US1034347A

US1034347A - Method for operating shaft-kilns.

Info

Publication number: US1034347A
Application number: US526588A
Authority: US
Inventors: Henry L Doherty
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1909-10-29
Filing date: 1909-11-06
Publication date: 1912-07-30
Anticipated expiration: 1929-07-30

Description

H.L.DOHERTY. METHOD FOR OPERATING SHAFT KILNS. APPLICATION 3mm NOV. 6. 1909.

1,034,347. Patented Jul 30, 1912.

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. D i bweooeo: Q Henry L. Doherty, amen/bo e W 33m 215 whom 111;; 4 11 COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co wAsulfiu'romb c.

HENRY L. DOI-IERTY,.OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

METHOD FOR OPERATING SHAFT-KILNS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July so, 1912.

Griginal application filed October 29, 1809, Serial No. 525,390. Divided and this application filed November 6,1909. Serial No. 526,588.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY L. Donnn'rr, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods for Operating Shaft-Kilns, of; which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a method of operating shaft-kilns for the burning of ce g ramic ware, and specifically to the application of such method to the continuous shaftkiln for the burning of ceramic ware described and claimed in my co-pending application Ser. No. 525890, filed Oct. 29th 1909, of which this application is a division.

The specific object of my invention is to supply a method for charging, supporting in the kiln, and withdrawing from the kiln, the material which is to be treated in the kiln.

This invention is not limited in its application to the burning of the specific kiln of material mentioned but may be applied to the burning of various other materials.

Briefly, my invention consists in a method of supporting the charge in a continuous kiln, in which the charge for the kiln is added at the top and the burned material withdrawn at the bottom, which comprises. building into the charge as the same is introduced at the top of the kiln courses of special hollow tiles at such intervals in the charge that the same is divided into sections, the quantity of material in each section corresponding to the quantity of ma terial which it is desired to withdraw from the kiln at each draw the said hollow tiles being laid end to end in parallel rows, whereby there is formed a plurality of groups of continuous transverse passages through the charge, the passages in each group being at the same level in the charge, supporting the charge at the moment of drawing by a vertically movable platform in the lower part of the shaft of the kiln, lowering said platform for a distance cor-- v responding to the interval between said special courses, whereby a group of said transverse passages is brought opposite cooperating groups of ports in opposite (and accessible) walls of the kiln, inserting bars? through said ports and the group of trans- .i

verse passages opposite said ports, and continuing the downward movement of the 4 platform, whereby the section of the charge below the said bars is detached from the superincumbent column of the charge and maybe removed from the said platform.

In the accompanying drawing, I have shown part sections through a brick kiln of the type described in my application above referred to, showing a charge of bricks supported according to the method which I herein claim.

Figure l is a horizontal part section through a battery of the kilns taken on a plane through the lines A B and A B of Figs. 2 and 3, respectively, 2'. 6., through one of the special tile courses. Fig. 2 is a vertical part sect-ion through one of the kilnson the lines C D of Fig. 1 and C D of Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a similar section on the lines E F ofFig. 1 and E F of Fig.2.

1, 1, 1", etc., indicate the individual kilns of a battery, the detailed construction of which is not pertinent to the present application since my invention may be used in connection with any type of-shaft kiln in which the shaft does not converge toward the bottom.

2, refers to the special hollow tiles built into the charge in the kiln. A

' 2, 2", etc., refer to the several courses of special tiles 3,3, 3, etc., and 3, 3, 3, etc., refer to the two opposite groups of ports in kiln 1, through which the false bars 4, 4;, 4, etc., are inserted.

5 and 5 refer to-the arches at the bottom of kiln 1, which provide access to the vertically movable platform 6, for the purpose of removing the detached portion of the burned and cooled charge during the drawing of the kiln.

7, 7, 7", etc., refer to the groups of transverse passages formed by the similarly accented groups of special tiles, 2, 2, 2', etc.

8 and 8 are the covers of the sets of ports in the two

opposite walls

9 and 9 of kiln 1.

