US2306366A - Coke oven structure - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 29, 1942. J. BECKER v COKE OVEN STRUCTURE y 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 wv@ k2 P. mY, mm@

1303.29', 1942. J. BECKER I 2,306,366

- COKE OVEN STRUCTURE Filed Nov. 5, v1940 4 Sheets-Sheet '2 u v v. v ,4 L i i I .l l l f i l f f j f r /f/ Zal a L 42 o". 1

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l l l W 32 .s L15 31 INVENTOR PmNmPAL .man Jaun/55mm@ GAS MAIN BY W g z Dec. 29, 1942. J. BECKER 2,306,366

I COKE OVEN STRUCTURE I Filed Nov. 5, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 o v .I ONZ' .2.

.2.9 32 Z627 V42 l 44 30 ff INVENTOR. Josep/l se/rsa.

Dec. 29, 1942. J. BECKER 2,306,366

COKEOVN STRUCTURE Filed Nov. 5, 191.10 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 r-TllL #539: 6 j INVENTOR Patented Dec. 29, 1942 COKE OVEN STRUCTURE Joseph Becker,

to Koppers Company,

Delaware a corporation of Application November 5, 1940, Serial No. 364,365

10 Claims.

The present invention relates to horizontal coke ovens and more especially to those of the combination type that are arranged for optionally underflring with a rich gas or with a regeneratively-preheated lean fuel gas such as blast-furnace or producer gas.

Blast-furnace gas as a source of heat for cokeoven underfiring has the disadvantage of an inconstant caloric value and it is common practice to enrich such fuel gas by additions of minor amounts of a fuel gas of higher caloric value, for example coke-oven gas itself, n-order to prevent any decrease in the coking capacity of a plant which would be occasioned by a reduction in the caloric value of an employed blast-furnace gas. In prior practice, these additions of enriching gas have been made before the blast-furnace gas was introduced into the regenerators for purposes of preheating. In the present inventors U. S. Patent v No. 1,876,037 that issued September 6, 1932, there is described apparatus for automatically admixing with a stream of blast-furnace gas of fluctuating caloric value those amounts of rich gas required to correct 'the former to a predetermined heating value before it is introduced into the regenerators.

The practice, however, of enriching' blast-furnace gas before a preheating step therefor. is an ineiilcient method of attaining the desired oblective because the rich gas contains hydrocarbonaceous constituents that are unstable at temperatures obtaining in the regenerators and are features of the heating-gas out experiencing any of the above-mentioned disadvantages. n

A further object of invention is to provide apparatus whereby, within a. coke-oven structure itself, an enriching fuel gas can be admixed with a fuel gas of low thermal content that has been previously preheated in its regenerators but .beiore it has been introduced into the heating flues, thereby to obviate decomposition of the enriching gas in the regenerators and to insure the delivery of substantially the total of its available heat content into the heating flues, and to establish therein a higher thermal head than would otherwise obtain.

A further object of improvementis the provision, more especially for horizontal coke ovens, of means that are adapted to eect the above-stated objectives and are optionally operative independently of those fuel-gas distributive systems normally employed in combination coke ovens for exclusively rich-gas underring and for exclusively yregeneratively-preheated lean-gas underfiring, so that more especially those calibrative regulatory distributive system that is employed in the former instance are entirely independent of the calibrative features employed for regulation of the enriching gas and an cracked during their traversing of the same, the

cracking process not only causing a reduction in the temperature of the regenerators and the detrimental deposition of carbon therein but also a consequent loss-of much of the potential effectiveness of such gases for enriching purposes.

A principal object of the present improvemen is to providein general s uch improved methods of and means for heating a horizontal coke-oven battery with gases of lower caloriflc values that a. battery heated by the leaner fuel gases will have substantially put as it has when heated by rich gas exclusively.

A further object of the present improvement is to provide, for coke-ovens, means that are in Y the rocesses or apparatus the same capacity of coalthrough- 4. p

general adapted for regulating within practical limits the calorific value of regeneratively-preheated fuel gases and are in particular adapted to fortify lean gases of low thermal content by enrichment with a gas of high caloriii'c value in such manner that they are made suitable for use in the underiiring of horizontal coke-ovens with- 55 "paratus for immediate change from the one to the other type of underring is possible without tedious recalibrating of any of those devices employed for apportioning heat units tothe individual heating flues.

A further object of invention is to provide apaddition of utility during a rich-gas underring to effect a reduction in the oxygen concentration and a' dilution of regeneratively-preheated air flowed from the regenerators into the heating ues of coke ovens, thereby to retard the combustion of rich gas in said ilues.

The invention has for further objects such other improvements and such other operative advantages or results as may be found to obtain in` hereinafter described or claimed. Y

According to the present invention, the heating flues of a coke-oven heating wall are each provided with an individual fuel-gas duct having its outlet por-t in that bridge brick which terminates below the regenerator-port of each heating flue and an air rethe novel fuelthe above-stated purposesthat is in` period of exclusively of a coke-oven battery is communicably gas duct of the improvement is embodied in a combination coke-oven of the underjet` type wherein it is also formed as an underjet duct similar to and extending in parallelism with that well-known underjet duct whereby, during exclusively rich-gas underring, fuel gas is delivered into the bottom of a heating ue of the coking structure. In an underjet coke-oven battery equipped with the present invention, the heating improvement provides, for all the underjet ducts of the invention, communicating connections between both a source of rich fuel-gas and pf lean fuel-gas and also provides flow-reversing apparatus and calibrative flow-regulating means that are optionally operative independently of apparatus for controlling the flow of fuel gas into those underjet ducts employed during exclusively rich-gas underfiring of the battery-structure. The improvements in operating and heating methods and the results that are realizable in coke ovens provided with the, instant improvement will be apparent to those skilled in the `art by referenceto the accompanying drawings and the following description of their construction and methods of use.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part ofv this specification and showing for purposes of exemplication a preferred apparatus and method in'` which the invention may be embodied and practiced but without limiting the claimed in- ',vention specifically to such illustrative instance or instances;

