US1449546A

US1449546A - Iron purifying and balling furnace

Info

Publication number: US1449546A
Application number: US528769A
Authority: US
Inventors: Oswald S Pulliam
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1922-01-12
Filing date: 1922-01-12
Publication date: 1923-03-27
Anticipated expiration: 1940-03-27

Description

Mair, 27, H923.-

O. S. PULLIAM IRON PURIFYI'NG AND BALLING FURNAC Filed Jan. l2, 1922 2 sheets-sheet l lll/lla *1 l TURA/EVS Mair. 27, 11.923. 1,449,546

O. S. PULLIAM IRON PURIFYING- AND BALLING FURNACE 2 sheets-sheet 2 Filed Jan. 12', 1922 WHA/5885s "VVE/WOR Y I '05. Pda/HM d f er m-- TTHIVEVS Patented Mar. 27, 192s.

UNITED STATES IRON' P'URIFYING AND BALLING FURNAGE.

Application filed January 12, 1922. Serial No. 528,769.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I; OswALD' S. PULLIAM, a citizen of thevUnited States, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Manhattan,` in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Iron Purifying and Balling Furnace, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The present invention relatesto new and useful improvements in metallurgical furnaces, and it pertains more particularly to a furnace for purifying and balling iron.

. In the method most commonly employed for purifying iron the molten iron is combined with a suitable oxidizing agent and is manipulated by means of hand tools in order that the oxidizing agent may be brought into intimate contact with the molten metal.

Mechanical devices such as oscillatory and rotary furnaces, have been used in lieu `of hand tools for the manipulation of the mass butsuch devices have-not generally been successful owinyg to the fact that their construction was not capable of properly mixing themolten metal with the oxidizing agent, mainly because after'the iron has been subjected to the oxidizing agent forza period of time sufficient to bring said iron near to nature, the iron is balled and a structure whichy will' permit of proper balling of the iron after the oxidizing reaction has taken place, is not conducive to a proper intermingling of the iron and the oxidizing agent to permit of a proper reaction during the reaction step of the process.

It is one of the primary objects of the invention. to provide a single furnace Vin which both the reaction step of the process and the, ballingstep of4 the process/'may be carried out;

It isa further object of the invention to so-cons'truct suche furnacetha't the mech anisml employed for bringing the oxidizing agent and the molten iron into, intimate contact one withl the other' willbe effective as such, and, at-theusan'ie-time, said mechanism isf 'of such anature alato properly manipul `onthe line 2-2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 isla longitudinal sectional view of a modified `form ofthe invention;

F ig.` 4 is' a `longitudinal` sectionalr view of a still further modiied form of the invention; f

Fig. 5 is a view in elevation of a modified form of stirring element.

Referring more particularlyto the drawings, the reference character 5 designates a .suitable base, and carried thereby 1s a pairA of spaced standards 6. These standards are providedi with bearingportions 7 and mounted in .each of said bearing portions 7 is a tubular or hollow trunnion 8. Mounted upon the trunnions 8 is a furnace and while said furnace may be formed` of any suitable material, in the present instance it is shown as consisting of a casing l0 of sheet metal lined with fire-brick! l1 vor the like. The end walls of 'the furnace are provided with enlarged bearing portions 12 which bearing portions are,` adapted toreceive the hollow trunnions 8 and form means by which thc furnace is rotatably mounted thereabout. In order to -provide for the charging andH discharging of the furnace, a suitable door l5 is employed. The bearing 12 at one end yof the furnace is extended as indicated by the reference character 16 and mounted on said extended end Yis a pulley 17x01* other.. suitable driving means adapted to be operated by a suitable power mechanism not shown.

VSecured tofone of the trunnions 8 is a pulley 18er the like, and byA this means the u trunnion 8 is rotated. Each of the hollow furnace` Iasindicatedby the reference charM acter 20, and secured to the inwardly pro jected ends of the hollow trunnions 8, by means of set screws 21 or the like, is a paddle 22. The paddle 22 may be of any desired structure and is covered in any desired manner with fire-brick 23 or the like. By this construction it is apparent that as the member 18 is operated by any suitable driving mechanism, the paddle 22 will be oscillated within the furnace as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2.

In carrying out the well-known process of puddling iron, a furnace constructed in accordance with the present invention functions as follows:

The molten pig together with the oxidizing agent are introduced into the furnace through the door 15, and after the door has been closed the paddle 22 is oscillated within the furnace. Assuming that the furnace and paddle are in the relative position shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings at the time the molten metal and oxidizing agent are introduced, and the molten metal then occupies a position to the right of the paddle in Fig. 2. By a suitable reversing mechanism (not shown) the paddle would be moved to the dotted line position designated in Fig. 2 by the reference character A', and the molten iron together with the oxidizing agent would be elevated. As the paddles assumes the dotted line position, the molten iron together with the oxidizing agent will spill over the rear edge of the paddle as indicated by dotted line B in Fig. 2, and will fall again to the lowest point of the furnace. The paddle is now brought downwardly and collects the mass of molten metal upon the lefthand side thereof and the paddle is elevated to the. position d shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 with the molten metal spilling over the rear edge, as indicated by dotted lines D in Fig. 2.