In the operation of the kilns the air for the burning of the charge is admitted at the bottom of the kiln and passes up through the lower part of the shaft of the kiln, cooling the material therein. Above the cooling zone of the kiln combustible gas is introduced which mingles with the air and burns in contact with the material occupying that portion of the kiln. When the section of the charge in contact with the flame has been burned and the section in the lower portion of the column has been cooled, it is necessary to remove the cooled material at the bottom of the shaft, and cause the column of the charge to sink down through the shaft in order to bring a fresh portion of the charge into the burning zone. With materials such as limestone, this is accomplished by simply drawing material from the bottom of the charge and permitting the material in the superincumbent portion of the charge to settle as the support of the bottom is removed. \Vith such materials as brick, tiles, pottery ware, etc., this method of operating is entirely impracticable. The charge does not settle uniformly as a whole, but by the more or less independent movement of its fragments. There is a mutual grinding action between the fragmentsthat reduces more or less of the material to powder and causes, even with material of great strength, the formation of a large proportion of fines. If such a method were applied to fragile ware such as brick and tiles, etc., the loss due to breakage would be prohibitive. By my method of operating,however, I am able to draw the finished material from the bottom of the kiln and cause the necessary downward progression of the charge as a unit without subjecting the individual pieces in the charge to any but the constant and uniform compression stress due to the weight of the superincumbent charge. As is well known to those skilled in the art, ordinary pottery vessels will bear without fracture a comparatively high compression stress, properly applied, while they will be fractured by a very light impact or bending stress.

In carrying out my invention, I build the charge into my kiln as a unitary column structure, dependent simply upon its basal support for stability and entirely independent of the kiln walls. By simply causing the downward movement of the basal support I am able, therefore, to cause the downward movement of the charge as a unitary structure and without any relative movement among the individual pieces making up the charge. In order to provide for a fresh downward movement of the charge when another section of the same is ready for withdrawal from the kiln it is necessary to remove the lower finished section of the charge resting upon the basal support without interfering with the stability or structural arrangement of the upper portion of the charge column. This result I secure by temporarily support-- ing the portion of the charge above that which it is desired to remove by false bars while the basal support is further lowered, thereby detaching from the main column of the charge that portion which it is desired to remove, when such portion may be easily removed from the supporting platform piece by piece without any danger of injury.

According to my invention I provide a vertically-movable platform, 6, closing the lower part of the kiln shaft, above the crowns of the

arches

5, 5, the said platform being supported upon the plunger of a hydraulic ram or in any other suitable manner, which will permit of the controlled vertical movement of the platform, at will. Upon this platform 6, I lay a course of hollow tiles, 2, the tiles being laid in parallel rows end to end so that the hollow interiors of the tiles in each row form a continuous passage across the shaft. The tiles in each row may be laid with their ends in contact or they may be spaced from one-half to one inch apart. Between the rows I leave an interval of from 2 to 8 inches, more or less, according to circumstances. Built into opposite walls of the

kiln

9, 9 are sets of ports 3 and 3, respectively, the said ports being so located that they will register with the transverse passages formed by the tiles. These ports, when the platform 6 is in its highest position are designed to permit of the entry of air to support the combustion in the kiln and are provided with

adjustable covers

8, 8 so that the quantity of air entering the ports may be regulated at will. Upon this first tile course, I build a section of already burned brick or other ware, of the kind that the kiln is designed to work upon. Upon.this I lay another course of the special hollow tile similar to the one laid in contact with the platform 6, build another section of the charge thereon as before and so continue until the shaft has been filled with a column of material which is supported entirely by the platform 6. The height of the different sections of the charge should be the same, and should be that of the height of the section of the charge which it is designed to withdraw at one operation of draw. Care must be taken that in laying the special courses of hollow tiles the corresponding rows of each coinse must be located in the same vertical position, so that the transverse passages which they form will register with the corresponding couples of ports when that course has sunk to the level of the ports. In building in the actual material of the charge proper while it is not necessary to observe any special arrangement the structure should be left sufficiently open to afford free passage to the gaseous current passing through the kiln. In the case of the burning of brick any pattern of checker-work construction may be used in the charge.

