US2402592A - Coke-oven method - Google Patents

Description

June 25, 1946. J. BECKER COKE-OVEN MTHOD Original Filed Nov. 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 25,1946. J. BECKER COKE-OVEN METHOD Original Filed Nov. lO, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 25, 1946. l J, BECKER 2,402,592

COKE-OVEN METHOD Original Filed Nov. 10, 1939 3 Sheeizs--Sluaeb3` I N VEN TOQ.

Patented June 1946 OGRE-OVEN METHQD Joseph Becker, Pittsburgh, Pa., assigner, by mesne assignments, to Koppen Company, Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Delaware application November 10, 1939, Serial No.v 303,722. Divided and this application January 7, 1943, Serial No. 471,630

` v 3 Claims- (01.202-26) The present invention relates to an improved method of operating horizontal coke ovens more especially of the regenerative type and -particularly contemplates improvements in levelling from the coke-side of a battery of such ovens, and this application is a division of my copending application Serial No. 303,722, flied November l0, 1939, for Coke-oven apparatus. now

Patent No. 2,310,924, issued February 16, 1943.

In prior practice in coke ovens of the stated class, the door machine, the coke guide and other heavy equipment commonly employed in operative attendance at the coke-side of a battery have been propelled along that battery-face on trackage that is mounted on a bench supported by the battery buckstays at a level adjacent to and just beneath the oven-soles. Such coke-side operating-bench of a battery is of a construction sufciently rugged to support not only the door-handling machine, the coke guide, and frequently other equipment as well, but also the massive coke-oven doors themselves as they are moved along the coke-side bench during their removal from and return to operating position in the ceiling-chamber mouths.

At the machine side (i. e. the pusher-machine side) of the battery, the heavy door-machine for that side and the leveler-bar for the ovens arey usually supported on the pusher machine with the result that neither it nor the oven doors are ever carried by the machine-side bench or buckstays.

It has heretofore been general practice to level the coal-charges of a. battery o f horizontal coke ovens entirely from the one battery face; that is, from the pusher machine-side. In consequence of the relatively considerable length of modern coke ovens and of their large quantities of to-be-levelled coal and also of the high temperatures in the adjacent oven brickwork, this practice has severely taxed the leveler-bar for which the provision of a material that is able successfully to cope with the said operating cong ditions and to pass through acharged oven along a strictly horizontal course, without bending at its far end, is more a wish than a reality. The effects of any sagging or bending of the ievelerbar as well as its whipping action during move- 'ment are all mostpronou'nced in those parts of 'the coal charge remotest from the leveler-bar support. In coke ovens having considerable length of colring chamber, the levelled -coalcharge has thus tended to exhibit a locally higher bulk density adjacent the coke-side than obtains attl'iemachine-sideofthebattery.therebystilll further increasing that normal discrepancy of heat requirements between a coke-side and a pusher machine-side heating wall area resulting from the tapering of the coking chambers, which increase in width from the pusher-side towards the coke-side. In so far as there is concerned only the simple supplying of the added coking heat required by these zones -of coal having -a higher bulk density, the situation can of course be simply accommodated by increasing the amount of fuel gas burned in those heating flues thereadjacent and, in those cases where the employed coals exhibit only contraction throughout the coking process, these circumstances oiler no insurmountable disadvantages.

When, however, the charged coals are somewhat expanding or belong to those borderline groups exhibiting neither considerable expansion nor contraction during their coking, the

v,presence or absence of such localized zones of higher bulk density in the levelled charge can be the diiierence between a damaged or undamaged heating wa1l,'or between a relatively diiilcultly or easily pushed charge, and a brief consideration, at this point, of the situations created by their presence, more especially at the 'coke-side of an oven, may not be amiss in clarification of the difilculties they engender.

Due to the tapering of the coking chambers, the heating nues at the'coke-side of an oven are of lesser cross-section than those at the machine-side and since the quantity of to-be-coked coal adjacent the former is always the larger because the/oven chambers widen towards the coke-side, there is naturally required, for the bringing of the whole of 'an oven-charge simultaneously to the same degree of coking', higher temperatures in the coke-side heating flues so that coking heat can be flowed faster into the adjacent coal. If. in addition, the coal at the coke-side has a higher bulk density than at the opposite (pusher-side) oven-end, the difference l in temperatures between the coke-side and the pusher machine-side heating nues must therethin be observed the phenomenon of, a coke-- oven charge that has expanded at the coke-side sufficiently to cause stickers or even to damage the heating wall whereas at the machine-side it has produced no untoward situation.

pression of the levelled charge is unavoidable, it

is advantageous that such conditions should rather exist at the ovens pusher machine-side and also that means for reducing the extremes to which bulk density is altered in any portion of the charge during the levelling operation will supply a needed contribution to the coking art.