Fig. l shows a vertical section taken transversely of a battery of underjet coke ovens embodying the improvement of the present invention,

ysaid section being taken in part through a flued f heating wall and in part through a cokingchamber thereof; f

Fig. 1a is a section taken along the line Ia-Ia of Fig. 5;

Fig. 2 shows a composite vertical section taken longitudinally of the coke-oven battery of Fig. l, the section A-A being taken along the line A`A of that figure and the section B-B along the line B-B thereof; l

Fig. 3 is an enlarged partial horizontal section takenV along the line III-III of Fig. 2 and showing the relativey arrangement of the underjet ducts for exclusively rich-gas underfiring .and the underjet ductsy of the instant improvement along with the embedded header-pipes for independently distributing". heating gases thereto along an entire heating wall;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken along the line IV-IV of Fig. 3; Fig. 4a is van Fig. 4: l gw.-

Fig. 5 isan enlarged horizontal section taken alongthe line V-'.V of Fig.. 1 yand showing the relative positions. ,in the lower parts ofthe heatingl'ilues, of the inlet'ports for heating gases emplayed fin exclusively rich-gas underiiring 'and the" lportsojfthe underjet ducts oiwthe present improvement located beneath the heating-nue lffthdse' conduits that communicably een? enlarged yview. of a portion of nect said ilues with regenerators therebeneath;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged elevational view, parts broken away, of a fragment of Fig. l showing in detail the piping arrangement and the flowcontrol devices for distributing fuel gases to the battery in accordance with the practiceAofthe present invention; and

Fig. l7 shows an alternative vform of apparatus that is adapted lfor practicing the improvements of the invention.

The same characters of reference designate the same parts in each of the views of the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings: the illustrated coke-oven batterycomprises a plurality of coking chambers I0 and heating walls II arranged in alternation lengthwise thereof, the adjacent heating walls of the some of the coke ovens being communicably connected by means of crossover ducts I2 that are a characteristic feature of the well-known Becker oven in-Which the present improvement is shown embodied. Each heating flue I3 oi-a heating wall is communicably connect- Ied with two regenerative spaces Il, I5, therebeneath that extend crosswise of the battery substantially its entire width and are separated by the heavy masonry of adivision wall I6, the said regenerative spaces I l, I5, being respectively communicably connected with each said heating flue I3 of the heating wall thereabove by means of conduits I8, I1, that are respectively adapted for flowing regeneratively-preheated lean gas and combustion-air therefor into the heating flues and, during the reverse period of now in the regenerative heating cycle, are adapted to receive combustion-products from therewith associated heating nues at the opposite side of an adjacent coking chamber.

Beneath the regenerator sole-canals II wherey by combustion-media are distributed through the various parts of the regenerative spaces by means of short ducts 20, the massive supporting-mat 2| for the entire battery structure is supported, by means of concrete and of metallic piers ,respectively, 22, 23, above the passageways 24 through which the operators can move from heating wall to heating wall to make various adjustments in the fuel-gas distribution system.

At such times as the illustrated battery is operated as a coke-oven, i. e. when it is heated exclusively with rich gas of high calorific value, the

rich gas is introduced into the bottoms of the heating ues by means of underjet ducts 2l which extend `from that level downwardly through those regenerator walls I6 that are directly beneath the heating ilues and also through the material fof supporting mat 2I where they communicate by means of pipe-connections with a wall-header, that is embedded in the material of the mat; said wall-headers 26 extend crosswise of the battery in parallelism with the heating wall above and from them rich fuel gas is distributed individually to of ay single heating wall by flowregulating means 21 supported in threaded surfaces on the inner walls means of, calibrated of those short metal pipes 2l which are also embedded in thebattery-mat andl have their .upper ends in register with a du'ct 2l, and, at a point upstream of said flow-regulating means, communicate by means of a short nipple with a wall-header 2l.t The lower ends of the short pipes 2l terminatesubstantially at the lower surface of the battery-mat where they are sealed with a removable'pipe-plug that permits acall the heating ilues.

that are removably tion between the members 26, 3|, is interruptive for any preferred interval Whereas the latter of said valve means is connected by connectingrod 35 and cable 36 with that usual fuel-gas flowreversing mechanism (not shown!) for horizontal coke-oven batteries whereby fuel gas is admitted into the heating flues at spaced intervals.