IVhen the kiln-shaft has been filled with a charge of already burned material a section of green or unburned material is built onto the charge in the manner already described. The fires are started, the producer or other gas being admitted at a level a considerable distance above the lower part or cooler of the kiln. When the portion of the initial charge occupying the firing zone of the kiln has been heated up to the proper burning temperature the drawing of the kiln is begun. The platform 6 is slowly lowered until thepassages 7 formed by the second special course register with the sets of ports 3, 3. Thedownward motion of the platform is now stopped and the bars 4 inserted through one set of ports, through the passages 7 and into the opposite set of ports. The platform 6, is again gradually dropped, the bars 4iengaging the tops of the passages 7 and bringing the whole column of the charge above the bars to rest, while the section of the charge below the bars follows the downward movement of the platform. This material on the platform 6 is removed and the platform again raised above the

arches

5, 5 ready for another draw and another section of green ware is built onto the top of the column. When the section just brought into the firing zone has been heated up to the proper point, the kiln is in condition for another draw The platform 6 is slightly raised until it engages the bottom of the course 2 and lifts the entire column of the charge off the bars 4. These are withdrawn through either the ports 3 or 3 and the operation described above repeated.

It is obvious, that the size of the hollow tiles used will depend primarily upon the size of the bars that are 'to be used and this in turn, will depend upon the weight of the column of charge that is to be carried in the kiln.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. The method of operating continuous shaft-kilns for the burning of ceramic ware which comprises interposing bet-ween charges a course of hollow tiles, the said tiles being arranged so as to form a plurality of transverse passages through the charge column, the said passages-being spaced to register with cooperating groups of ports located in opposite walls of said kiln near the bottom thereof when they have reached 3. The method of operating continuous shaft-kilns for the burning of ceramic ware which comprises interposing between the separate charges of said shaft-kiln a course of blocks of refractory material each of said blocks having a rectangular section and an interior longitudinal opening therethrough,

the blocks composing said course being laid end to end in substantially parallel rows, the longitudinal openings of the blocks in each row forming an open transverse passage through the charge in said kiln, the said rows of blocks being laid with an interval between each two adjacent rowsv and so spaced that the plurality of transverse passages formed by the said blocks will register with cooperating groups of ports in opposite walls of said kiln near the bottom thereof, when the said transverse passages have been carried down to the level of said ports by the subsidence of the charge column.

4:. The method of operating continuous shaft-kilns for the burning of ceramic ware which comprises building onto the top of the charge-column occupying the shaft of said kiln, alternately, a charge of the mate rial to be burned and a course of blocks of refractory material each of said blocks having a rectangular section and an interior opening therethrough, the blocks comprising said course being laid end to end in sub stantially parallel rows the interior openings of the blocks in each row forming an open transverse passage across the chargecolumn, the said rows of blocks being laid with an interval between each two adjacent rows and so spaced that the axis of each passage will be in the same vertical plane with the axis of one of a plurality of cooperating couples of ports located in opposite walls of said kiln near the bottom thereof, whereby said charge-column is divided into sections separated by the said courses of blocks, each course of blocks being adapted to support the weight of the superincumbent portion of the charge column.

5. The method of operating continuous shaft-kilns for the burning of ceramic ware which comprises building onto the top of the charge-column occupying the shaft of said kiln, alternately, a charge of the material-to be burned and a course of blocks of refractory material each of said blocks hav- 'ing its upper and lower surfaces substan tially parallel and an interior opening, the

blocks composing said course being laid end to end with intervals between the blocks in substantially parallel rows, the said interior openings of the blocks in each row forming an open transverse passage across the chargecolumn, the said rows of blocks being so spaced that the axis of each passage formed by the interior openings of the blocks will be substantially in the same vertical plane with the axis of one of a plurality of cooperating couples of ports located in opposite walls of said kiln near the bottom thereof, inserting bars through said ports and each group of said transverse passages when the passages of said group register with said port, removing the portion of the charge column below the course supported by said bars, lifting the weight of the charge column off of said bars, withdrawing said bars, lowering said charge column until the transverse passages of the next course of blocks register with said ports and repeating the said operations in substantially the manner described.