The advantage of having the region of higher bulk density at the machine-side of an ovencharge does not reside exclusively in the increased protection provided to the walls but also in the advantage it furnishes in the pushing of the coked charge. For example, if the freshly charged coal has been levelled' exclusively from the machine-side and its region of greatest bulk density is adjacent the coke-side of the oven there can exist in the finished coke-cake a zone of coke that is in pressure-contact with the oven walls at that side of the battery. This means that the pushing-pressure of the ram must be transmitted through a large part of the coke-cake which is substantially free of the oven walls, and that, in consequence, a major portion of the entire cake can be collapsed upon itself inside the oven without starting the plugged portion, and the entire cake will have to be'dug out. When such circumstance arises, the pressure of the ram is transmitted to the oven walls and they are not adapted to resist such force.

operations. If, however, the densest part of the coal-charge is shifted from the coke-side to the` adjacent heating nues having lower temperatures and also more closely adjacent the pusher-ram itself so that the pressure exerted by the latter more nearly directly bears on the possibly wedged portion and, in the event, there 4results a collapse of any intermediate coke in attempting thestarting of the coke-cake, it will be restricted to a relatively minor portion thereof andleave the more vsubstantial part oi' the oven-charge intact for normal pushing. Y

The instant improvement now makes it vfeasible to employ a full-length ieveler-bar at both the machine-side and the coke-side of a battery of horizontal coke ovens whereby those portions oi' greatest compression of the coal-charge, caused by the tendency of the leveler-bar to sag during the levelling operation, can be optionally disposed lengthwise of an oven in accordance with the cokingcharacteristics exhibited by a coal or .its mixture at the employed hue-temperatures and rates of coking. Other factors being equal, the zones oi' greatest bulk density of oven charge can be placed at the one 'side of the` battery'by levelling exclusively from its opposite sideV and if preferred such zones will tend to be positioned in the middle o! the oven when each oven-half is levelled solely by the bar adjacent thereto. The last-mentioned method of They should actl onlyas a sort of coke-guide during the pushing 4 course tends toeect the least change of bulk density in any portion of the charge and is oi' special advantage in use with coals having la tendency to expand during the coking process because the average sagging of the both levelerbars will be the least.

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

According to the present invention a full length leveler-bar and the various mechanical features employed on the coke-discharge-side 0f the battery for handling coke-oven doors, for directing hot coke into the quencher-car and for general attendance to the required oven-operations at the coke-side face of an oven battery are mounted on a gantry that is propellable along the cokeside battery-front on trackage located substantially at yard level and out of contact with the structural 'mass'of the battery, vthe legs of said gantry being disposed on opposite sides of the quencher-car trackage with the bridge section thereof at sufllcient height above the top of said on the gantry can of course serve as adeguate substitution for the extended operating bench of the prior art.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and showing for purposes of exempliiication a preferred 'form and manner in which the method of the present invention may be embodied and practiced but without limiting the claimed invention speiilcally to such illustrative instance or instances:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view taken crosswise of a regenerative coke-oven battery through a coking chamber thereof and showing such accessory equipment as' thel larry-car, the pusher machine, and the like customarily employed in the operation of such ovens and also a gantry positioned at the coke-side of the illustrated battery, said gantry having mounted thereon a coke-oven bench, a door-handling mechanism, a

coke-guide, and s. leveler-bar for leveling the oven l l charges from the coke-side;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of-Fig. 1 with the larrycar omitted:

Fig. 3 is a section taken substantially along 'the line B-B of Fig. 4, illustrating levelling from the coke-side of the battery; and

Fig. 4 is a view taken substantially along the line IV-IV of Fig. 1. r

,f Referring now to the drawings:

d at a convenient level operation. The illustrated coke-oven battery comprises essentially a plurality of coking chamtically-extending buckstays I2 which function to maintain the alignment of the heating walls as well as the brickwork thereof and the regenerator walls I3 in their designed positions in the heated battery. To effect this end the buckstaysare each secured at their lower ends to the batterysupporting mat I4 and at ytheir upper ends are joined to a similarly-positioned buckstay at the opposite battery-face by tie-rod` means I5 that extend across the top of the battery. Resilient means, such as coil-springs I8, areprovided at each end of the said tie-rods at their juncture with the buckstays thereby to provide for a certain amount of movement, at that point, whereby a limited expansion and contraction of the included heating Wall can occur without seriously altering the extent of the pressure-contact exist ing between it and said buckstays.