Regeneration sole-canals I9 are each provided at one of their outer ends, as shown at the lefthand side of Fig. 1, with combustion-media flowboxes of which those, 31, that communicate with a regenerator I4, are provided with valve means whereby optionally either -air from the alleys or a lean fuel gas that is delivered thereto from'the larger lean fuel-gas main 38 by way of individual branch-pipes 53, can be introduced vinto the sole-canals, and those of the said now-boxes that communicate at the same battery-side with regenerators I are provided with valve means whereby only air is admissible into their associated sole-channels. The battery illustrated in the drawings is arranged to have all its combustion-media flowed into the structure from the one battery-side and all the combustionproducts are removed therefrom at the opposite side so that the flow-boxes 39 at the right-side of Fig. l have their valve means arranged alternately to interrupt or to establish communication between only combustion-products tunnel 40 and the regenerator sole-canals I9,

The basic idea of the present improvement, as hereinbefore mentioned,v is to provide a cokeoven battery with an enriching-gas distribution system that is, firstly, optionally operative to introduce enriching quantities of a rich gas into a regeneratively-preheated lean fuel gas after the latter has traversed the regenerators and before it enters the heating iioes, and is, secondly, so arranged for Voperation independently of' systems for distributing other fuel gases to the .heating flues that those calibrative features employed both for regulating the degree of enrichment and for graduating the added quantities of enriching gas in accordance with increasing heat requirements of the oven-charges from the pusher-to the coke-side of the battery, will not obstruct normal distribution either of rich gas or of unenriched, preheated lean gas when they are separately used as the exclusive source of underring heat in their own distribution systems of the battery; when such an enriching-gas system has, therefore, been once adjusted for the delivery to the individual heating ilues of a preferred amount of enriching gas, a coke-oven battery so provided stands always in readiness to employ exclusively rich gas, or regenerativelypreheated lean gas, or regeneratively-preheated, enriched lean gas for its underring, and the change from the one to the other 'type of understead of porting directly into the lower parts of the heating iiues have their outlets arranged to port, at a distance somewhat below the heatingue soles, into those conduits whereby regeneratively-preheated fuel gases and air are delivered into the heating fines, and at the point of their bifurcation Atoward adjacent regenerators.

In such disposition, gases discharged therefrom enter the heating fluesin admixture with the regeneratively preheated gases. Individual heating flues of the improved coke-oven battery are thus associated with two underjet ducts of which the one is arranged for enrichment purposes and r the other for the ordinary rich-gas underfiring.

In Figs. 1 and 2, the underjet ducts 4| of the distribution system for enriching gas areclearly discernible with their outlet ports at the upper end of the masonry that separates a pair of conduits |1, I8, and the underjet ducts 25 and 4| are both adjacently disposed in rows of staggered pairs in the regenerator division walls I6.

The enriching-gas ductsl of an entire heat- .ing wall all communicate with a Wall-header 42 that is embedded in mat 2| through which it extends crosswise of the battery in parallelism with a similar wall-header 26 for delivering rich fuel gas to the heating iiues when heating exclusively with a gas of high caloric value, and each said duct 4| is individually connected to a header 42y by means of a shortpipe and a short nipple that are also embedded in the mat similarly to those previously described in conjunction with ducts 25; and said short pipe contains an individual gas-flow regulating device 43 comprising an oriiiced plug that is removably mounted on the inner walls thereof and is calibrated to deliver the preferred quantity of enriching gas to the flue above. The level at which enriching gas is discharged from a duct 4| into the currents of preheated gasesentering the heating ue from the regenerator-ports may be raised by a nozzlebrick that issupported on the masonry adjacent the outlet of said duct and has its orifice in register with the port thereof.

The wall-headers 42 each communicate at one end thereof, by means of a valved pipe-connection 44, with a primary enriching rich-gas distributing main 45 that extends lengthwise along one side of the battery closely above the similar main 3| with which it is lcommunicably connected by the valve-46 whereby rich heating gas from the same source as that in the latter said main is admissible into the former.

of hand valve 41, flow of gas into a header 42 ring can be conveniently and quickly eected.

only rich heating gas to the heating ilues of un-, y der-jet coke ovens, but with this difference, how'- ever, that the ducts'of the present invention infrom main 45 can be entirely interrupted, whereas valve 48, that is operative through link 4 9 by means of cable 36 and the gas-flow reversing mechanism (not shown) for the battery, serves to admit enriching gas into said wall-header 42 at spaced intervals.

Primary gas-distributing main 45, from which all the underjet ducts of the enriching-gas distributive system of the battery are directly supplied, will be hereinafter referred to as the enriching-gas ma and it is not only communicably connected with-the distributing main 3|, asabove stated, by means of valve 46 but it also communicates by means of pipe 50 and valve 5| with lean-gas distributing main 33for`an additional special method of operation to which the present improved battery-structure lends itself and which will be hereinafter described.

The calibrated devices 21, 43, for regulating the flow of heating gases respectively through the underjet ducts 2l, 4|, are, as clearly shown in By means said calibrated devices can be removed and replaced through the openings provided by removed pipe-plugs 30. This device for regulating the flow of heating gas through underjet ducts is theinvention of another and is described in detail in U. S. application S/N 256,427, filed February 15, 1939.

Assuming that the struct-ure illustrated in the drawings is being heated exclusively with a rich fuel gas that requires no regenerative preheating for its effective use, all the flow-boxes 31 at the left hand of Fig. 1 then have their valve means arranged to deliver only combustionair into the regenerators, and in those flow-boxes that also communicate with theA principal lean-gas supplying main 38 for the battery, the mushroom valves 52 are closed as shown in Fig. 6. Preheated'air from regenerators I4, I5, enters upflow heating fiues I3 (as shown by the arrows in Fig. 2) by way of conduits I1, I8. In the heating ilues the preheated air mixes with and burns rich fuel gas also delivered into the lower parts of the upiiow heating ilues in individually regulated amounts from the principal righ-gas supply main 3| for the battery after said gas has traversed in succession: apertures in the manually and the reversing-machine operated valves, respectively 33,

34; thevbranch riser-pipe 32 at the'side of the battery; the mat-embedded header-pipe 26 for a flued heating wall; the calibrated opening of an orificed plug 21; and thence upwardly through an underjet duct 25 into the bottom of an upflow heating flue I3. l

After a preferred period of gaseous flow in the one direction through the regenerators and the heating iiues, this flow-direction is reversed by a reversing machine that controls the movement of reversing cable 36 and by means of which the flow-boxes 31 leading to upfflow and down-flow regenerators are respectively closed and opened, and valves 34 of a pair of adjacent riser-pipes 32 leading to adjacent up-'ilow heating walls are closed, whereas valves 34 of the thereto adjacent pairs of said riser-pipes are opened.

