US3801472A

US3801472A - Apparatus for smokeless pushing and transportation of hot coke

Info

Publication number: US3801472A
Application number: US00296963A
Authority: US
Inventors: R Kemmetmueller
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1972-10-12
Filing date: 1972-10-12
Publication date: 1974-04-02
Anticipated expiration: 1991-04-02

Abstract

Apparatus for the smokeless pushing and transportation of hot coke. A bucket whose interior volume is large enough to receive the entire contents of a coke oven is positioned in alignment with a coke oven whcih is to be emptied while a cover on top of the bucket, a hood extending from the cover to a coke guide, and the coke guide itself all define a space closed off from the outer atmosphere and through which the coke travels while being pushed from the coke oven into the bucket. After the bucket is filled with this coke, it is transported on a car which carries the bucket to a bunker where the bucket is raised to the top of the bunker into which the ocntents of the bucket are emptied so that dry-quenching of the coke can take place in the bunker. The space between the bucket and the bunker is also closed off from the outer atmosphere during charging of the bunker with coke from the bucket. Then the empty bucket is returned to the next oven which is ready for pushing. During pushing of coke from an oven into the bucket, gases, vapors, and particulate matter which might otherwise escape to the outer atmosphere are withdrawn from the space through which the coke travels from the oven to the buckets, and this withdrawn matter is cleaned in a suitable scrubber so that only clean gases are released to the outer atmosphere.

Description

April 2 1974 R. KEMMETMUELLER 3,801,472

APPARATUS FOR SMOKELESS PUSHTNG AND TRANSIORTA'X'ION Ol HOT COKE 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. l2, 1972 Apli 2, i974 R. KEMMETMUELLER 3,8@EAT2 APPARATUS FOR SMOKELESS PUSHING AND TRANSPORTATION OF HOT COKE 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. l2, 1972 R. KEMMETMUELLER April 2, 1974 APPARATUS FOR SMOKELESS PUSHING AND TRANSPORTATION OF HOT COKE 7 Sheets-Sheet 55 Filed Oct. l2, 1972 AND TRANSPORTATION OP HOT COKE April z, 1974 R. KEMMETMUELLER APPARATUS FOR SMOKELESS PUSHING 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Oct. l2, 1972 April 2l 1974 R. KEMMETMUELLER 3,801,472

APPARATUS FOR SHOKELESS PUSHING AND TRANSPORTATION OF HOT COKE '7 Sheets-Sheet 5 `Filed Oct. 12, 1972 Aprii 2, 1974 R. KEMMETMUELLER APPARATUS FOR SHOKELESS PUSHING AND TRANSPORTATION OF HOT COKE Filed Oct. l2, 1972 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 April 2, 1974 R. KEMMETMUELLER 3,801,472

S PUSHING AND TRANSPORTATION OF HO'A1 COKE APPARATUS FOR SMOKELES Filed Oct. l2, 1972 7 Sheets-Sheat '7 afl,

fu 22 oo 542 2 6 0 2 United States Patent @Hice 3,801,472 Patented Apr. 2, 1974 3,801,472 APPARATUS FOR SMOKELESS PUSHING AND TRANSPORTATION OF HOT COKE Roland Kemmetmueller, Carlton House, 550 Grant, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15230 Filed Oct. 12, 1972, Ser. No. 296,963 Int. Cl. Cb 33/00 U.S. Cl. 202-263 10 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus for the smokeless pushing and transportation of hot coke. A bucket whose interior volume is large enough to receive the entire contents of a coke oven is positioned in alignment with a coke oven which is to be emptied while a cover on top of the bucket, a hood extending from the cover to a coke guide, and the coke guide itself all define a space closed of from the outer atmosphere and through which the coke travels while being pushed from the coke oven into the bucket. After the bucket is lled with this coke, it is transported on a car which carries the bucket to a bunker where the bucket is raised to the top of the bunker into which the contents of the-bucket are emptied so that dry-quenching of the coke can take place in the bunker. The space between the bucket and the bunker is also closed olf from the outer atmosphere during charging of the bunker with coke from the bucket. Then the empty bucket is returned to the next oven which is ready for pushing. During pushing of coke from an oven into the bucket, gases, vapors, and particulate matter which might otherwise escape to the outer atmosphere are withdrawn from the space through which the coke travels from the oven to the bucket, and this withdrawn matter is cleaned in a suitable scrubber so that only clean gases are released to the outer atmosphere.

The present invention relates to apparatus for treating coke when the coke is pushed from a coke oven.