Beneath the heating wallsand extending crosswise of the battery in substantial parallelism therewith are cross-regenerators I1 for preheating combustion media before introducing the same into the lower parts of the heating flues individually through ducts Il. Coking chambers I0`are closed at each end by removable doors I9, each such door comprising an external metal framework 2l. and a thereby supportedheavy refractory plug 2l that operates toprevent overheating of the metallic framework. The doors for the cokng chambers are provided at both the coke-side and the machine-side of the battery with chock-doors 22 so that coal charged into the ovens from larry-car 23 through chargingholes 24 can be levelled from both sides of the battery.

At the end of the carbonization period, the residue of coke in the coking chambers is pushed therefrom by the usual pusher machine which is moved along the machine-side of the battery from oven to oven on trackage 25, as shown in Fig. l. The said pusher machine comprises heavy framework 2l that supports the diagrammatically illustrated pusher-ram 2l and leveler-bar 21 and the both of which are capable of individual reciprocatory movement lengthwise of the coking f chamber by means not shown, the former serving to remove the residual coke-cakes from the coking chambers whereas the latter operates to provide the top of coal freshly charged into an oven with a level surface such that the iintural elementa framework in the form of a gantry having legs 3| and a bridge-section 32. 'I'he legs of said gantry are mounted on several flanged wheels 33 that are adapted to engage tracks 34, and at least one wheel on either side of the gantry has attached thereto a gear 35 whereby the improved unitary machine is propelled by means of an electrical motor 38 that is preferably individual to each such driven wheel. Power is delivered from said motors to the gears 35 through an assembly of gears comprising pinion 31, idler gear 3l. and intermediateL gea'r l-a, the motors being arranged by suitable wiring for individual control by the operator from cab 39.

Each bridge-section 32 is of sufficient span and y height to permit free passage of coke quencher- Y car 40 therebeneath along its tracks 4i. The

bridge-sections of the gantry and the mechanisms that theysupport are protected against radiation from the incandescent coke contained in the' quencher-car by means of an appropriate layer of insulation 42. Discharge gate 43 lof the quencher-car permits loading of quenched coke on the coke-wharf 44.

lDisposed on the gantry coke-side machine 3l and transportable thereby from coking chamber to coking chamber are a door-handling mechanism 45, a coke-side leveler-bar 4B, and also a coke-guide 41 that is arranged to direct 'and transport the hot coke-cake, as it emerges from its coking chamber under pressure exerted by the above-mentioned pusher-ram 28 on the machine side, into the quencher-car 4I therefor whence it is taken to a quenching station and cooled before being unloaded unto the coke-wharf 44. Lookingalong the cokeside of the battery of Fig. l, there is observed in succession the door-handling mechished coke-cake will have no irregularities protruding above the upper edge of the cokingchamber mouth. Although for purposes of convenience it is not illustrated in the drawings, apparatus for operating the door-latches and manipulating the pusher-machine-side doors are also normally supported on the pusher machine 28.A

The heavy equipment customarily employed at the coke-side of a battery during routine oven operations is assembled on a gantryto form a unitary machine 3l that is propellable from oven to oven on trackage located substantially at yard level, said machine and its supported equipment being entirely out of contact with any of the batterys structural features. y

