US2391491A - Regenerative gas heater - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 2s, 1945.

F TOTZEK REGENERATIVE GAS HEATER Filed May 14, 1940 Patented Dec. 25, 1945 REGENERATIV E GAS HEATER Friedrich Tot'zek, Essen, Germany, assigner, by mesne assignments, to Koppers Company,'Inc., a corporation of Delaware v lApplication May 14, 1940, Serial No. 335,043 l In Germany May 19, 1939 3 Claims. (ol. 26a-'19) i The present invention relates to regenerators for the heating of gases or vapours up to high temperatures, said regenerators-'being provided with chequerwork which stores the heat of hot combustion gases. y

My invention has for its object to provideimprovements invsuch a gas. heater or regenerator whereby it is possible to attain very high heating-temperatures inthe regenerators which temperatures could not, be arrived at upto now. y The temperatures `to which theY gases or "va pours may be raised in a regenerative gas heater depends uponthe temperature to which the refractory chequerwork is heated. This latter temperature is in turn limited by the nature of .the refractory material which has the tendency .to

My invention has for an object the heatingrof therchequerwork near the hot end of the regenerative gas heater to the highest permissible temperature over a larger area than was possible up to now, so aspto allow the gases and` vapours, which 'are to be led thereover in the next phase to be heated up, to impinge upon a larger area ofthe chequerwork bricks which are kept at the highest temperature, and thereby increase the efficiency of the gasheater to a considerable extent without fear that the chequerwork ofthe gas heater or regenerator' is damaged.

#According to the principal feature of my pres ent invention, the chequerwork of the gasheater is subdivided at the hot end into several super-- imposed horizontal gas flow sections whichI are soften and'to loosen its texture when it isheated Y Y above a certain temperature. The most favourable efficiency is arrived at with a regenerative gas heater When the refractory chequerwork is uniformly heated yto that temperature which lies only little below the softening point ofthe refractory material.

'In the regenerative gas heaters, as known heretofore, it is however impossible to raise the temperature of the chequerwork toa considerable extent, i. e. -near to the softening point. Such high heating-up temperatures require very high name temperatures of the heating media-'Which iiame temperatures lie far above the softening point aforesaid. If it is desired to. heat several parts of lthe refractory chequerwork to ahigh temperature near but not above the aforesaid softening point, then it is necessary to equalize rthe temperature within the hot combustion gases which serve `for the heating up operation before the hot combustion gases impingeupon the refractory chequerwork. In practical operation this necessitates the provision of comparatively large combustion chambers in front of the chequerwork. The heat lossesA resulting from suchlarge combustion chambers are, however, considerable.

If it is attemptedA to compensate these heat losses, for example by a higher preheating of the heating media, it may happen that dangerous overheatings occur inthe combustion chamber,

as the walls of same'only participate in the heat each directlyfheated separately, or in groups, by combustion of fuel while .the hot waste gases of combustion from the various directly heatedsections of the hot end of the chequerwork flow onV through the remaining part of the refractory chequei'work of the gas heater.

. y invention further contempla-tes to interconnecting the directly heated., subdivided refracf-KY tory chequerwork sections Vat the hot end of the gas heater or regenerator with each other orgas flowj in series and providing, one, preferably short-flamed, gas and air burner'between each pair of suchV sections. -In utilizing this feature of the presentinvention, thedirectly heated sections of the cheuuervvorkr at the hot end of the gas heater may be disposed in chambers connected at the opposite ends with one another, such chambers being heatedby gas and airvburners arranged at the connecting point of thevadjacent chambers.V

The present invention permits of an increase in the temperature of the combustion gases serving for heating up the chequerwork of the g-as heater to a temperature far beyond that point which was considered permissible heretofore. Due vto the fact that the heating media are divided into several individual streams, there is obtained `a uniform heating of the refractory chequerwork at they hot end of the gas heater orA regenerate-1' over a considerably larger `varea of refractory filling than was possible up to now when a singlev combustion chamber kwas provided in front of the chequerwork. vIt is now possible to increase the temperature of the chequerworkup toa degree lying just below the aforesaid softening point, because the good distri- Abution of the heating media eliminates local su- Fig. 1 is a vertical section through a regeneratorV constructed according to my invention.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on linevII'vlI of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view of'v another ernbodiment of the invention.

Referring to the drawing, there is illustrated a regenerative gas heater of-thedouble towertype which consists of two essentially cylindrical vertical housings l, 2. The housing I is lined with refractory bricks 3A which form in the interior of thetowerY a shaft-like space which is filled in the ordinary way with a chequerwork 4 consisting of suitablev refractory bricks, e. g. perforated bricks. The space 5 underneath the chequerwork is built with, a connection 6 to which is connected the pipe line for leading in the gases to be heated up and the pipe line for outflow of the hot waste combustion gases which have served for the previous heating up of the regenerator or gas heater.