Conventionally, coke is pushed from a coke oven onto a quenching car which conventionally takes the form of a long inclined platform which is moved longitudinally by a suitable locomotive during pushing of coke from a coke oven so that the coke will become distributed in a relatively thin layer on the inclined surface of the quenching car. The coke which is deposited in this way on the inclined surface of the quenching car is cooled by having water sprayed onto the coke, and the inclined supporting surface for the layer of hot coke will cause the quenching water to run down to the lower end of the quenching car and fall therefrom into a suitable gutter, for example, along which the quenching water runs to a suitable location.

These conventional operations are accompanied by serious drawbacks. One of the most serious drawbacks resides in the fact that the hot coke falling from a coke oven onto the inclined surface of the quenching car releases large amounts of undesirable pollutants to the outer atmosphere, so that the area where such operations are carried about are covered with ash, soot, and other undesirable matter which initially is suspended in the air and which deposits on all of the surrounding area. In addition, the atmosphere where such operations are carried out is dangerous to breathe so that the operating personnel as well as any individuals who reside in the neighborhood of installations where these operations are carried out have their health seriously endangered.

A still further drawback of operations of the above type resides in the fact that a large amount of energy is wasted, going up in clouds of steam resulting from cooling of the hot coke simply by spraying quenching liquid thereon.

Furthermore, this quenching liquid itself creates a problem since it is contaminated with noxious chemicals and must be disposed of with great care in order to avoid contamination of sources of drinking water, for example.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is accordingly a primary object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which will avoid the above drawbacks.

In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus capable of treating coke pushed from a coke oven in such a way that there will be no pollution of the outer atmosphere.

Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus capable of treating coke in such a way that quenching water is not required, thus alleviating the entire problem of how to dispose of such quenching Water.

Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for treating coke pushed from a coke oven in such a way that the energy stored in the coke by reason of the elevated temperature thereof can be recaptured and used economically.

Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus of the above type which can readily be used with existing coke oven batteries.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus which not only will be capable of accomplishing all of the above objects but which at the same time can be carried out economically and eiciently 1n such a way that there are great savings as compared with conventional methods and at the same time the coke oven batteries themselves can be maintained without altermg the methods in which the coke ovens themselves are operated.

According to the invention, the hot coke is pushed from a coke oven into a bucket whose volume is great enough to receive all of the coke pushed from the oven. During this pushing operation the space through which the coke travels from the oven to the bucket is closed off from the outer atmosphere while the bucket is maintained covered, so that there will be no pollution of the outer atmosphere 1n connection with pushing of coke from the oven to the bucket. Gases, vapors, dust and the like situated in the space through which the coke travels from the oven to the bucket are sucked out of this space and delivered to a scrubber which cleans the matter sucked out of the space releasing only clean gases to the outer atmosphere. The bucket which is thus filled with coke is then transported from a coke oven to the top of a dry-quenching bunker, while the bucket is maintained closed off from the outer atmosphere. Then at the top of the bunker, with the space between the bucket and the bunker charging opening maintained closed ot from the outer atmosphere the bucket is emptied into the bunker, and finally the empty bucket is returned to the next oven which is ready for pushing. All of the above steps are repeated so as to form cycles of operation during which coke is sequentially pushed from coke ovens and delivered to dry-quenching bunkers in a highly economical manner while at the same time preventing pollution of the atmosphere.

The apparatus of the invention for practicing the above method of smokeless pushing and transportation of hot coke includes a bucket means which has an interior volume sufficiently great to receive the entire contents of a coke oven. This bucket means of the invention has a top end through which the coke pushed from the coke oven enters into the interior of the bucket means. A coke car means carries the bucket means, and a cover means covers the top end of the bucket means. A coke guide means is situated next to a coke oven for guiding coke which is pushed out of the latter, and a hood means extends between the coke guide means and the cover means and communicates through the latter with the interior of the bucket means and through the coke quide means with an oven from which the coke is to be pushed, so that the hood means, the coke guide means, and the cover means all cooperate to close olf from the outer atmosphere the space through which the coke travels when pushed from a coke oven into the bucket means. A suction means communicate with this latter space for withdrawing therefrom gasses, vapors, 'and particulate matter which otherwise would be released to the outer atmosphere. In the suction means, combustibles of the withdrawn gases and vapors are burned by pilot burner means to innocuous dine gas. A scrubber means communicates with the suction means for receiving from the latter the matter witdrawn from the closed olf space between the oven and the bucket means, and this matter withdrawn by the suction means is cleaned by the scrubber means before any gases are released to the outer atmosphere, so that these gases are clean and thus prevent pollution of the outer atmosphere.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The invention is illustrated by Way of example in the accompanying drawings which form part of this application and in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic partly sectional elevation showing a bucket means of the invention situated at a coke oven, FIG. 1 in addition showing the structure of the invention which extends between the coke oven and the bucket means;