6. The method of operating continuous shaft-kilns for the burning of ceramic ware which comprises building onto the top of the charge-column occupying the shaft of said kiln, alternately, a charge of the material to be burned and a course of blocks of refractory material each of said blocks having its upper and lower surfaces substantially parallel and an interior opening therethrough, the blocks composing said course being laid end to end with intervals between the blocks in substantially parallel rows, the said interior openings of the blocks in each row forming an open transverse passage across the charge-column, the said rows of blocks being so spaced that the axis of each passage formed by the interior openings of the blocks will lie, substantially, in the same vertical plane with the axis of one of a plurality of cooperating couples of ports lo cated in opposite walls of said kiln near the bottom thereof, whereby the charge-column is divided into sections separated by the said courses of blocks each course of blocks being adapted to support the weight of the super incumbent portion of the charge column, communicating a downward movement to the charge, inserting bars through said ports and the corresponding transverse passages in the first of said courses of blocks to register with said ports, whereby the downward movement of said course and the portion of the charge superincumbent to said course is interrupted, while the downward movement of the portion of the charge below said course continues and such portion is detached from the rest of the charge column, removing said portion of the charge from its support, raising said support to engage the course of blocks supported by said bars,

and after sufiicient time has elapsed to properly burn the fresh portion of the charge carried into the firing Zone of the kiln by the former downward movement of the charge, raising said support to lift the weight of the charge column from said bars, withdrawing said bars, and repeating the above operation, substantially in the manner described.

7. The method of operating shaft kilns for the continuous burning of ceramic materials which comprises interposing between the charges to said kiln courses of special hollow tiles, the said tiles being arranged to form a plurality of substantially parallel transverse passages through said charge column, communicating an intermittent downward movement to said charge column, whereby the cer mic material and the special tiles are caused to traverse the burning zone of said kiln, withdrawing the said burned ceramic material and the special tiles from said kiln when they have reached the bot tom thereof, separating the said special tiles from the burned ceramic material, returning the said special tiles to the top of said kiln and rebuilding them into the charge column at the top thereof with a fresh charge of the ceramic materials to be burned.

8. The method of operating continuous shaft kilns for burning ceramic materials which comprises interposing between the several charges of the unburned ceramic ware courses of burned perforated tiles, the said tiles being laid end to end with their perforations substantially horizontal whereby a plurality of substantially parallel transverse passages are formed at intervals in the charge column in said kiln, said passages being so located as to register with a corresponding number of openings near the lower part of the shaft of said kiln. whereby bearing bars may be inserted through said. openings and said transverse passages to support the weight of the charge column superincumbent to each of said special courses of hollow tiles when the transverse passages of said course register with said openings in the kiln walls, removing from the shaft of said kiln that portion of the charge column below the course of special tiles which is at the time resting upon said bearing bars, separating from the portion of the charge column, so removed, the said special perforated tiles therein contained, returning the same to the top of said kiln and interposing them between fresh charges of the ceramic materials to said kiln, in the manner described.

9. In the operation of continuous shaft kilns for burning ceramic materials, the method of maintaining non-distortable transverse passages in the charge column in said kiln during the passage of the said charge column through said kiln which comprises building onto the top of the chargecolumn occupying the shaft of said kiln, alternately, a charge of the material to be burned and a course comprising special blocks of burned refractory material, each of said blocks having its upper and lower surfaces substantially parallel and an interior opening therethrough, the blocks comprising said courses being laid end to end with intervals between the blocks in substantially parallel rows, the interior openings of the blocks in each row forming an open non-distortable passage across the charge-column, the said rows of blocks being so spaced that the axis of each passage formed by the interior openings of the blocks will be in substantially the same vertical plane with the axis of one of a plurality of cooperating couples of ports located in opposite walls of said kiln near the bottom thereof, inserting bars through said ports and each group of said transverse passages when the passages of said group register with said port, removing the portion of the charge column below the course of special blocks supported by said bars, separating the special blocks, in the said portion of the charge-column removed, from the burned ceramic material, returning the said special blocks to the top of said kiln and rebuilding them into a fresh charge-of raw ceramic material substantially in the manner described.

10. In the operation of continuous shaft kilns, the method which comprises maintaining in circulation through said kiln a plurality of hollow previously burned tiles, the said hollow tiles being charged at the top of said kiln in special courses alternately with charges of the raw material to be burned, separated from the burned material withdrawn at the bottom of said kiln, returned to the top of said kiln and again recharged at the top thereof substantially in the manner described.

Signed at New York city in the county HENRY L. DOHERTY.

Witnesses:

TI-IOS. I. CARTER, W. J. QUENTIN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. O.