedly from a circular shape.

Claims

1. Apparatus for lining a wall with a compactable material, comprising: a pouring and compacting unit for the compactable material; an adjustable support shield arranged adjacent the pouring and compacting unit on the side of this unit opposite that of the vessel wall to be lined, the support shield being displaceable with the pouring and compacting unit across the surface to be lined; and an oscillatory drive device for imparting to the support shield a periodic motion under which the support shield remains adjacent the pouring and compacting unit.

2. Apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein the oscillatory drive device is a linear vibrator, and the support shield is displaceably mounted for movement in a direction perpendicular to the surface to be lined.

3. Apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein the oscillatory drive device is a reciprocatoryvibrator and the support shield is displaceably mounted for movement in a direction tangential to the surface to be lined.

4. Apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein the drive device is an orbiting vibrator and the support shield is eccentrically displaceably mounted to circulate around an axis extending in a direction perpen dicularto the surface to be lined.

5. Apparatus according to Claim 4, wherein the orbiting vibrator is a rotary motor driving an eccentric mass.

6. Apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein the oscillatory drive device is a percussive tampering device and the support shield is displaceably mounted for movement in a direction towards and away from the working zone of the pouring and compacting unit as a tamping shield.

7. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the pouring and compacting unit comprises a centrifugal slinger to cause the newly arriving compactable mass to be compacted by impact against either the vessel wall or an already positioned lining portion.

8. Apparatus according to any one of Claims 1 to 6, wherein the pouring and compacting unit comprises a feed pipe and a tamping member.

9. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the pouring and compacting unit and the support shield and oscillatory drive means are carried by a common support frame for relative movement between the frame and the wall to be lined.

10. Apparatus according to Claim 9, wherein the support frame includes an adjustable portion to allow the support shield to be moved vertically with respect to the pouring and compacting unit for traversing the entire height of the wall to be lined.

11. Apparatus according to Claim 10, and including a hydraulic ram for effecting vertical adjustment of the position of the support shield relative to the pouring and compacting unit.

12. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the support shield and the pouring and compacting unit are supported for axial movement together in the vertical direction.

13. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the support shield is supported by an articulation connection to allow pivoting of the support shield to follow the contours of the vessel wall.

14. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, and including means for extracting loose compactable material from the vicinity of the support shield.

15. Apparatus for lining a vessel with a compactable material, such apparatus being constructed and adapted to operate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figure 1, or Figure 2, or Figure 3, or Figures 4a and 4b, or Figure 5 of the accompanying drawings.

16. A method of forming a refractory lining on a wall, comprising providing a support surface spaced from the wall to be lined, introducing a compactable material into the gap between the wall and the support surface so as to be compacted in situ, and oscillating the support surface so as to enhance the compacting and/or improve the surface smoothness of the lining on its surface away from the wall being lined.

17. A method according to Claim 16, wherein the oscillation is a vibration in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the lining.

18. A method according to Claim 17, wherein the oscillation is in a direction tangential to the surface of the lining.

19. A method according to Claim 9, wherein said frame is stationary and the wall is the wall of a vessel oriented for rotation about an axis to enable the support shield to traverse over the entire circumference of the vessel wall.

20. A method of forming a refractory lining on a wall, such method being substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.