Similarly, those now-boxes 39 at the right-side of Fig. 1 which communicate with down-flow and up-flow heating walls are respectively also closed and opened vby the said reversing machine.

During heating of the improved battery by ex-A clusively rich lfuely gas, the valves 48, 5I, that interconnect the principal fuelgas supplying mains, 3|, 38, and 45, are closed as well as also the mushroom valves 52 in flow-boxes 81 and all those manually-operated valves 41 whereby the Wall-headers 42 communicate with enriching gasmain 45; in this way valves 48 'can continue to be operated by cable 36 of the reversing machine without any-gas passing through them.

In the conversion of the ovens of the: battery from coke-ovens to gas-ovens by heating them only with extraneously-derived, regeneratively heated gas of lower caloric value, communication between underjet ducts 25,' 4I, and the sources oi' gas supply to them are interrupted by closing all the hand- valves 33, 41, of the battery. Valves 5I and 4l also remain closed. A lean fuel gas such as blast-furnace or producer gas is supplied to the entire battery by communicably conrequire less necting the principal supply main, 38, therefor with a source of such gas.V Lean gas is then supplied to all inow regenerators I4 by opening mushroom valves 52 in the flow-boxes leading thereto from main 38 while at the same time air is introduced through those flow-boxesvat the sameI battery-side which communicate with the inflowing regenerators I5. At any one instant, therefore, ina regenerative heating cycle, alternate regenerators I4 are receiving to-be-preheated lean gas from'main 38 while intermediate regenerators I 4 are receiving combustion-products fromvthe heating flues of the heating-wall directly above, and those regenerators I5 directly contiguous to inow regenerators I4 are operating to preheat air that isdelivered to the same heating ilues through conduits I1 whereas those other regenerators I5 that are directly adjacent combustion-products regenerators I4, also operate to'flow combustion-products to stack-flue 40 through the opened valves of flow-'boxes 39.

When, in operating the illustrated coke ovens as gas-ovens" the calorific value of an employed blast-furnace or producer gas falls below a value such that the temperature and thermal head in the heating fiues can no longer be maintained at a preferred high level, the novel enriching gas" distributive system of the improvement makes it possible to continue the use of such lean gas and to exploit it for whatever of heating value it may contain by performing the fpllowing operations. Valve 46 that communicably connects rich-gas Asupply main 3| with enriching-gas main 45 is 'size of the openings in oriiced plugs 43 that are graduated, as hereinbefore mentioned, from the pusherto the coke-side of the battery. Rising through the underjet ducts 4I, tlie enriching gas, that is apportioned individually thereto, is discharged from their outlet ports into the currents of preheated lean gas and preheated air respectively flowed ,upwardly through conduits I8, I1, and is carried along in admixture with these combustion-media into the combustion zones of the heating ilues, its available heat content supplementing that of the lean gas to supply heat to the ilued heating walls. The process of enrichment can obviously be discontinued by closing the valve 46 whereby the principal enriching-gas main 45 is placed in communication with a source of such gas. As will be noted in Fig. 2, the heating wall at a battery-end is not supplied with means for enriching the lean gas because its fiues, having a coking chamber at only one side thereof, normally te heat than all other ilues of the bat- Asis now obvious from the above description thereof, the enriching-gas system of the present improvement is optionally operative as lrequired to enhance the caloriilc value of a lean fuel gas to any practical extent and without sacrifice of any valuable constituents of the enriching gas. The introduction of the enriching gas y bottoms of the coal-charges may oondition has its origin in the relatively sluggish combustion characteristics of lean gas;` The present improvement, by'introducing the enriching gas into the coking structure at a point adjacent the confluence of the streams of preheated lean gas and air, provides adjacent such cooler zones of the coking chambers a momentary contact between preheated fresh air and a. fuel-gas mixture of relatively higher caloric value with the result that there develops a correspondingly more rapid evolution of heat at a point in the structure where such condition is especially desirable in lean-gas underflring; this circumstance however is fugitive and localized because the enriching gas is quickly diluted as it is swept along in admixture with the preheated lean gas, and throughout substantially the entire length of a iiue, the admixture thereafter burns with the desirable characteristics of a lean gast The momentary contact between a quantity of rich gas and unburned air is however sufficient signicantly to improve coking conditions at the oven soles.

In the embodiment of the basic idea of the improvenient shown in the drawings, the enriching gas after its apportionment to the individual heating fiues is flowed through the regenerator walls by means of its own separate underjet ducts, but it will be also apparent to those skilled in the art that similar although not equivalent l heating eiects can also be obtained by communicably connecting the enriching-gas wall headers 42 with the underjet ducts 25 by suitable calibrative flow-regulating means, and the Fig. l shows a simple alternative form of apparatus for practicing features of the invention in coke ovens wherein the heating fiues are each provided with only one underjet duct in the regenerator walls for distributing fuel gas thereto.