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevation of the structure of FIG. 1 taken along line 2-2 of FIG. l in the direction of the arrows;

lFIG. 3 is a schematic plan view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2 in the direction of the arrows and showing the cove of the bucket means as it appears when looking down onto the cover;

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional elevation of another embodiment of a bucket means of the invention shown in FIG. 4 as situated at a location where it will receive coke pushed from an oven, FIG. 4 also schematically showing a different embodiment of a structure extending between a cover of the bucket means and the coke oven;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional elevation taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 5 in the direction of the arrows and showing the coves of the bucket means of FIG. 5 as it appears when looking down onto the cover;

FIG. 7 is a partly sectional schematic elevation of a third embodiment of a bucket means of the invention illustrated in FIG. 7 at a location where it will receive coke pushed from an oven, FIG. 7 also illustrating the structure extending between the coke oven and the bucket and communicating through the cover of the latter with the interior of the bucket;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary sectional elevation taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 7 in the direction of the arrows and showing further details of the structure of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a sectional plan view taken along line 9-9 of FIG. 8 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 10 is a schematic elevation of a coke oven battery as seen when looking toward the doors of the series of coke ovens, FIG. 10 illustrating the manner in which gases containing pollutants are handled;

FIG. 11 is a schematic plan View of part of the structure of EFIG. 10 illustrating how burners are arranged to communicate with the interior of a main so 'as to prevent explosions therein;

FIG. 12 is a schematic elevation of a further embodiment of the invention according t0 which ya scrubber is located directly on the car which carries the bucket of the invention;

FIG. 13 is a schematic plan view showing how the coke is handled when it is received in a bucket and transported between coke oven batteries and dry-quenching bunkers;

FIG. 14 is an elevation View schematically illustrating further details of how the buckets are handled when transported between the coke ovens and the dry-quenching bunker;

FIG. 15 is a schematic partly sectional elevation showing the structure at the top of a dry-quenching bunker when utilized with one embodiment of a bucket means of the invention;

FIG. 16 shows another embodiment of structure at the top of a bunker particularly adapted to be used with another embodiment of a bucket;

FIG. 17 schematically illustrates how a still further embodiment of a bucket of the invention is used at the top of a bunker;

FIG. 18 is a schematic illustration showing partly in section still another embodiment of a bucket according to the invention; and

FIG. 19 is a schematic representation of the manner in which the structure of FIG. 18 is operated when the contents of the bucket lare emptied therefrom.

DESCRIPTION OF l.PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring lirst to FIG. 1, there is shown therein in a sectional elevation and in a schematic manner a bucket means 20 of the present invention. This bucket means 20, as is apparent from FIGS. 2 and 3 as well as FIG. l, is of a square cross section while having adjacent its lower region a tapered portion 22 of substantially the configuration of a truncated lpyramid. This bucket means 20 is large enough so that its interior volume is capable of receiving the entire contents of a coke oven such as the coke oven 24 which is schematically represented at the left of FIG. l. The Walls of the bucket means 20 may take the form of an outer steel shell lined with cast iron provided with suitable expansion joints.

The bucket means 20 rests on a suitable framework 26 having a configuration conforming to the outer configuration of the bucket means so that latter can be lowered by a suitable crane directly onto the framework 26 so as to rest thereon while being removable from the framework 26 when raised therefrom by a crane in the manner described in greater detail below. For this purpose the outer surface of the bucket means 20 may have fixed thereto suitable projections in the form of eyes or trunnions, for example, to receive hooks carried by cables which in turn are suspended from the crane which raises and lowers the bucket means.

The lframework 26 is iixed to and carried by a car 28 having wheels 30 which ride on the rails 32, the car 28 having at its left end, as viewed in FIG. 2, a coupling 34 by which the car is coupled to a locomotive which moves the car along the rails 32 so that the car together with the bucket means may be transported to the oven 24 which is to be pushed and then from the latter to a dry-quenching bunker as set forth in greater detail below.

The top end of the bucket means 20 is closed by a cover means 36 having an elongated rectangular opening 38 capable of being closed by a hinged door 40 which is pivotally connected to the cover means 36 and which can be opened and closed by way of any suitable cylinder or lever assembly 42, for example, carried by suitable supporting structure directly on the cover 36 and connected in any desired manner to a source of electric power, compressed air, hydraulic iiuid under pressure or actuated by cog means.

Thus, when the bucket means 20 is to be lled with coke from an oven such as the oven 24, the cylinder or lever means 42 is operated to open the door 40 so that it will assume the position shown in FIG. 2, and prior to pushing of coke from the oven 24 a hood means 44 has its open bottom end placed in communication with the opening 38, in the manner shown schematically in FIGS. 1 and 2. The hood means 44 has a pair of opposed parallel vertical side walls 46 and these walls are interconnected with each other at their top edges by an inclined wall 48 Which is curved at its right end, as viewed in FIG. 1, so that it extends down to the right end of the opening 38. The space between the walls 46 is closed at the bottom by a well 50 which extends up to the left end of the opening 38, as viewed in FIG. 1.

