US1166170A

US1166170A - Process for the production of zinc.

Info

Publication number: US1166170A
Application number: US81016614A
Authority: US
Inventors: Otto Baltin
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1914-01-03
Filing date: 1914-01-03
Publication date: 1915-12-28
Anticipated expiration: 1932-12-28

Description

11% 11 mm swamp o'rro BALTIN, or LIPINE, GERMANY.

' PROCESS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF .ZINC.

No Drawing.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OTTO BALTIN, a citi- Zen of the German Empire, and resident of Lipine, Upper Silesia, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes for the Production of Zinc, of which the following is a specification such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

It is known to make briquets which are so large that they fill the entire mufiie. It is known also to produce somewhat smaller briquets of which perhaps two or three fit in one muffle. Such briquets however, are

almost all prismatic or pillar shaped and,

as a consequence thereof their lateral surfaces lie thus against or over each other that together they form a large block of the same cross section as that of the muflie. Those surfaces of the briquets which lie against each other are not exposed to the immediate action of the heat. Hence only those surfaces of the two or three superposed briquets are exposed to the direct action of the heat which form as it were the outer surfaces of the block formed by the two or three briquets. These outer surfaces together, however, are not larger in area than the surface of the muffle, on the contrary, they are even smaller.

Therefore the object of the invention is to produce briquets which are very small and of such shape that when lying superposed in the muffle they come in contact if possible only at one point while all the other parts of their surface do not touch at all, so that all these parts which do not come in contact with others form together a surface that is directly exposed to the action of the heat and which is much larger than the inner surface of the muffle. ,The most suitable shape for the purpose of the invention is the egg shape. They may also be spherical or shaped as an oval cake of soap. The egg shape however is the preferred shape because when the muflie is charged the briquets will not heap up in a regular man- 1 ner but rather irregularly on account of the egg-shape itself. This will make that at some places there will be a larger inter mediate free space exposed to the action of the hot gases and for the flowing off of Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 2%, 1915.

Application filed January 3, 1914: Serial No. 810,166.

the zinc vapors than would be the case if the briquets were spherical or round where the spaces between them is the same throughout the muffle. Hence it is not only the small size of the briquets that is important and forms a characteristic feature of the invention, but it isespecially the shape given to those small sized briquets whereby it is made possible that when lying in the muffle the contact between them will be formed only at one point so that almost the entire surface thereof will be exposed to the direct action of the heat, and that there will be ample space between them for the zinc vapors to escape easily and freely.

According to the present invention, the penetration of the heat to the interior, and consequently the reduction of the oxid, and the passing over of the vaporized zinc is facilitated so that the process may be conducted at lower temperatures.

The process may be described as follows: The ore and the reducing agent are formed into. ball-shaped rounded, oval or egg-shaped briquets which are so small that the sum of their exposed surfaces is many times that of the receptacle used in distillation. These briquets when piled on each other in the muflie provide sufficient space between the briquets for the zinc vapor to leave the distilling chamber easily and to pass into the receiver. This constitutes a very important step forward in Zinc smelting, since, as is well known, that with ordinary brick the percentage of zinc in the residue is large and the yield poor., \Vith bricks of the new form, however, a practically complete reduction of the oxid is obtained. With the new method herein described, the unobstructed escape of the zinc vapors is made possible without any special form of apparatus.

I claim as my invention:

1. A method of extracting zinc from ores, said method consisting in inclosing in a space rounded briquets formed of ore and a reducing agent, having adjacent briquets touching each other only at a single part; the combined exposed area of the briquets being a large multiple of the limiting area of said space; and exposing said briquets to direct action of heat.

2. A method of extracting zinc from ores,

said method consisting in inclosing in a In witness whereof I have hereunto set space rounded briquets formed of ore and a my hand in presence of two Witnesses.

reducing agent, having adjacent briquets OTTO BALTIN. touching each other only at a Single part; Witnesses:

5 alfld exposing said briquets to direct action ERNST KATZ,

0 heat.

ERNST BLIRMS.