In this gure, the underjet duct 6,0 extends upwardly from the upper surface of the supporting-mat 6I of a coke-oven battery through a re- 10 enables the coke-oven operator to engage the special polygonally-shaped recess 12 in the lower side of an oriced plug with a long-handled wrench having a member that ts into said recess. By means of such wrench, an oriced plug is turned on its threads and thus removed from its seat; it is then replaceable by another having adiierently calibrated orifice. At one side of the battery, the distributing wall- headers 64, 65,

arev each communicably connected individually by means of a valved pipe with a source of rich heating gas.

During exclusively rich-gas underring, only wall-header 64 is in operation and by means of the said valve controlling its inlet, rich gas is delivered thereto at spaced intervals during which itis distributed into the bottoms of each generator wall 62 and ports in the lower part of a heating ue, said supporting-mat being itself supported above the basement of the battery by Cil a plurality of piers 63. The wall- headers 64, 65,

for distributing rich fuel gasto all the heating fiues of a heating wall during its heating respect tively with exclusively a rich fuel gas or with a regeneratively-preheated lean fuel gas that is fortied with a minor amount of rich fuel gas, have a side wall G6 in common. These wallheaders are, as shown, -embedded inthe material of the battery-mat and'extend crosswise of the battery; they are both communicably connected with a duct bya com mon port 61 but each -communicates individually with the latter by means of an oriced plug replaceably mounted in the upper wall of said headers, the calibrated orifice in a plug 68 being of such size as to admit into the duct 60 suilcient rich gasto heatv the heating flue thereabove without other source of fuel gas whereas the orifice in a plug 69 is calibrated to deliver into the same duct 60 in 'the form of rich gas that amount of heat which in addition to the preheated lean gas delivered from a regenerator is required to maintain a preferred temperature in the associated heating flue. From beneath the battery-rmat, access toorlced plugs 68, 69, for their cleaning or replacement, is

individually provided by means of a short pipe IIJ threaded into the lower walls of the distributor headers, the lower end of a said pipe being sealed to the atmosphere by means of a threaded pipe-plug 1l. Removal of the latter from a pipe of the heating ilues thereabove by means of an underjet,duct 60 and the associated orice in the member 68, said orifice being of adequate cross-section to supply a-quantity of rich gas containing the total heat requirement of itsassociated heating ue.

During the period of heating the flues with a regeneratively-preheated lean fuel gas, the flow y of rich gas into the wall-header 64 is shut 01T by closing its inlet valve at the battery-side. At such time, however, as the calorific value of the lean fuel gas entering the heating flues from the regenerators requires enrichment, the inlet valve to wall-header 65 is opened and rich gas 4is i'lowed thereinto at spaced intervals, the quantity of rich gas delivered to an underjet duct 60 being regulated by the 'calibration onf the orice in plug 69 which has a cross-section permitting admittance thereinto of rich gas that is adequate in conjunction with the employed lean gas to deliver in a given period apreferred number of heat units to a heating flue. The Fig. '7 thus shows a simple alternative form of apparatus for communicably connecting an Aunderjet coke-oven heating wall with a plurality of independently-operative distribution systems for rich fuel. gas, the one such system being ar. ranged to furnish in the form of rich gas the total coking-heat requirement of its associated heating flues whereas the other system is similarly regulable to restrict the delivery of rich gas to those minor amounts that in addition to a concurrently employed lean gas are required to maintain preferred temperatures and thermal heads in the heating iiues and the coking chambers, and the both said systems employ the same duct in the regenerator walls for delivering the diverse quantities of rich gas to a single heating flue.

Those calibrated flow-regulating orifices that are required to provide a graduated delivery of rich fuel gas from the pusher-.side to the cokeside of a battery during exclusively rich-gas heating are inappropriate to effect similar ap-4 portionment of 'the relatively minor ow of rich fuel gas required for enrichment purposes, and

system having two sets of flow-regulating means that are independently calibrative and operative, and a combination battery embodying' them stands always ready at any time to be operated on either exclusively rich gas or enriched lean fuel gas as the source of heat.

tribution systems. An example of such advantage will be now described by reference to Fig. 2

' wherein it will be noted that the so-called enriching-gas main 45 is not only communicably connectable with a source of solely rich fuel gas by opening valve 46 and' maintaining valve 5| simultaneously in closed position. but said main can also 4be placed in communication'with a source of exclusively lean fuel gas by closing valve 46 and opening valve 5| of branch-pipe 50, the fuel- gas supply mains 38 and 45 being thus supplied from the same source of lean fuel gas.

At such times therefore as the illustrated battery is being heated with exclusively rich fuel gas that is supplied to the heating ilues from gas main 3| by flowing it in sequence through the valves 33, 34, the pipes 32, the header-pipes 28, and into underjet ducts 25 whence it passes upwardly into the lower parts of said heating ues there to be burned by admixture with regeneratively-preheated air issuing from the both series of regenerators through conduits I8, it now becomes advantageously possible to dilute the said'preheated air with inerts to reduce its concentration of oxygen before entering the heating fiues into contact with the rich-fuel gas and thereby to retard more especially that initially rapid evolution of heat which the use of such gas occasions adjacent the lower parts of the heating iiues. This beneficial air-dilution eifect is in the presentinstance achieved by introducing into the regeneratively-preheated air at the outlet ports of underjet ducts 4| a quantity of either blast-furnace gas or producer gas from those features of apparatus that have been hereinabove described in their use for purposes of enrichment during lean-gas underflring; that is, by flowing lean gas from supply-main 45 sequentially through valves 41, 48, pipes 44, and wallheaders 42 whence the lean gas is allocated to the individual underjet ducts 4|.