The top ofthe chequerwork space is closed by a refractory arch roof T which rests upon an inclined ring-like base Il4 formed as an upper edge projection of the housing I. The-arch roof 'I is enclosed by the dome-likecasing 9.

From the dome space I a connectingvduct II leadsto the dome space I2 of the second towerlirke regenerator or gas heater housingl 2.

rIfhe housing 2 is likewise equipped with a refractorybrick lining I3 similar tothe housing I. 'Ijhe arch roof I4 consisting of refractory material is constructed similar to the arch roof T.

In the vertical shaft formed in the housing 2 by the brickwork I3 there is provided a series of horizontal partitions I which are spaced a certain distance froml one another to form individual superimposed sections I6. The intervening space of the respective sections I6 between the partitions I5. is occupied by a horizontally extending refractory filling, The intervening spaces between the partitions I5 are furthermore interconnected in a zigzag way by connecting chambers at I1 on the drawing.A The space underneath the upmost partition I5 is connected withv the. dome space I2 and the space delimited by the lowest partition I5y is connected with the pipe Connecting piece I8 through. .which the heated. eases or vapours are withdrawn,

The connecting chambers Il between the spaces I6 that are occupied with the filling are somewhat enlarged as may be vseen from the drawingand are not occupied bya refractory filling. Qne short-flamed gas-air burner I8 is provided for each ofthe connecting chambers il.V These burners each consist of a preferably conical fir-.- ingchannel I9 into which the combustion media are suitably introduced separately and horizontally with a good whirlingeffect. Thus an extremely short flamed combustion is attained so that the flames from the burners I9 burn practically within the firing channels I9 or Within the adjacent connecting channels I1. In this way, surface combustion of the filling in thespaces I6 is avoided.

Fuelgas and airv are supplied to the burners I9 through the pipe lines 20 and 2l, in an adjustable manner by valves 23.

With the mode of construction illustrated on the drawing, the filling spaces or sections IB are interconnected in a zigzag way so that the combustion gases serving to heat up the lower spaces or sections, I6,4 are carried along and ilowin series through the upper filling spaces or sections I6. Consequently th upper burners I9 have to'evolve so much heat that the combustion gases are constantly maintained at the maximum temperature permissible which the filling I6 can withstand. From this it willbe. seen that each of the superimposed sectionsV I6 receives a separate stream of hot combustion gases directly from a gas and air fed combustion burner I9. In this way a greater part of the length of the chequerwork of the gas heaterin the direction of the path of flow of the gases therethrough is brought to a higher temperature contrary to the method of Working the heretofore. known gas heaters which are provided with a combustion chamber` in front of the same and in which only one layerof the chequerwork, the chequerwork at the extremity of the filler, takes up the permissible maximum temperature.

The hot combustion gases which have transferred their sensible heat of increased temperature onto the fillingin the sections I8, which possibly may likewise be constructed of special highly refractory and resisting material, enter the dome space I2 and from there they iiow through the channel II into the dome space I-0. They thence flow.v throughthe ordinarily built chequerwork 4. and transfer their heat of lower temperature thereto so as to be finally withdrawn through the pipe connection 6 in a cooled state, reduced in temperature to the most favourable degree.

As soon as the directly heated sections lli of the regenerator filling are brought to the desired high temperature, the supply of gas and air to the burners I9 is stopped, and the gas heater is then used for heating up.. the gases, or vapours, or gas-steam mixtures, to be treated after a previous purging out of the gas heater. The gas to be treated is then introduced through the pipe c onnection 6 into the regenerator filler 4 in the gas heater housing I,` where it is` first of all preheated to a moderate temperature and, after being thus preheated, it then passes on through the filling of the directly heated sections I6 where the gas takes up the maximumtemperature. The out-let for the highly heated medium is at la.

Instead of providing the directly heated separate sections I6Y in a separate tower-like housing 2 alongside the housing l so as toextend beyond themain portion of the chequerwork 4, as shown on the drawing, it is likewise possible to dispose the sections I6 above the chequerwork V4.