As is clearly evident in the drawings the cokeside machine Il comprises as'its principal strucanism 45, the leveler-bar', and the coke guide, .41 all supported at the top of the gantry. Each of these oven-operating devices is arranged with individual actuating means controllable from cab I9. l

j The door-lifting mechanism, shown in enlarged view in Fig. 4, comprises a ram 48 that is reciprocable longitudinally of the coking chambers between four'pairs of flanged wheels 48, each such pair being mounted for rotation on shafts 5I that are themselves carried by the vertically-disposed,

supports 5I. At the forward end'of the ram 4l is the ram-head l2 that is provided with reciprocal motion at right .angles to the body ofthe ram along aline controlled by guide-ways; The said ram-head directly supports .the divers mechanisms employed for manipulatingv the doors and for operating their latches, said mechanisms comprising respectively bumper-pin Il, for engaging bumper-platen' on the doors I9, the door-hook 54, that is susceptible of actuation in a vertical plane so as to engage and release hook-plate 55 whereby the oven-doors are supported as they 'are moved by the reciprocal movement of ram 48 in removing them from and restoring them to their oven doorways, and the upper and lower latchoperating devices Il for cooperation with latch pins 5l', that are all constructed accordingto that design for such mechanism set forth in the co-pending application Ser. No. 140,960 of Berg and Crist, filed May 5, 1937 now Patent No.

As shown 1n Fig. 3, the gantry of the invention is furnished with a leveler-bar 4l so that coal freshly charged into the coking chambers can be optionally levelled either solely from the machine-side or the coke-sidel or from both said sides of the battery either simultaneously or at 7 spaced intervals. It is supported on the gantry by means similar to that previously described for the support of the door-ram; that is, the levelerbar is held between spaced and paired pairs of iianged wheels 60 that are rotatable on upper and lower surfaces of said bar, substantially as illustrated, the said pairs of Wheelers being each supported on va shaft 6l therefor that is carried by an upright 62. 'I he leveler-bar is provided with reciprocating motion longitudinally of the coking chambers so that by opening chock-hole 61 of the coke-side doors it can be moved along a path extending into the gas-collecting space 58 of the coking chambers, said reciprocating motion being imparted thereto by motor 63 that operates through speed-reducing gearing 64 to rotate drum 66 around which cables S6, 61, are wound in opposite directions, the said cables being attached to the leveler-bar adjacent respectively its inner and outer ends after passing respectively over sheaves 68, 69. Rotation of drum 65 in opposite directions will thus cause similar travel of the leveler-bar between the flanged wheels 60.

The coke-guide 41 is disposed on the gantry of the invention on the opposite side of the levelerbar 46 from that at which the door-handling mechanism 45 is located, as shown in Fig. 2. It is made up in the present instance, as shown in Figs. 1, 4, of two rows of verticallyspaced, horizontally-extending metallic slats 'l0 that are supported on the inner side of a. framework formed by the vertical H-beams 1|, the horizontal channel-bars 12,13, and the angle-irons 14 that are arranged substantially as shown in Fig. 4. Attached to the bottom of the framework are the heavy platesl 15, 16, that are formedof a metal suitable for resisting the abrasive effect of the hot coke as it is shield-plates thus serve 'to protect the combustion-media flow-reversing mechanisms from betery for, the convenience of the operators during the oven-pushing operations, are located on the gantry as shown in Fig. 4. In the present instance there are two such members, a lower one 92 that is located a short distance below the ovensoles and an upper one 93 that has projecting pushed over their surfaces. The said framework of the coke-guide is also mounted on the gantry for reciprocating movement longitudinally of the coking chambers. To facilitate such movementits lower part rests on pairs of wheels 1i and between the flanges thereof, each such pair being supported on a rotatable shaft 18 that extends through the bushing-block 19 carried by I-beams 80, and the top of said framework is arranged to move between and be supported by spaced rollers 8| that depend from channel-bars 8 2. yActuation of the coke-guide is effected by motor 83 operating through the speed-reducing gearing 84 and the pinion gear 85 that is disposed for engagement with rack 86 located on the bottom of the framework of the coke-guide. Pinion gear 85 is also supported on bushing-block 19. The actuating mechanism for the coke-guide is preferably so arranged that, at its limit of travel toward the battery, there remains a small clearance between the slats of said guide and the jambnplates surrounding the oven-mouth, so that vibrations of the former created by the passage of pushed coke therethrough are not directly transmitted to the is a small shield-.plate 81 that serves to. carry the small amount of such detritus as breeze and the like, loosened from the coke-cake during its pushing, across the gasand the air-flow reversing mechanisms, respectively 88, 8S, into a receptacle A 9,0 therefor on the gantry whence it can be intertherefrom small stages which give easy access to the tops of the doors vfor cleaning their sealing edges. A stairway 94 connects said lower and upper benches.

For access to bench 92 there is provided at the end of the battery and supported adjacent the outer surface of a pinion wall thereof, a bench having a stairway` that reaches to yard level. The said bench is preferably at a level adjacent that of the operating platform 92 of the gantry thereby serving as a convenient means of access to the latter.