Lean fuel gases in addition to their relatively low caloriiic values and sluggish combustion characteristics have a very high proportion of inerts such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide and water vapor, and they are in consequence especially appropriate for purposes of air dilution in the present use. It might however be anticipated that employing lean gas for the dilution of the combustion-air would cause the latter to enter the heating iiues from the regenerators at a .slightly higher temperature than would otherwise obtain because of the combustion of some of said diluting gas before the mixture-enters the flues, and that, in consequence of the greater reactivity of such hotter air with rich gas, the temperatures at the bottoms of the heatingiiues would tend to be increased by this novel method of effecting preheated-air dilution, However, the practical results achievable by this expedient are quite contrary to such conception as should indeed be anticipated from consideration of the facts that the lean gas is of sluggish combustibility and the temperature of the lean gas issuing from the underjet ducts 4| isless than that of the air issuing from the regenerators. The net result of these two contra-acting influences is to effect the purpose without substantial change in temperature of the regeneratively-preheated in-' erts-diluted combustion-air, and when the same comes into contact with rich gas issuing from the nozzles of ducts "5, the decreased opportunity desired lowering of temperatures at their points of initial contact.

'It is of course obvious that with increasing caloriiic value of the lean gas employed in the practice of this novel method of diluting the com bustion-air with inerts, less of such gas is usable for the purpose, and that eventually a point of caloriiic value is reached where the heat evolved by its combustion in the air-ports offsets any advantage that results from its use. Realization,

therefore, of the potential improvements in heatparts of a coal charge at the same time and preventing an over-.coking of one partin order to vaus for its oxygen content to encounter combustible l molecules of the rich gas, provides a lengthening vof the resultant flame and establishment of the complete thel coking of another, the rate of heat penetration through the coal mass Amust be greater at the coke-side than at the pusher-side. A higher thermal head between the heating-walls and the oven-charge, is therefore required at the coke-side of the battery to eilect this result.

In the heating of a coke-oven battery with blast-furnace gas, theV situation therefore frequently arises in which the caloriilc value of a blast-furnace gas is adequate to coke the coal at the pusher-side of thel battery at a required rate, but it is impossible to .maintain therewith that higher thermal head which is required at l the coke-side to complete coking of the entire content of an oven-charge simultaneously; this circumstance is of course most pronounced when the calorific value of the lean fuel gas is at a relatively low level.

By means of the present improvement in fuelgas distribution systems it becomes possible easily to overcome this difficulty by fortifying with additions of rich gas only the blast-furnace gas that is delivered to the heating ilues at the coke-side of the battery and also so to taper oil' such additions towards the pusher-side that the coking-reaction in all parts of a coking chamber is brought vto completion at the same time. The illustrated enriching-gas distribution system is simply adapted to eiiect this purpose by removing from the underjet ducts 4| of those heating ilues that require no additional heat, the calibrated plugs and replacing them with blank plugs having no apertures. In this way the heating lilues of a coke-oven battery can be supplied, for example. at the pusher-side with a lean heating gas having a caloriflc value oi' l about or 100 B. T. U. per cubic foot and those at the coke-side with a gas containing B. T. U. per cubic foot. From the above-stated it is manifest that a coke-oven battery having access to blast-furnace gases of diverse calorinc values for their heating should employ the gases of the higher and the lower caloriflc values in the heating ilues respectively at the coke-side and pusher-side of the battery.

The invention as hereinabove set forth is embodied in particular form and manner but may be variously embodiedwlthin the scope of the claims hereinafter made.

1. In a coke-oven battery having side-by-side A coking chambers and heating walls comprising vertical flame-fines, and air and gas regenerators thereunder, the combination of means for supplying blast-furnace gas to said regenerators to be preheated therein; ducts connecting the regenerators with said vertical flame-fines individually; passages for individually supplying coke-oven gas directly to said ame-ilues, without flowing into and being regeneratively pre? heated in said regenerators, and of capacity ade- -quate to supply colere-oven gas to re said flues in lieu of firing them with the aforesaid blast-e furnace gas; supply means leading to said passages; other passages for supplying directly to said ues, without flowing into and being regeneratively preheated in said regenerators, separate individually restricted minor portions of said coke-oven gas to enrich said blastfurnace gas; separate supply means leading to said other passages for the supply of the s aid restricted minor portions'of coke-oven gas for enriching said blast-furnace gas when said blastfurnace gas is the medium mainly employed for firing said flame-nues; and means adapted for alternatively controlling the-several aforesaid supply means to fire the ame-ues alternatively with only said coke-oven gas or with o'nly said blast-furnace gas or with said blast-furnace gas enriched by a restricted minor proportion of said coke-oven gas.

2. In a coke-oven battery having side-by-sidev individually; passages for individually supplying coke-oven gas directly to'said flame-nues, without flowing into and being regeneratively preheated in said regenerators, and of capacity adequate to supply coke-oven gas tore said flues in'lieu of firing them with the aforesaid blast-furnace gas; supply means leading to said passages; other passages for supplying ldirectly to said ilues, without flowing into and being regeneratively preheated in said regenerators, separate individually restricted minor portions of said coke-oven gas to enrich said blast-furnace gas; l

separate supply means leading to said other passages for the supply of the said restricted minor portions of coke-oven gas for enriching said blast-furnace gas when said blast-furnace gas is the medium mainly employed for ring said flame-nues; and means adapted for alternatively controlling the several aforesaid supply means to i'lre the flame-nues alternatively with only said coke-oven gas or with only said blast-furnace gas or with said blast-furnace gas enrichedA by a restricted minor proportion of `said coke-oven gas; the second mentioned passages being graduated from coke-side to pusher side to supplygradually increasing minor quantities of enriching gas in' accordance with the increasing heat requirements of the oven charges. from pusher to coke-side.

