US1357487A - Device eor charging retorts - Google Patents

Description

' F. M. E. BLAss.

DEVICE FORCHARGING RETORTS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV24| I9I5.

Patented Nov. 2, 1920.

WITNESS.' M4 f Bv www ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT FFCEJ FERDINAND MAX EUGEN BLASS, 01E' MLHEIM-ON-TI-IE-RHINE, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR, BY lllIESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE CHEMCAL FUNDTLON, ING., A CORPORATION 0F DELAWARE.

Application lefl November 24, 1915.

To all fic/iam t may concern Be it known that I, FERDINAND MAX EUGEN lflLAss, a citizen ot the German Empire, and a resident of Mlheim-onthe- Rhine, i ermany, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Devices for Charging Fetorts and the like, oi which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to devices for charging retorts and the like, as for instance the chambers of coke-ovens, coalite ovens, chemical retorts, lithopone ovens,ovens tor roasting pyrites, ovens for oxidizing barium oxide, etc. rlhe object of my present inven-V tion is to avoid certain diiiiculties and defects generally occurring with constructions of this kind used hitherto, and particularly Y the sticking of the charge to the walls of the retort, the obstruction of the gas passages, the decomposition oi the gas produced, with a resulting loss vin heating or illuminating power, etc. The improved charging devicedesigned by me makes it possible to operate coke-ovens and the like continuously in a manner satisfying practical requirements. These results are obtained by a novel construction more fully set forth hereinafter and speciically pointed out in the claims, a salient-feature of this construction being an arrangement according to which the gases leaving the retort or the like surround entirely a passage or chute through which the fresh fuel is supplied, with a beneficial effect both on the gases and on the fuel, as fully explained below.

Two typicalexamples oit a retort provided with my improvements are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a vertical section through a portion ot an upright-retort oven to which my improved charging device is applied; Fig. 2 is a detail view of the upper portion oi Fig. 1, shown upon an enlarged scale, the plane of the section being indicated by theline 2--2 oiI Fig. 3; Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a hori- Zontal section on line 4-4 of Figs. 2 and 3; and Fig. 5 is a vertical section, similar to Fig. 3, through a slightly different form of my invention.

ln the accompanying drawings, my improved charging arrangement is shown applied to a coke-oven having upright cham- Speciication of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 2, 1920.

Serial No. 63,231.

bers, such as 10, haring :from top to bottom, this being a well-known type of coke-oven. l desire it to be understood, however, that my invention is applicable to ovens and retorts or" other types as well. In the side walls of the chambers 10 are provided the heating lues 11 of any well-known or approved construction and arrangement. On top of the chamber 10 is secured a casing 12 the interior of which communicates with the said chamber, and at a suitable point of its outer portion, said casing in provided with an outlet through which the gases produced by the distillation of the fuel in the chamber 10, may pass to a pipe for conveying them to the usual apparatus where they are treated further. ln the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 4, the pipe 13 leads from the outer portion of the casing 12 at the top, while in Fig. 5 the outlet pipe 13 is connected with the outer portion of the casing at the side. yTo the top plate 12 of the casing 12 is secured a funnel'or charg ing chute 14, the lower end of which eX- tends into the upper portion of the chamber 10. This lower or discharge portion of the chute is preferably of a cross section similar to that oi the chamber 10; thus, Fig. 4 shows that both the chamber 10 and thelower or discharge portion of the chute 14 are oblong in cross section. The upper end ot the chute is adapted to register with any suitable charging hopper or the like, as indicated at 15 in Fig. 1. At the upper end oli the chute I arrange a suitable valve or damper (not shown) adapted to be operated by a handle 14, and normally closed to prevent the escape of gas therethrough; the hopper' 15 is provided at its lower portion with a valve or damper operated by a suit* able handle 15 and normally closed, to be opened only when fuel is to be transferred from the hopper to one of the chutes 14. rFhe gas- discharge pipes 13, 13 may be connected with a gas main 16. In Figs. 1 to 4, the chute 14 is slightly inclined, and placed to one side within the casing 12; in Fig. 5, the chute 14 is located exactly at the center of the casing 12 and chamber 10. The chute 14 is secured in any suitable manner to the casing 12 or its top plate 12, but, except where it passes through said top plate, the chute 14 is spaced from the wall of the casing so that the gases evolved from the fuel in the chamber 10 will flow upwardly along the chute 14 on every side thereof, that is to say, the lower portion of the chute is surrounded entirely by the gases traveling to the outlet 1S or 13. At the upper portion of the chamber 10, that is to say, the portion containing the lower end of the chute 14, and at the same level, substantially, as said lower chute end, the walls of said chamber may be made with channels or lues 17 through which a cooling fluid, such as air, may be circulated; for instance, in furnaces employing preheated air to support combustion, the air to be preheated may be conducted through the channels or flues 17. It will also be observed that the lower end of the fuel chute 14 is at a level distinctly above the level of the uppermost heating flues 11, and, since said lower end of the chute practically determines the level of the upper surface of the fuel charge in the chamber 10, it follows that the temperature is relatively moderate at the surface level of the fuel charge in said chamber, thus avoiding the danger of decomposition of the gas which leaves the charge at said level. The temperature is thus kept moderate at this point by two factors, viz.: the arrangement of the lower end of the chute 14 above the level of the uppermost heating channels 11, and, second, the arrangement of said lower chute end at the same level with the cooling channels 17 At suitable points, I may provide openings (normally closed by covers 1S) for inspecting or cleaning the interior of the apparatus, or for pushing the fuel down when required.