From the foregoing it will be manifest that by means `ofthe gantry, the heavy mechanisms normally required more especially at the coke-side of a battery of horizontal coke ovens, can be stably supported in their required positions closely adjacent tothe battery-face yet entirely out of contact with structural elements thereof while still retaining the quencherbar in its normal posi-v tion in respect of the battery. By means of the gantry it becomes also feasible to dispense with the extended battery-supported operating bench of the prior art and the large requirements of material for its construction. In consequence of its great stability, the gantry construction makes it feasible to employ a leveler-bar of effective length at the coke-side of the battery for use alone or in conjunction with a leveler-bar mounted as customarily on the pusher-side of the battery, to attain the novel features and ends set forth in the forepart of this specification in levelling coal in the oven chambers from their coke-side ends, whether solely from that end or conjointly with levelling from the pusher-side.

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

I claim:

l..In amethod of operating a battery of sideby-side horizontal coke ovens for discharge of -nished coke therefrom which comprises the steps bers and out of the chambers through the oppo.-

site horizontal ends thereof; the improvement which comprises: levelling the coal charges throughout the entire length of the respective oven chambers, and in so doing disposing the zone of greatest levelling compression in the respective so-formed coal charges ata cokingchamber zone lying between about the middle portion of the coking chamber and its mouth where pushing pressure for the coke-cake is to be applied, so that the zone of greatest density in the finished coke-cake will exist between about the middle portion of the coking chamber and that oven-mouth at which pushing pressure is to be applied and possible collapse in the cokecake resulting from application of pushing pressure consequently will be restricted toa relatively minor rather than to a major portion of the cokecake, by effecting the aforesaid leveling of the so-charged coal in the chambers by the operation of leveler-bars from both horizontal ends of theoven chambers.

2. In a method of operating a battery of sideby-side horizontal coke ovens for discharge of finished coke therefrom which comprises the steps of charging coal to be coked into the chambers through their tops, thereafter leveling the so charged-in coal by reclprocation ofa leveler-bar with free suspended movementv of the same over the tops of the charge from outside the oven through an end .of the respective chambers and sagging of the leveler-bar towards its: free end y,during its levelling action, and after the respective charges are finished coking, applying pushing force to the coked mass at one horizontal end of the chambers and thereby pushing the coked mass as a unitary. whole through the respective chambers and out of the chambers through the opposite horizontal ends thereof; the improvement which comprises: levelling the coalcharges throughout the entire length of the respective oven chambers, and in so doing disposing the charged-in coal by reciprocation of a leveler-bar with free suspended movement of the same over the tops of the charge from outside the oven through an end of the respective chambers and sagging of the leveler-bar towards its free end during its levelling action, and after the respective charges are finished coking, applying pushing force to the coked mass at one horizontal end of' the chambers and thereby pushing the coked mass as a unitary whole through the respective chambers and out of the chambers through the zone of greatest levelling compression in the respective so-formed coal charges at a lcokingchamber zone lying between-about the middle portion of the coking chamber and its mouth.

where pushing pressure for the coke-cake is-to be applied, so that the zone of greatest density in the finished coke-cake will exist between about the middle portion of the coking chamber and that oven-mouth at;r which pushing pressure is to be applied and possible collapse in the cokecake resulting from application of pushing pres--` Y sure consequently will beirestricted to a relatively minor rather than to a major portion of the cokeopposite horizontal ends thereof; the improvement which comprises: levelling the coal charges throughout the entire length of the respective oven chambers, and in so doing disposing the zone of greatest levelling compression in the respective so-formed coal charges at a coking-chamber zone lying between about the middle portion of the coking chamber and its mouth where pushing pressure for the coke-cake is to be applied, so that the zone of greatest density in the finished coke-cake will exist between about themiddle portion of the coking chamberv and that oven-A mouth at which pushing pressure is to be applied and possible collapse in the coke-cake resulting from application of pushing pressure consequently will be restricted to a relatively minor rather than toa maior portion of the coke-cake, by

eifecting leveling of the so-charged coal in the chambers as aforesaid by the operation of a leveler-bar from the horizontal .ends of the oven chambers opposite that end at which the pushing force is to be applied later to discharge the coked mass from the respective chambers.

JOSEPH BECKER.

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