3. In a coke-oven battery having side-by-side coking chambers and heating walls comprising vertical flame-nues, and air and gas regenerators thereunder, the combination of: means for supplying lean gas to said regenerators to be preheated therein; ducts connecting the regeneratorspwith said vertical ame-ues individually;

` passages for individually supplying rich gas directly to said flame-nues, without flowing into and being regeneratively preheated in said regenerators, and of capacity adequate to supply richV gas to re said ilues in lieu of ring them with the aforesaid lean gas; supply means leading to said pasages; other` passages for supplying directly to said ues, without flowing into and being regeneratively preheated in said regenerators, separate individually restricted minor portions ofsaid rich gas to enrich said lean gas;

separate supply means leading to said other passages for the supply of the said restricted minor portions of rich gas for enriching said lean gas when said lean gas is the medium mainly employed for firing said ame-ines; and means adapted for alternatively controlling the several aforesaid supply means to fire the flame-flues alternatively with only said rich gas or with only said lean gas or with said lean gas enriched `by a restricted minor proportion of said rich gas.

4. In a coke-oven battery of the under-jet type having side-by-side coking chambers and heating walls comprising vertical flame-nues and air and gas regenerators disposed above' an accessible passageway freely accessible to operators for manipulation'of the under-jet regulating means, the

combination of: means for supplying lean gas to said regenerators to Abe preheated therein; ducts ,connecting the regenerators with said verticalflame-fines individually;` passages for `individually supplying rich gas directly to said flame-- lues,v Without flowing into and being regeneratively preheated in said regenerators, and of capacity adequate to supply rich gas to fire said flues in lieu of ,firing them with the aforesaid lean gas; supplyv means leading to said passages; other passages for supplying directly to said flues, without'fiowing into and being regeneratively preheated in said regenerators, separate individually restricted minor portions of said rich gas to enrich said lean gas; separate supply means leading to said other passages for the supply of the said restricted minor portions of rich gas for enriching said lean gas when said lean.

gas is the medium mainly employed for ring said flame-fines; and means adapted for alternatively controlling the several aforesaid supply means to fire the flame-flues alternatively with only said rich gas or with only said lean gas or with said lean gas enriched by a restricted minor.

portion of said rich gas.

5. In a coke-oven battery of the under-jet type having side-by-sifle coking chambers and heating Walls comprising vertical llame-ues and air and gas regenerators disposed above an accessible passageway'fr'eely accessible to operators for manipulation of the under-jet regulating means, the combination of means for supplying lean gas to said regenerators to be preheated therein; ducts connectingl the. regenerators with said vertical ame-ues individually; passages for individually supplying rich gas to said flame-nues and of capacity adequate to supply rich gas-to re said flues in lieu of ring them with the aforesaid lean gas;` supply means leading to said passages;

other passages for supplying to said ues separate individually restricted minor portions of said 'rich gas to enrich said lean gas; separate supply ternatively controlling' the several aforesaid supply means to fire the flame-nues alternatively with only said rich gas or with only said lean gas or with said lean gas enriched by a restricted minor portion of said rich gas; the supply means for the iirst mentioned passages and those for the second mentioned passages comprising separate horizontal branch conduits extending longitudinally of the heating walls underneath the regenerators, and the first and second mentioned ternatively withonly said rich gas or with only said lean gas orwith said lean gas enriched by a restricted mie/lor portion of said rich gas; the supply means i'or the iirst mentioned passages. and the iirst mentioned passages, comprising horizontal branch conduits extending longitudinally of the heating walls underneath the rewalls comprising vertical iiame-iiues and air and gas regenerators disposed above anaccessible ,t

passageway freely accessible to operators for manipulation of the under-jet regulating means, the combination of: means for supplying lean gas to said regenerators to be preheated therein; ducts connecting the regenerators with said vertical iiame-ues individually; passages ior individually supplying rich gas to said ame-iiues and oi capacity adequate to supply rich gas to tire said iiues in lieu of tiring them with the` aforesaid lean gas; supply means leading to said passages; other passages for supplying to said flues separate individually restricted minor portions of said rich gas to enrich said lean gas; separate supply means leading to said other passages for the supply of the said restricted'minor portions of rich gas for enriching said lean gas when said lean gas is the medium mainly employed for tiring said :dame-nues; and means adapted for alternatively controlling the several aforesaid supply means to ilre the name-fines alternatively with only said rich gas or with only said lean gasor with said lean gas enriched by a restricted minor portion of said rich gas; the 'supply means for the yiirst mentioned passages and those for the second mentioned passages comprising separate horizontal branch conduits extending longitudinally of the heating walls underneath the regenerators, and the first and second mentioned passages for the respective ilues comprising separately regulable devices which are accessible from the accessible passageway beneath the regenerator, for regulation of the ilow from their respective branch conduits, and which port into a common riser duct extending upwardly through a regenerator division wall intocommunication with the flue said passages are individualized to.