This wall 50 has an extension forming the bottom wall of a coke guide means 52 which is carried by a car 54 capable of travelling along the rails 56 which extend along the bottom of the coke oven battery. The coke guide means 52 directly carries the hood means 46 so that the latter travels with the coke guide when the car 54 is moved along the rails 56 to situate the coke guide in alignment with the oven 24 which is about to be pushed. The coke guide has vertical side walls extending upwardly from the bottom wall 50 and forming extensions of the side walls 46, these walls being carried by suitable structural frame members, and the top Wall 48 has a horizontal extension 58 which extends to the left, as viewed in FIG. 1, all the way up to the left end of the coke guide. At this left end the coke guide is open and has dimensions corresponding to the discharge opening of the oven 24, this discharge opening being uncovered when the door 60 is removed in a well-known manner.

Thus, with the structure as described above, an empty bucket means 20 on the car 28 will be moved into alignment with an oven 24 which is to be emptied, and then the door 40 will be opened. Then the coke guide means `52 and the hood means 44, which form a single unit in this example, are moved into alignment with the oven 24 which is about to be emptied so that the bottom open end of the hood means 46 will be aligned with and located directly over the opening 38 of the cover means 36. With the door 60 removed the pushing operation takes place so that the coke is pushed from the oven 24 through the space which is enclosed by the coke guide means 52, the hood means 44, and the cover 36 of the bucket means 20, so that in this way the entire path of travel of the coke from the oven 24 to the interior of the bucket means 20 is closed off from the outer atmosphere.

The bottom of the bucket means 20 is closed by a wall 62 in the form of a horizontally shiftable gate guided at its side edges in suitable guides formed in the lower ends of opposed side walls of the bucket means 20 at the bottom thereof, this closure gate 62 carrying projections 64 which enable the gate 62 to be shifted to a position opening the bottom of the bucket when the latter is on the top of a dry-quenching bunker, as will be apparent from the description which follows.

FIG. 1 shows the inclined bed 66 for the rails 32 on which the car 28 travels, this being the conventional inclined bed formed with a gutter 68 in order to receive the conventional quenching liquid. This structure forms no part of the present invention but is shown only to emphasize the fact that the structure of the invention can be used with conventional coke oven installations without altering the latter. It is to be understood that during the entire pushing operation the car 28 and the bucket means 20 carried thereby remain stationary with the interior of the bucket means receiving the entire contents of the oven 24. In this latter connection, if desired it is possible to reconstruct the bed 66 so that it has a lower than conventional elevation, thus enabling a bucket means 20 of greater depth to be provided in the event that the horizontal cross section of the bucket means should be too large. In this way it is possible to provide a deeper bucket, while assuring that the bucket has an interior volume sufficiently greater to receive the entire contents of a coke oven while the bucket means remains stationary.

Furthermore, it is to be understood that while in the above example the hood means 44 is shown as fixed to and extending from the coke guide means 52 with the hood means having a bottom open end registering with the opening 38, it is equally possible to provide a hood means which is fixed to and extends upwardly from the cover means 56 and which has at its left end a vertical opening matching the opening at the right of the coke guide means so as to register with this latter opening. With such an embodiment also the entire path of movement of the coke from the oven to the bucket will be closed off. In addition, it is possible to provide a hood means carried in part by the coke guide means and in part by the cover means 36 with any portion of the hood means being carried either by the coke guide means or by the cover means 36, the only requirement being that during pushing of coke into the bucket means the entire space of travel of the coke is closed off from the outer atmosphere to prevent pollution of the atmosphere.

