US1147165A - Electrical furnace. - Google Patents

Description

w.Y H. HAMPTON.

ELECTRICAL FuRNAcE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 28| 19l3.

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WILLIAM H. HAMPTON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE CONLEY ELECTRIC FURNACE COMPANY, INCORPORATED, OF WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, A CORPORA- l ELECTRICAL FURNACE.

T all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VILLIAM H. HAMP- TON, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, inthe county and State of New York, have invented Improvements in Electrical Furnaces, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates more especially to metallurgical furnaces, and may be used for various processes andoperations wherein it is necessary or desirable to admit vair or gases, or any gaseous fluid, to act on the ore or material being treated. The furnace illustrated herewith is designed more partic- I ularly for a roasting furnace, but it may also ingroasted or otherwise treated. The material is heated by heated guide surfaces, the arrangement of which promotes the action of the air or gases on the material, and 30 to this end part or all of the parts affording said surfaces are provided with non-arcing resistance conductors, -in the imannerset forth in my companion applicationv filed February 28, 1913, Serial No. 751,258.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating the invention: Figure 1 is a vertical section through the furnace; andv Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on.the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

The 4furnace is a vertical structure and 40 may be regarded as comprising a shaft provided with a plurality of guide members,

which break up its interior and guide the material in a zigza course in its descent by gravity. The sha t 10 is suitably built of masonry and has a lining 11, which may be of acid,'basic or neutral character. The material is admitted through an openin 12in the top," and is shown. as supplied rom a hopperA 18 by a feed Screw 14, which may be operated intermittently or continuously,

as desired. The guide members preferably comprisey approximately triangular blocks 15 and '16,' the former projecting inward Ifrom'the sides of the furnace and the latter being located centrally. The side members' Specification of Letters Patent.

gaseous fluid on the material, which is be- Patented July 20, 1915.

Application mea February 2s, 191s. serial No. 751,259.

15 may be regarded as single blocks and the middle members 16 as double blocks. Thus, at each side of the vertical center line there is a zigzag or a staggered series of guide members 16, 15, 16, 15,. having reversely sloping surfaces which deliver the material from one yto the other. These blocks partially divide the interior of the shaft into cavities, which communicate with each other by Acomparatively narrow gaps where the lower edge or corner of each block approaches the sloping side of the one next below. The uppermost central block 16 is located directly below the feed opening 12, and consequently parts the material, as it enters, to right and left, so that two streams are formed which diverge and converge repeatedly as they flow downward over the A sloping surfaces. Inasmuch as the streams may join at the lower edges of the several blocks 15 and the edges of the blocks 16, it will be understood that the streams are not necessarily distinct throughout their flow. Obviously, the size of the furnace may be increased and the number of blocks multiplied, and there may be'any number of zig. zag streams that maybe desired. The characteristic arrangement is such, however, as

The air or gases are supplied by a blower A 20, which forces the gaseous fluid through a duct 21 in the lower part of the masonry. This duct is extended, as shown at 22, so as to cause the fluid to flow around the hopper bottom 17. The duct 22 delivers the fluid thus heated to a distributing system, comprising an upward-extending duct 23 in one .of the side walls of the shaft .and lateral branch ducts 24:. which terminate in ports 25 that'deliver into the side cavities'below the 'blocks 15, which are preferably recessed at the bottoms to afford pockets into which these ports open. The branch passages 24 "of gases, and these ports constitute the entrances to ducts 27, which lead through the walls of the shaft into a common vertical duct or chamber 28 at one side of the shaft vand preferably formed in the wall thereof..

This space has an opening at the bottom provided with a closure 29for removal of collected dust, etc., and at the top has an exit opening 30 through which thegases pass to another collecting or separatingchamber 31. The latter is provided with a depending partition or baiiie 32, an opening with a closure 33 at the bottom for removal of the dust, and an exit 34 at the top from which Athe gases may be conducted to any desired .point orallowed to escape.

Means are provided for heating thematerial electrically as it flows over the inclined guide surfaces. To-this end the blocks 1 5,

1. 16 are provided in their interiors with nonmetallicresistance conductors. 35, which become incandescent on passage` of electric current and are adapted to. afforda high degree of heat. .These conductors are suitably `formed of a composition of clay and graphite in approximate proportions of sixty per cent. of clay to forty per cent. of carbon. The heating elements by ,being embedded or inclosed in the-blocks are protectedfromthe charge and from gases or i lair which vmay be formed in or admittedto the shaft. The blocks are of'heat-resisting, electrically non-conducting material, and