The fuel charged into the hopper 15 and transferred to the chute 14 in any usual or approved manner, slides down into the chamber 10, which is the working chamber of the oven or retort. The fuel level in the chamber 10 will remain constant and substantially even with thc lower end of the chute 14, as long as there is any fuel left in said chute, it boing understood that at the beginning the chute 14 is filled to the top, and that it is refilled before all the contents of the chute have been discharged into the working chamber 10. A continuous operation is thus obtained, with a constant fuel level and uniform conditions for the production of gas. The fuel in the chute forms a seal, and as distillation progresses, the gases evolved in the portion of the chamber below the chute 14 will rise around the chute in the upper part of the chamber and in the casing 12. These gases will be kept relatively cool, since the outer wall of the casing 12 is exposed to the surrounding air, even if no cooling medium is circulated through the channels 17. Of course, the action is more efficient when the cooling channels 17 are employed. The gases, when they are kept comparatively cool, as described, will not be liable to decomposition within the upper part of the working chamber 1() and on their way to the outlet 13 or 13. Another advantage is that the gases can rise uniformly from the mass und-ergoing distillation, along the entire contour of the chamber 10, since the chute 14 does not reach close enough to the walls of said chamber to obstruct the upward passage of the gases at any point of said walls. The cooling effect secured by exposing the outer surface of the casing to the surrounding air, may be increased further by expedients such as providing external ribs to enlarge the surface of the casing thus exposed, or causing water to flow over said outer surface. A further advantage resulting from my improved construction is that the hopper 15 and the chute 14 are kept comparatively cool, so that the fuel contained in said supply members will not undergo distillation until it issues from the lower end of said chute. Sticking of the charge in the chute is thus avoided, and a continuous operation may be conducted without difficulty, if desired, in which case the fuel is supplied continuously through the hopper 15 or its equivalent, and removed continuously at the bottom of the working chamber 10, by means of any usual or approved discharge device such as spiked rotary rollers 19. The gas evolved in the retort is of good heating or lighting capacity, which is due chiefly to the fact that it can rise freely at all points of the periphery or contour of the mass undergoing distillation, and to the fact that undue heating, and resulting decomposition of the gases produced, are avoided in the manner set forth above. There will be no precipitation of heavy tar or pitch such as might obstruct the gas outlet. The recovery of by-products such as tar and ammonia, is exceedingly high when my improved construction is employed, since practically the entirety of these by-products leaves the apparatus with the gases, instead of being deposited in part on the walls of the channels through which the gases pass out. It will be noted particularly that the fresh fuel discharged from the chute 14 is not brought in contact immediately with highly heated surfaces, but the fresh fuel is discharged on the coolest portion of the mass in the working chamber, thus reventing, so far as possible, the undue heating of the material in the supply channels, and the escape of distillation products through the column of fresh fuel in said channels.

As I have mentioned above, my invention is not limited in its application to ovens having upright chambers, and while I prefer a continuous operation, an intermittent one may be employed instead.

'Various modifications may be made with out departing from the nature of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

l. An oven or the like, provided with a working chamber, and with heating fiues in the walls of said chamber, a stationary casing extending upwardly from said chamber and communicating therewith, and exposed to the cooling influence of the surrounding atmosphere, and a material-chargn ing chute secured to and extending Within said casing and terminating within said chamber at a material distance below the upper end thereof, said chute being spaced from the walls of the chamber and of the casing on all sides so that the gases rising from the material will surround the said chute entirely, the casing being provided with a gas outlet at its outer portion.

2. In an oven or the like for the distillation of fuel, providedwith an upright working chamber and with heating channels in the walls of said chamber, a fuel-charging chute having its upper portion exteriorly of said chamber and its lower portion within said chamber and spaced from the Walls thereof, the lower end of said chute being at a level substantially above that of the uppermost heating channel, whereby the temperature will be kept relatively moderate at the upper surface of the fuel which sulstantially coincides with said lower chute en 3. An oven or the like provided with a Working chamber, a stationary casing extending upwardly from the said chamber and communicating with the interior thereof, the outer surface of said casing being exposed to the surrounding air, while its inner surface is exposed to the gases rising from said chamber, and a stationary chute extending downwardly through said casing and having its discharge end spaced from the wall of said chamber on all sides, said casing being provided with a gas outlet located externally of the chute.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto aiixed my signature.

FERDINAND MAX EUGEN BLASS.

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