A suction means is provided for withdrawing from the space through which the coke travels from the oven 24 to the bucket means 20 gases, vapors, and particulate matter. A pilot means is provided in the suction means to burn the combusti-bles of the withdrawn gasses and vapors, so that the matter withdrawn from the space closed 01T from the outer atmosphere by the coke guide means 52, hood means 44, and cover 36 can be cleaned before releasing any gasses to the outer atmosphere. In this way only clean gasses will be released to the outer atmosphere. This suction means includes a pipe 70 fixed to the top wall 58 and communicating through an open* ing thereof with the interior of the hood means 44. The pipe 70 is telescopically joined with a pipe section 72 of substantially U-shaped configuration. This pipe section 72 has an elongated right portion, as viewed in FIG. 1, sliding fluid-tightly Within the pipe 70. The horizontal portion of the pipe section 72 is supported on vertically movable framework 74 guided for vertical movement by a stationary framework 76 mounted at the top end of the coke guide means 52 at the region where the latter is fixed with the hood means 44. The vertically movable unit 74 vwhich carries the pipe section 72 is in turn carried by a movable piston of a iluid-pressure assembly 78 'which is carried by the framework 76 and which communicates with any suitable source of fluid under pressure so that through this assembly 78 it is possible to raise and lower the unit 74 and thus raise and lower the telescopic pipe section 72. This pipe section 72 communicates at its left end, as viewed in FIG. l, with a relatively short vertical pipe section 80 which extends upwardly from a main 82 which extends along the top of the entire battery of coke ovens 24. Furthermore, it is to be understood while in the above example the telescope U-shaped pipe section 72 communicates with a vertical pipe section 80 extending upwards .form the main 82, it is equally possible to provide a straight configuration of a telescopic pipe section which communicates with a vertical pipe section means, extending downward from main 82 if this main is located above pipe 70. In a manner which is described in greater detail below one end of the main 82 communicates with a scrubber means which cleans all of the matter sucked out of the space through which the coke travels from the oven 24 to the bucket means 20. In addition, the interior of the main 82 is maintained in a manner described below in such a condition that no explosions can occur therein. For this purpose part of the gas-discharged by the scrubber means at one end of the main 82 is circulated back to the other end orf the main 82 so that stack gas is continuously circulated through the main 82, and in addition pilot burners are provided to maintain llames -within the pipe section 80 in order to prevent explosion of gases in the main 82. The number of pilot burners equals the number of coke ovens of each battery, and these pilot burners are provided with spark plugs which are continuously energized through an electronic ignition system. Combustion air and fuel gases such as methane or propane being fed to the pilot burners so that a constant burning takes place in the interior of

sections

80 and 82 so as to convert any carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide and so as to maintain the interior of the main 82 at all times in a condition where it is impossible for explosions to occur.

The several short pipe extensions 80, which are equal to the number of ovens and which are aligned therewith, are normally closed by way of suitable valves. When a coke oven is to be pushed, the coke guide means is moved into alignment with the coke oven and then the uidpressure assembly 78 is actuated to place the section 72 in the' condition shown in FIG. 1 where it provides communication between the interior of the hood means 44 and the main 82 through a pipe section 80. Then the valve in the latter is opened so that the suction, provided by any suitable blower or the like directing gas through the main 82 to the scrubber means, Will be effective to suck gases, vapors and particulate matter out of the space through which the coke travels from the oven to the bucket means.

Referring to FIGS. 4-6, there is illustrated therein another embodiment of a bucket means of the invention and a hood means which cooperates therewith. According to this embodiment, the bucket means 86 has a circular configuration in horizontal cross section. Thus, the bucket means is of a generally cylindrical configuration while having a tapered bottom region 88 having substantially the form of a truncated cone. The -bucket means 86 may be formed of the same materials as the bucket means 20.

The bottom end of the bucket means 86 is closed by a closure bell 90 of conical configuration xed at its top end to an elongated tube or rod 92 extending upwardly through and upwardly beyond the interior of the bucket means 86. The rod 92 may be guided for longitudinal movement in a tube 94 which is fixed in the interior of the bucket means 86 in any suitable way as, for example, by radially extending horizontal rods 96 welded at their inner ends to the outer guide tube 94 and at their outer ends to the inner surface or shell of the bucket means 86. Cooling of the rod or hollow shaft 92 is accomplished by natural convection of the ambient air in the tube 94.

In this case also it will `be noted that the car 28 is provided with a suitable framework 98 for supporting the bucket means 86. IHowever, in this case the framework includes a lower bearing ring 100 which is fixedly carried by the car 28. An upper bearing ring 102 is located over and rotatable with respect to the bearing ring 100. Thus, any suitable thrust-bearing means capable of supporting the large weight of the bucket means 86 and the load carried thereby may be used at the location of the bearing rings 100 and 102. The upper rotary bearing ring 102. is xed with a circular support 104 Iwhich is of a generally triangular configuration having an inner surface forming part of a cone and thus forming a seat for the lower tapered portion 88 of the bucket means l86. Thus, with this construction the bucket means 86 can be lifted .from the seat formed by the ring 104 and can be lowered onto this seat.

At its outer peripheral region, the ring 104 is provided with gear teeth 106 forming a spur gear or bevel gear meshing with a driving pinion or a bevel gear 108 driven through any suitable transmission from a motor 110, this motor and the transmission therefrom to the driving gear 108 being carried by the car 28` as shown at the right of FIG. 5. Thus, when themotor 110 is energized the entire bucket means 86 will rotate about its axis.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate projections 112 fixedly carried by the bucket means 86 at its exterior and adapted to rest on standards fixed to the top of a dry quenching bunker, so that in this way the bucket means can be supported at the top of a dry-quenching bunker. The same type of projections 112 can be provided for the bucket means 20.