As this operation is continued, it is obvious that the molten mass is spilled over the paddle and is precipitated against the bottom of the furnace with sufficient force to cause a thorough intermingling of the molten mass and the oxidizing agent in order that a proper oxidizing reaction may take place. A

In the preferred form of the invention the rear edge 30 of the paddle 22 is angular with. respect to the forward edge thereof, this angularity of the rear edge being attained by inclining the rear edge of the paddle from a point adjacent each end thereof toward the center. This construction has a tendency to cause the molten mass to flow toward the longitudinal center ofthe furnace.

In lcarrying out the puddling and balling process it becomes necessary to introduce heat into the furnace and provision is made for this in the present type of furnace in the form of the hollow trnnins 8, the heat being introduced through one of said trunu nions and the gases permitted to escape from the other trunnion, suitable apparatus not forming a part of the present invention bing employed to carry out this operation.

After the deoxidizing step of the process is completed it is only necessary to continue the oscillation of the paddle and the molten mass owing to the motion which it receives will be properly balled within the furnace, after which it may be discharged by rotating the furnace about its axis by means of a suitable power mechanism of which the member 17 is a part, and to move the door to the lower portion of the furnace through which the ball may be discharged.

In the form of the invention shown in Fig. 8, the furnace may be rotated by-hand in any desired manner, the power operating mechanism of the furnace being elimi nated. In this form of the invention the paddle 40 has its rear edge straight as indi-` cated at 41 in lieu of having the rear edge `thereof angularly disposed as indicated by the reference character 30 in Figs. 1 and 2.

In the form of the invention shown in Fig. 4, the stirring element 4() is carried by a shaft 41 mounted in a journal 42 carried by a standard 43. The journal 42 is carried by the furnace 44 and is secured thereto by means of a plate 45 provided with openings 46 by means of which heat may be introduced to the interior of the furnace. In this form of thek invention the opposite end of the furnace to that through which the stir-f ring element projects is provided with anA enlarged outlet opening 50 andthe end 51 of the stirring element is not mounted ina journal as in the preferred form of the invention. i

In Fig. 5 is shown a niodified form of stirrer or paddle, and in this form the intermediate portion 60 of the paddle is provided with a projection 61. By this construction it is apparent that diui.ngthe balling operation two balls may be formed instead of one, and it is also apparent thatl by providing more than one projection 61, a number of balls may be formed during the balling operation.

What is claimed is:

1. In a puddling furnace. a rotatorv hearth, and agitating means movable in la circular path over the surface of said hearth, and in contact therewith.

2.r In a furnace for purifying and balling iron. a cylindrical chamber linedwith a refractory material, and an agitator mounted within said chamber and adapted to' travel in a circular path with respectthereto, and in contact therewith.

3. In a furnace for purifying and balling iron,1a hearth foi` receiving the molten iron, and means movable in a circular path alternately from one side of the hearth to the other to elevate the molten mass of iron and spill the same over the rear edge thereof to obtain agitation of the molten mass.

4C. In an iron purifying and halling furnace, a rotatory heated chamber, hollow trunnions supporting said heated chamber, and an agitating paddle mounted on said hollow trunnions and adapted to move from one side of said chamber to the other as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In a furnace for purifying and halling molten iron, a heated chamber adapted to oscillate and rotate about its longitudinal axis, and independently operated means for elevating the molten iron on opposite sides of the chamber and subsequently precipitating said molten mass to the lowest portion of the heated chamber.

6. In a furnace for purifying and halling iron, a heated chamber, and independently operated means for elevating said iron in- Ateriorly of the chamber and subsequently operation, to segregate the mass and forml a plurality of individual halls.

9. In an iron purifying and halling furnace, a heating chamber, an agitator mounted therein, said agitator being formed with a rear edge having a plurality of curved surfaces whereby a multiplicity of balls may be formed during the halling operation.

10. In a puddling and halling furnace, a rotary refractory baffle movable within the furnace.

11. In a puddling and halling furnace, a rotary refractory baffle movable in a circular path within the furnace.

12. In a puddling and halling furnace, a rotary balile movable in a circular path within the furnace and in contact with the inner surface thereof.

13. In a puddling and halling furnace, a rotary baffle movable within the furnace in a path concentric with the walls of the furnace.

14. In a puddling and halling furnace, a rotatory refractory baffle having its outer edge parallel with the inner surface of the furnace and its inner edge formed with a portion occupying a plane below the ends of the baffle.

15. In a furnace for purifying and hallH ing iron, a chamber, and means for successively elevating the molten mass on opposite sides of the chamber and precipitating said molten mass from opposite sides of the chamber in a direction toward the longitudinal center of the chamber.

16. In a furnace for purifying iron, a chamber having a transverse axis, and means for elevating a charge of molten metal and precipitating it to the lowest point of said furnace toward the center point of said axis.

OSWALD S. PULLIAM.