Finally, the invention may also be carried out in such a mannerv (as indicated in Fig. 3) that individual superimposed sections I6" of refractory filling atp-the h ot end of the gas-heater are connected in parallel insteadof` in series that is, are connected separately or in groups tocollecting or distributing channels Il f at both sides which serve for the supply and'withdrawal of the heating media. The distributing channel ITV" on one side then communicates with a chamber 422` in which hot gases of a very high temperature are produced bythe combustion of gasand air from pipe lines 20, ZI, through bur-ner I9.` These hot gases are then uniformly distributed in controlled smgle streams bymeans of the distributing chanvcheckerwork and are interconnected with each nel I1" into the refractory fillings of the individual sections I6 of the gas heater at the hot end thereof. On the other side of the sections I6' of refractory filling, the hot gases are collected in the other channel l1' and delivered by it through the remaining zones of the gas heater chequerwork 4. The operating method is similar When the media to be heated up are flown through the gas heater in the reverse direction to the direction of ow of heating media, as usual.

The apparatus builtaccording to this invention mayfadvantageously be used for the heating of gases or vapours of any kind up to high temperatures. The adoption of this invention is of special advantage for thev heating up of gases or steam-gas mixtures which are used as flushing gas (heat carrier) for the production of water gas from solid fuels. .Furthermore the gas heater when carried out in accordance with this invention may advantageously be applied to the conversion of gases containing hydrocarbons, for example a coal distillation gas, with steam or carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide and hydrogen mixtures.

I have now above described my present invention on the lines of a preferred embodiment thereof, but my invention is not limited in all its aspects to the mode of carrying it out as described and shown, since the invention may be variously embodied Within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A gas heater regenerator comprising: heat accumulating checkerwork arranged to be heatedup by the ow of combustion gases over the checkerwork from one end of the same tothe other; the combustion burner-means connected therewith for flow of combustion products thereto at said onevend; and in which the checkerwork of the gas heater at said one end is subdivided into several superimposed separate horizontal gas flow sections of checkerwork, and are interconnected with each other for gas 'flow in series through the superimposed sections in a zigzag way; and in which the combustion burner-means comprises a short flamed gas and air fed burner at the connecting point between each pair of such superimposed sections for the direct heating thereof; and the subdivided superimposed sections of the checkerwork are connected with the remaining part of the checkerwork so that the waste gas products of such combustion for heating the sections, after traversing the subdivided sections, flow thence on through the remaining part of the checkerwork to the other end of the same.

2. A gas heater regenerator comprising: heat accumulating checkerwork arranged to be heatedup by the flow of combustion gases over the checkerwork from one end of the same to the other; and combustion burner-means connected therewith for ow of combustion products thereto at said one end; and in which the checkerwork of the gas heater at said one end is subdivided into several superimposed separate sections of other for gas flow in series through the superimposed sections; and in which the combustion burner-means comprises a short flamed gas and air fed burner at the connection between each pair of .such superimposed sections for the direct heating thereof; and the subdivided superimposed sections of the checkerwork are connected with the remaining part of the checkerwork so that the Waste gas products of such combustion for heating the sections, after traversing the subdivided superimposed sections, oW ,thence on through the remaining part of the checkerwork to the other end of the same and in which f the subdivided superimposed checkerwork. sections of said one end and their short fiamed gas and air fed burners are arranged one above the other in a shaft-like housing; and the remaining checkerwork is arranged in another shaftlike housing, and in which the housings are interconnected with each other at their upper ends, for flow of the pro-ducts of combustion first upwardly through the directly heated part of the subdivided checkerwork sections in their housing and thence downwardly through the remaining part of the checkerwork in the other housing.

3. A gas heater regenerator comprising: heat accumulating checkerwork arranged to be heatedup by the flow of combustion gases over the checkerwork from one end of the same to the other; and combustion burner-means connected therewith for ow of combustion products thereto at said one end; and in which the checkerwork of the gas heater at said one end is subdivided into several superimposed separate horizontal gas flow sections of checkerwork, and are interconconnected with each other for gas ow in series through the superimposed sections in a zigzag Way; and in which the combustion burner-means comprises a short amed gas and air fed burner at the connecting point between each pair of such superimposed sections for the direct heating thereof; and the subdivided superimposed sections of the checkerwork are connected with the remaining part of the checkerwork so that the waste gas products of such combustion for heating the sections, after traversing the sub-divided sections, flow thence on through the remaining part of the checkerwork to the other end of the same and in which the subdivided superimposed checkerwork sections of said one end and their short amed gas and air fed burners are arranged one above the other in a shaft-like housing; and the remaining checkerwork is arranged in another shaft-like housing, and in which the housings are interconnected with each other at their upper ends, for flow of the products of combustion rst .upwardly through the directly heated part of the subdivided checkerwork sections in their housing and thence downwardly through the remaining part of the checkerwork in the other housing.

FRIEDRICH TOTZEK.

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