The top of the bucket means 86 is closed by a cover means 114 formed with a central opening through which the guide tube 94 extends so that the cover means 114 can rotate .freely around while slidably engaging the guide tube 94. At its outer periphery the cover means 114 has a downwardly directed tiange 116 which slidably surrounds a ring 118 fixed to the top of the bucket means 86 at the exterior thereof so that at the ange 1116 and at the tube 94 it is possible for the bucket means 86 to rotate with respect to the cover means 114 while closing off the interior of the bucket means `86 from the outer atmosphere.

On one side of its central opening which receives the guide tube 94, the cover means 114 is formed with a swingable door 120 which is capable of closing and opening an elongated radially extending substantially rectangular port 122 formed through the cover means 114. The door 120 can Ibe swung to its open position and lowered to its closed position in any suitable way such as by a hydraulic assembly as shown in connection with the door 40 of the bucket means 20.

The rod 92 extends above the guide tube 94 and carries at its top end a connecting means 124 such as an eye or the like through which may extend a hook suspended from a cable of a crane, so that the entire bucket means 86 may be raised and lowered by connecting a crane to the top of the rod 92.

With the embodiment of FIGS. 4-6, the hood means 126 is substantially identical with the hood means 44, the only difference being that the hood means 126 is of a less er horizontal dimension as seen from right-to-left in FIG. 4 since the right end of the hood means 126 need only extend up to the right end of the port 122 in the cover means 114, and this latter end of the port 122 is located almost at the center of the circular cover means 114. Therefore it is not necessary with this embodiment that the hood means 126 extend all the way across the bucket means, which is in itself a substantial advantage because the load on the coke guide means 52, tending to tilt it to the right in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 4, is less with the embodiment of FIG. 4 than with the embodiment of FIG. 1.

It is to be noted in this latter connection that with none of the embodiments of the invention is it essential to provide on the side of the tracks 32 opposite from the coke oven battery supports for structure extending from the coke guide. With some previously known structures extensions connected to the coke guides are so heavy that it is essential to support these extensions by providing special supporting structure on the side of the tracks 32 opposite from the coke oven battery.

It is to be noted that FIG. 4, as well as FIG. 1, schematically illustrates a pilot burner nozzle 128 and spark plug 130 for providing in the interior of pipe section 80 the pilot flames which prevent explosions as pointed out above.

With the embodiment of FIGS. 4-6, when an oven is to be pushed, the bucket means 86 is transported by the car 28 to a position where the port 122 of the cover means will be aligned with the opening at the bottom wall of the hood means 126. Then, during pushing the motor 110 is operated so as to rotate the bucket means 86 with respect to its cover means 114 and the car 28, so that in this way even though the coke drops into the bucket means at the left side of its axis, as viewed in FIG. 4, the coke will nevertheless be uniformly distributed throughout the bucket means, the speed of rotation of the bucket means being regulated in such a way that a uniform distribution of the coke in the bucket means will be achieved. After the pushing operations have been completed, the coke guide means 52 and hood means 126 are moved away, the door 120 is closed, and the car 28 is moved by a locomotive to the region of a dry-quenching bunker. In order to maintain the rod 92 at its elevation where the closure bell 90 maintains the bottom of the bucket means 86 closed, a suitable pin 128 extends through aligned openings of the guide sleeve 94 and a bore of the rod 92. After the hook of the crane means has been attached to the top end 124 of the rod 92, the pin 128 is removed and the entire bucket means is raised by the crane while suspended therefrom at the connection 124 provided at the top of the rod 92. After the bucket means 86 has been situated at the top end of the dry-quenching bunker resting with the bucket projections 112 on suitable supports on top of the bunker, and after the cover at the top of the bunker is removed, the crane lowers the rod 92 so that the closure bell 90 is lowered thus permitting the contents of the bucket means 86 to drop into the bunker. Then the crane again raises the rod 92, the pin 128 is replaced, and the bucket means is returned to its position seated on the ring 104 so that it can then be returned with the car 28 to the next oven which is to be pushed.

It is to be noted that instead of providing a slidable engagement between the flange 116 and the ring 118, the ange 116 can xedly carry a number of pins which extend radially in from the flange 116 and which support a plurality of rollers at the inside of the ange 116 while the ring 118 can have an L-shaped cross section according to which it has a free upper edge on which the rollers carried by the ring 116 can rest, so that in this way the fraction between the rotary bunker means 86 and the cover means 114 can be reduced.