`their upper sections may be carborundum' tiles'. The lower. sections may be also carborundum tiles if desired, At their ends the conductors are received in socketed connections 36of alower degree of resistance,

which in turn receive pure carbon terminals 37 that are electrically connected by bars v to suitable members 38, which'make connection with the outside circuit or circuits. The barsv 50 are bolted or otherwise secured in close electrical connection to the carbon terminals 37, and are also in close electrical [connection with the members' 38. Thus, the

surfaces of the deflectors, which guide the flow of the material and divide the interior of the shaft in such manner as to secure the best `actionv lie air or gases o n the material, are hea by controllable means which .enable the material to be heated to any desired degree without interfering with the downwardv of the material or the upvward movement of the -air or gases. Thev arrangement of the air or gas inlets and of the gas or vaporoutlets at alternating levels, between which are the comparativel narrow gaps where the material is turne agitated and given a new direction, A1s especially advantageous.

Certain of the blocksl need not be provided with the resistance heaters, or if in operation it is found-that the material contains enough of certain constituents to continue burning after' being ignited, current may be passed only throu hy the conductors of the' upper block or bloc, s`

to ignite the material and through the con ductors of the lowei'mostl blocks to complete the roas`t or other treatment.

Means are provided 'for independently regulating the degree of heat at different levels. To this end the lieatin units '35 at' the different levels are connecte in multiple' by conductors 44,45 across themain con- l ductors 46, 47 of the secondary circuit of a around the hopper bottom 17, where they are heated to facilitate the subsequent reactions in the portion of the 'shaft containing the deflectors. The air or gases eniergethrough' the ports 25 at different levels, and in rising through the circuitous spaces between the blocks become thoroughly mixed with the descending zigzag' streams of material, so i that by the aidl of the heat supplied at the delecting surfaces by the resistance conductors the roasting or other operation is performed in a most efficient manner.

The rate at which the material is supplied tothe series of surfaces and the rate at whichfit flows therefrom, and consequently the velocity and volume of How through the shaft and over the heating surfaces, can be regulated by'valves or gates, indicated in a schematic manner at the top and bottom, those at the top being designated by the numeralsll, 42, and the one at the bottom being'numbered 43. The construction and operation .of the gates orvalves may be widely varied.' The lower gate 43 isrepresented as being slidable on guides or. y

ledges, and is movable by means of a lpoker or the like inserted through the lowest of the openings 24.

What is claimed as new is:

1. In an electric furnace, the combination of a shaft, guide blocks arranged -infstaggered" relation down the interior thereof and having reversely sloping surfaces adapted to cause the material to flow thereover by gravity in a zigzag downward course, non-arcing vresistance conductors located inthe interior of part or all of said blocks to heat theslopthe interior of said blocks, and means forv fluid to theshaft at different levels', and

, means for 'conducting the resulting gases-and vapors aw'ay fromthe shaft at intermediate levels.

'2. A'furnace having a shaft, a plurality, of triangular blocks of refractory material- ,disposed therein in staggered relation,'means Ifor supplying heat tothe material as it flows over the surface of said blocks comprising carbonaceous resistance elements located in neath certainof said blocks to react with the v heated material.

' material to be treated is fed at the top,'guide 3. A furnace having an interior in which lthe material is caused to flow downward by gravity, the same being provided with a plurality of guide members disposed at successive levels and l.lriaving sloping surfaces in zigzag relation over which the material flows in a like course, means for electrically heating thevmaterial inthe shaft comprising resistance elements located in the interior of part or all 'of said members, means for ad# mitting gaseous fluid into the shaft beneath' guide members at different levels, and means for conducting oli' the, resulting gases and vapors from beneath guide members at in`- termediate levels.

4. In a. furnace, a shaft into which. the

members therein for causing the material to flow in a `zigzag course asit descends by gravity, and a portion at the bottom of the shaft for receiving the material that finally drops from the lowestl Vguide members, in combination Witha duct for admission of gaseous fluid arranged adjacent the wall of said bottom portion so as tobe heated by the material therein, and distributing ducts with ports opening into the interior of the shaft to which the iuid flows from t e heating ducts. f

v5. A vertical furnace provided interiorly with guide members arranged to cause the material to ilowin a zigzag course in its descent by gravity, means for heating the material in its descent, an exit for gases and vapors, and means for conducting gaseous Huid to act on the material around the lower portion of the interior of the furnaceto be heated and then admitting it to the portion Bf the interior containing the guide memers. f

6. A furnace having a downward extending opening or passage therein and a plurality of guide members in said passage, said guide members having reversely sloping heating surfaces arranged to cause the material to flow thereover in a zigzag course,

non-arcing resistance heaters for heating` Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

` Washington, D. C.

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