7. In a coke-oven battery of the under-jet type having side-by-side coking chambers and heating walls comprising vertical flame-fines and air 'and gas regenerators disposed above an accessible passageway freely accessible to operators for manipulation of the under-Jet regulating means, the combination of: means for supplying lean gas to said regenerators .to be preheated therein; ducts connecting the regenerators withl said vertical flame-nues individually; passages for individually supplying rich gas to saidi'iamediues and oi' capacity adequate to supply rich gas to fire said ilues in lieu of ring them with the aforesaid lean gas; supply means leading to said passages; other passages for supplying to said nues sepa- -rate individually restricted minor portions oi said rich gas to enrich said lean gas; separate supply means leading to said other passages tor the supply or the said restricted minor 75,

the second mentionedpassages, and the second mentioned passages, comprising separate horizontal branch conduits extending longitudinally underneaththe regenerators and separate riser conduits individual to the respective iiues and extending upwardly through regenerator division walls and porting beneath the soles of their nues into the gas regenerator ducts therefor. t

8. In a coke-oven battery of the under-jet type having side-by-side coking chambers and heating walls comprising vertical flame-dues and air and gas regenerators disposed above an accessible passageway freely accessible to operators for manipulation of the under-jet regulating means, the combination of: means for supplying lean gas to said regenerators to be preheated therein; ductsconnecting the regenerators with said vertical flame-ues individually; passage for indi vidualiy supplying rich gas to said flame-nues and of capacity adequate to supply rich gas to lire said fiues in lieu of iiring them with the aforesaid lean gas; supply means leading to said passages; other passages for supplying tosaid flues separate individually restricted minor portions of said rich gas to enrich said lean gas;

separate supply means leading to.said other pasconduits also extending longitudinally under' neath the regenerators and separate riser conduits individual to the respective fiues and extending upwardly through regenerator division walls and porting beneath the soies oi' their ilues into the gas regenerator ducts therefor: means for optionally iiowingV lean gas into the supply means for the second mentioned passages from the means for supplyl or lean gas to the regenerators: and means adapted for alternatively controlling the several aforesaid supply means to lire the flame-nues alternatively with only said rich gas or with only said lean'gas4 or with said lean gas enriched by a restricted minor portion o! said rich gas, or with said rich gas blended by a minor portion of said lean sas.

9. In a coke-oven battery of the'under-Jet type having side-by-side coking chambers and heating walls comprising vertical name-dues and air 1 I yand gas regenerators disposed above an accessible passageway freely accessible to operators for manipulation of the under-jet regulating means. the combination of means for supplying lean gas to said regenerators to be preheated therein; ducts connecting the regenerators with said vertical fiame-ues individually; passages for individually supplying rich gas to said Aame-ilues and of capacity adequate to supply rich gas to re said fiues in'lieu of said lean gas; supply means leading -to said passages; other passages for supplying to said fines separate individually restricted minor portions of said rich gas to enrich said lean gas; separate supply means leading to said other passages for the supply of the said restricted minor portions of rich gas for enriching said lean gas when said lean gas is the medium mainly employed for ring said ame-fiues; rst mentioned passages, and passages, comprising horizontal branch conduits extending longitudinally of the heating walls un.;

the supply means for the derneath the regenerators and riser conduits individual to the respective ues extending upwardly through the regenerator division walls and firing them with theaforetheiirst mentioned 9j bie passageway freely accessible to operators for manipulation of the under-Jet regulating means,

the combination of: means for supplying lean gas to said regenerators to be preheated therein:

ducts connecting the regenerators with said veri ytical flame-nues individually; passages for indiA vidually supplying rich gas to said name-nues and of capacity adequate to supply rich gas to fire said ilues in lieu of firing them with the aforesaid lean gas; supply means leading to said passagesyother passages for supplying to said ilues separate individually restricted minor portions of said rich gas to enrich said lean gas;

separate supply means leading to said other passagesfor'the supply of 4the said restricted minor portions of rich gas for enriching said lean gas when said leanz gas ployed for ring said flame-dues; the supply means for the first mentioned passages, and the rst mentioned passages, comprising horizontal branch conduits extending longitudinally of the heating walls underneath the regenerators and portingdirectly into their flame-fines; and the f supply means for the second mentioned passages, and the second mentioned passages, comprising separate horizontal branch conduits also extending longitudinally underneath the regenerators and separatey riser conduits individual to the respective nues and extending upwardly through regenerator division walls and porting beneath the soles o f their ilues into the gas regenerator ducts therefor; and means adapted for alternatively controlling the several aforesaid supply means to re the dame-fines alternatively with only said rich gas or with only said lean gas or with said leangas enriched by a restricted minor portion of said rich gas, or with said rich gas blended by a minor portion of said lean gas.

10. In a coke-oven battery of the under-jet vtype having side-by-side coking chambers and heating walls comprising vertical flame-fines and air and gas regenerators disposed above an accessiriser conduits individual to the respective nues extending upwardly through the regenerator division walls and porting directly into their flameflues; and the supply means for the second mentioned passages,` and the second mentioned passages, comprising separate horizontal branch conduits also extending longitudinally underneath the regenerators and separate riser conduits individual to the respective flues and extending 'upwardly through regenerator division walls to port into their ilame-ues and communicating with the said means for supplying lean gas to the regenerators and also with the said means for supplying rich gas to the first mentioned passages; and means adapted for alternatively controlling the'several aforesaid supply means to fire the flame-nues alternatively with only said rich gas or with only said lean gas or with said lean gas'enriched by a restricted minor portion of said rich gas, or with said rich gas blended by a minor portion'of said lean gas.

s osEPH BECKER.

is the medium mainly ern-`

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