FIGS. 7-9 illustrate a further embodiment of a bucket means of the invention. Except for the structure of the bucket means and the structure of the car 28 which supports the bucket means, the embodiment of FIGS. 7-9 is identical with that of FIGS. 1-3. Thus, referring to FIGS. 749, it will be seen that the bucket means 132 is of an elongated rectangular configuration in a horizontal cross section while also having a tapered bottom portion in the form of a truncated pyramid. In this case also the bottom end of the bucket means may be closed by a wall in the form of a gate which is slidable with respect t the rest of the bucket means, although a split bottom in the form of a pair of lower call portions hingedly connected to the side walls of the bucket means and swung between open and closed positions through suitable cylinder or lever assemblies or the like, can be used with the embodiment of FIGS. 7-9 as Well as with the embodiment of FIGS. l1-3.

The bucket means 132 carries at its exterior a framework 134 which serves to guide a flexible curtain assembly 136 formed by plates made of a suitable alloy and hinged one to the next so thta the series of plates which form the curtain 136 will be -guided around end rollers 138 and can be unwound from and rewound on supply and take-up rollers 140. It is also possible to utilize an alloyed steel strip as a exible curtain means 136. Depending upon the direction of movement of the closure curtain 136 which forms the cover means of this embodiment, a given roller 140 will serve at one time as a supply roll and at another time as a take-up roll. The closure or cover means 136 carries a rectangular fram 142 (FIG. 9) which deiines an opening through which coke is delivered to the interior of the bucket means 132. During travel of the bucket means to and from the oven which is pushed, the opening defined by the rectangular frame 142 is closed by a suitable plate which is carried by the frame 132, this frame having, for example, an inner tapered surface portion receiving a cover plate which tapers in a downward direction so that it rests on the frame 142 while covering the opening deiined thereby. When coke is to be delivered to the bucket means 132, this plate is removed from the frame 142 and the opening defined thereby is aligned with the bottom end of the hood means 44. During pushing of the coke the locomotive connected to the car 28 moves the latter along the track 32. At this time the bottom end of the hood means 44 directly engages the frame 142 so that the cover means 136 remains stationary with respect to the hood means 44 during pushing operations. The travel of the car 28 and bucket means therewith is indicated by the double-headed arrow k144 in FIG. 8. The maximum extent of travel is indicated by the doubleheaded arrow 146 in FIG. 9. Thus, during pushing operations the car 28 and the bucket means 132 therewith are moved in such a way that the coke will be uniformly distributed in the interior of the bucket means, the exible cover means 136 un- Winding from one of the rollers 140 and being taken up on the other of the rollers during one of the pushing operations. The direction of movement of the cover means is reversed during the next pushing operation when coke is delivered to the bucket means.

After the pushing operations are completed the coke guide means 52 and the hood means 44 are moved away while the closure plate which closes the opening delined by frame 142 is placed on the latter, and then the bucket means can be transported to a dry-quenching bunker where it is raised to the top of the bunker so that the contents of the bucket means can be delivered to the interior of the bunker.

Referring to FIG. 10, there is schematically illustrated therein a coke oven battery with the main 82 situated thereover. FIG. l() shows the several short pipe sections 80 respectively aligned with the several coke ovens 24 and extending upwardly from the main 82. These several pipe sections 80 are provided with the valves 152 as schematically illustrated, so that that valve 152 which is carried by the pipe section 80 which is aligned with the oven 24 which is to be pushed is opened so that gases can then enter through the opened pipe section 80 into the main 82. Shown at the right end of the main 82 is a part of the suction means formed by the blower 154 which delivers the gases, vapors, and particulate matter sucked from the space through which coke travels to a scrubber means 156 in which cleaning operations take place in a known way, and particulate matter separated from the gaseous matter can be removed from time to time through the outlet 158. The cleaned gas discharges from the scrubber means 156 through an outlet 160 which is connected to a return conduit 162 through which the stack gas returns to the main 82 so that in this way -gas is continuously circulated through the main 82. Part of the gases which discharge from the scrubber means 156 through the outlet 160 may be delivered to the outer atmosphere through the flue 164. In order to control the division between the gas which is recirculated through the conduit 162 and the part discharged to the outer atmosphere through the duct or flue 164, an adjustable butterfly valve or damper plate 166 is provided, this plate being swingable, as schematically indicated in FIG. 10, the selected angular positions which will divide the discharging gas so that a selected portion thereof will be recirculated and the remainder thereof will be discharged to the outer atmosphere.

FIG. 11 shows fa pair of the pipe sections 80 on the main 82 with the pilot burner nozzles 128 extending into the main 82 at the locations where the pipe sections 80 are located, these burners being provided with methane or propane gas and combustion air, as pointed out above, and being operatively connected with spark plugs which are continuously energized through an electronic ignition system so as to maintain pilot llames constantly burning within the pipe sections 80.

