GB534517A - Improvements relating to the manufacture of gas - Google Patents

Abstract

534,517. Gas manufacture. SURFACE COMBUSTION CORPORATION. Aug. 30, 1939, No. 1399/41. Convention date, Dec. 29, 1938, Divided out of 534,276. [Class 51 (ii)] A method of making a gas for the heat treatment of steel of high carbon monoxide content and controlled hydrogen content consists in feeding carbonaceous material such as charcoal or coke into one end of an externally heated retort, supplying an oxidizing gas to the retort at a point where the carbon is substantially free of volatiles which are driven out of the retort in the vicinity of and in a direction opposed to the incoming carbon and withdrawing the reaction 'products from the retort at a point where the carbon is devoid of volatiles, the hydrogen content of the gas being controlled by controlling the composition of the reaction gas which consists of air, dehydrated flue gas, dried ammonia combustion products or producer gas or mixtures of these gases. As shown in Fig. 1, carbonaceous material is fed into a retort 20 heated by burners 27 from a hopper 15 and solid residues are withdrawn from the retort by a valve 21. The reaction gas is supplied by a pipe 22 and volatiles produced at the upper end of the retort are driven into the hopper and led off through a pipe 17. The reaction products are withdrawn by a pipe 30, 31 which extends down into the retort to a point where the carbon is free of volatiles. Fig. 2, shows a modification in which the reaction products are withdrawn through a port 25 to an externally heated pipe 30' leading to a chamber 34 which may be used for the heat treatment of steel articles.