GB2121904A

GB2121904A - Tuyere connection for furnaces

Info

Publication number: GB2121904A
Application number: GB08315329A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Gerd Eifer
Original assignee: HAWIKO KONDENSATOREN APP
Current assignee: HAWIKO KONDENSATOREN APP
Priority date: 1982-06-04
Filing date: 1983-06-03
Publication date: 1984-01-04
Also published as: ES522893A0; GB8315329D0; DE3221070C1; LU84839A1; ES8403160A1; FR2528160A1; BE896958A

Abstract

Two annular compensators 11 and 13 are inserted in a refractory- lined connection conduit between a closed-circuit hot blast line 8 and a tuyere 9 and overlap through expansion joints extending transverse to the axis of the tuyere connection. An articulated connection is provided for compensating movements in a vertical plane passing through the axis of the tuyere connection, which articulated connection also enables a slight lateral deflection. The articulated connection is formed by two rods on portions of the connection conduit bounding the expansion joints 15 and 16 on one side, between which a conduit portion 12 bounding the expansion joints on the other side is disposed and connected thereto via the compensators 11 and 13. The rods 23 are formed from loose superposed metal strips, and are disposed diametrically opposite one another, being rotatably hinged at both of their ends about respective horizontal axes 21 and 22. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Tuyere connection for shaft furnaces, in particular blast furnaces This invention relates to a tuyere connection for shaft furnaces, in particular blast furnaces.

Tuyere connections are known in which two annular compensators are inserted in a refractorylined connection conduit between a closed-circuit hot blast line and the tuyere. The compensators overlap by means of an expansion joint extending transversely to the axis of the connection, and an articulated connection is provided to compensate for movements in a vertical plane passing through the said axis, this articulated connection also enabling slight lateral deflection.

A tuyere connection of this type is disclosed in German Patent No. 2018875, wherein a plurality of refractory-lined conduit portions are provided with a movable connection. The conduit portions bound two heat expansion joints disposed at a distance from one another and lying transverse to the longitudinal axis of the connection conduit, which joints are bridged by annular compensators having their ends fastened to adjacent conduit portions. The articulated connection enabling a movement in all directions is constituted by two universal joints disposed in each case between two adjacent conduit portions. A third universal joint is formed in a practical embodiment of the known tuyere connection by a ball seat of the tuyere.

This conventionai universal joint connection is comparatively complex from the point of view of construction and assembly. In particular, the universal joint rings must be accurately machined such that they provide a precise fit on installation.

Also, each connection requires two Cardan rings and two brackets, i.e. in total four rings and four brackets in each case, which leads to an extremely costly construction.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome these problems.

According to the invention, a tuyere connection of the above-described general type includes two rods provided on portions of the connection conduit bounding the expansion joints on one side, between which a conduit portion bounding the expansion joints on the other side is disposed and connected thereto by the aforesaid compensators, the two rods being formed from loose superposed metal strips, being disposed diametrically opposite one another, and being rotatably hinged at both their ends about respective horizontal axes.

In this way, a universal connection can be provided which is relatively simple from the constructional point of view in the area of the connection conduit from the closed-circuit hot blast line to the tuyere, and which moreover satisfies the desired requirements with respect to sufficient moveability of the tuyere connection. In this respect, a reduction in the points of articulation leads to simpler construction, and a weight reduction is achieved as a result of a lower utilization of material, thereby reducing the overall costs for the universal connection.

The tuyere connection of the invention offers a number of advantages with respect to those previously known, as follows:- (1) The number of brackets is halved in the same way as the number of universal connection elements, as only two of these are required in each case.

(2) There is a saving in material as a result of the relatively light-weight construction of the universal connection rods in the tuyere connection of the invention with respect to the Cardan connection rings in the known construction disclosed in German Patent No. 20 1 8 875.

(3) The assembly of the universal connection rods with only two points of articulation in each case is considerably simpler than the assembly of the known Cardan joint connection.

(4) The three hinge system enables, with adequate dimensions of the compensation, any movement in the perpendicular plane of the tuyere connection. When, as before, two of these hinges were formed as Cardan joints there was an additional possibility of movement in the horizontal plane. As a result of the fact that no or only a very minimal horizontal movement is required with respect to the tuyere connections in modern blast furnaces, there is no longer a requirement for the installation of Cardan joints. In the case of the invention, the two independent Cardan joints are combined into a lateral system with simple plate bracing for one plane of movement.

(5) The laminated loosely superposed metal strips forming the universal connectionrnd also enable slight lateral movements, as the metal strips slide on one another and thereby enable a corrugation of the universal connection rod.

The invention will now be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side view of an embodiment of the tuyere connection according to the present invention; and Figure 2 is a partial longitudinal section of the tuyere connection, showing a universal connection thereof on an enlarged scale.

A cooled blow mould 3 is disposed via a tuyere cooler housing 2 on a blast furnace jacket 1, a tuyere 4 of the tuyere connection (designated overall by 5) being in communication with this blow mould. A point of articulation is formed in the tuyere 4 by a spherical surface 6 against which the tuyere connection 5 is pressed by a pressing device 7.

A conduit producing the connection between a closed-circuit hot air line 8 and the tuyere 4 comprises four conduit portions, namely an elbow joint 9 adjacent the tuyere 4, a conduit portion 10 flanged on this elbow joint, a conduit portion 12 connected to the portion 10 via a compensator 11, and a conduit portion 14 connected via a further compensator 1 3 adjacent to the closedcircuit hot air line 8. As can be seen in Figure 2, the compensators 11 and 13 overlap through expansion joints 1 5 and 1 6 provided transverse to the axis between the conduit portions 10 and 12 and between the conduit portion 12 and the conduit portion 14.

On the conduit portions 10 and 14, between which the conduit portion 12 is disposed, a rod 23 is in each case rotatably and pivotably articulated at both of its ends about horizontally disposed axes 21 and 22. These articulations are provided by means of bolts 19, 20 via plates 1 7, 18 on diametrically opposite sides of the connection' conduit. Figures 1 and 2 in each case only show one of the rods 23. The rods 23 therefore enable movements of the conduit portions 10, 12 and 14 in the direction of a vertical plane passing through the axis of the tuyere connection. The rods 23 are constituted by loosely superposed metal strip segments which may be displaced with respect to one another when the rods 23 are bent. This also enables slight lateral deflections of the conduit portions 10,12 and 14.

The compensators 11 and 13 may be embodied in the manner known from any of German Patents 2442 708, 42 709 and 2459180.

The entire tuyere connection 5 is fastened to the blast furnace jacket 1 at a toggle joint 24 (see Figure 1), which is chiefly operational during assembly and dismantling, as it holds the tuyere connection. An adjustable retaining element 25 enables alignment of the lower part of the tuyere connection 5 and acts as an assembly aid.

Claims

1. A tuyere connection for shaft furnaces, comprising two annular compensators which are inserted in a refractory-lined connection conduit between a closed-circuit hot blast line and the tuyere and which overlap through an expansion joint extending transverse to the axis of the connection, and an articulated connection for compensating movements in a vertical plane passing through said axis, which articulated connection also enables a slight lateral deflection, wherein two rods are provided on portions of the connection conduit bounding the expansion joints on one side, between which a conduit portion bounding the expansion joints on the other side is disposed and connected thereto via the compensators, the two rods being formed from loose superposed metal strips, being disposed diametrically opposite one another, and being rotatably hinged at both of their ends about respective horizontal axes.

2. A tuyere connection for shaft furnaces, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.