Referring nowto IFIG. l2, there is schematically illustrated therein another embodiment of the invention according to which the car 28 is replaced by a car 170 capable of riding on the same tracks 32 and being moved by way of a locomotive as pointed out above. This car 170 may carry any of the above-described bucket means of the invention, a bucket means is provided withr a cover means 174 shown in FIG. 12 communicating with a hood means 176 which may be either the hood means 44 or the hood means 126. Thus, in this latter event the bucket means 172 will be rotated as described above in connection with FIGS. 4-6, while if the bucket means 172 remains stationary the structure of FIGS. 1-3 may be used and if the bucket means is moved longitudinally with respect to the cover means, the embodiment of FIGS. 7-9 may be used.

In any event, the cover means 174 of either of these embodiments is provided with a duct 178 which through a telescopic tubular connection 180 may be placed in communication with a blower 182 which sucks the gases, vapors, and particulate matter directly from the space beneath the cover means 174 and delivers this matter to a scrubber means 1184 carried by the car 170. This scrubber means 184 will clean the withdrawn matter and will discharge only clean gases to the outer atmosphere through the outlet 186. From time to time collected matter can be withdrawn through the outlet 188. Thus, with the embodiment of FIG. 12 the hood means 176 will not communicate with any suction means through which the withdrawn matter is delivered to a structure such as the main 82. The main 82 and all of the parts associated therewith are omitted. The hood means 176 need not have any connection to the suction means and may be carried by the coke guide means so as to be aligned with the opening of the cover means 174 in the manner described above. With this embodiment all of the suction takes place from the space directly beneath the cover means 174 and the entire cleaning structure is carried directly by the car 170 itself. After pushing operations are completed, the telescopic tube assembly 180 is disconnected from the blower 182 and is closed b'y a suitable closure plate, and of course the opening through which the hood means 176 communicates through the cover means 174 with the interior of the bucket means 172 is closed, and then the bucket means can be transported in the manner described above to a dry-quenching bunker.

Referring to FIG. 13, in the schematically illustrated coke plant there are three coke oven batteries 150. The tracks 32 extend along the coke oven batteries from the latter to an installation 190 where there are three dryquenching bunkers 192. Aligned with the several bunkers 192 arefthree cranes 194 having at their top ends beams extending over the bunkers and forwardly beyond the same to locations over the tracks 32 so that through suitable winches and the like, which may be electrically operated, cables with hooks and the like thereon can be lowered and raised in order to raise and lower the bucket means of the invention with respect to the car 28. As is schematically shown in FIG. 13, the car carries two bucket means 196 which may be any of the bucket means referred to above.

As is shown in FIG. 14, a locomotive 198 may be operatively connected with the car 28 to transport the latter, and FIG. 14 schematically illustrates how one crane means 194 lowers an empty bucket 196a onto the car 28 which is shown carrying a full bucket 196b. This particular type of arrangement is provided for safety purposes so that there is never a time when it is required to travel beneath a bucket carried by a crane means. A bucket which has been placed on top of a dry-quenching bunker can be left there while the car 28 returns to have the second bucket lled with coke, and then when this second bucket is to be delivered to a bunker 192, the empty bucket is returned to the car 28 so that the car 28 is capable of moving between the batteries and the bunkers in the time period required for sequential pushing of the ovens.

FIG. 15 schematically illustrates the upper part of one of the dry-quenching bunkers 192. This dry-quenching bunker 192 carries at its top end supports 200 on which the projections 112 rest so that the bucket means 202 can fbe supported in this way at the top of the dry-quenching bunker 192. As was pointed out above these projections 112 are mounted on any of the bucket means of the invention, and the bucket means 202 may be any of the bucket means of the invention. However, in the illustrated example the bucket means 202 is provided with a split bottom closure means 204 made up of a pair of closure walls 204a and 204b hinged at their outer edges to the lower end of the bunker means and capable of being swung between the illustrated closed position and open positions by mechanical, electro-mechanical, pneumatic or the hydraulic drives 206 which are schematically illustrated.

The top end of the bunker 192 has its opening closed by a water-sealed closure 208-. After this closure is removed in a known way, the drives 206 are actuated to swing the closure plates 204a and 204b downwardly and thus empty the contents of the bucket means 202 into the bunker 192. After the bucket means has been emptied of its contents the bottom end thereof is again closed and the crane means loperates to return the empty bucket means to the car 28, in the manner pointed out above.

It is to be noted in connection with FIG. 15 that the standards 200 which support the bucket means also serve to support a cylindrical lwall 210 which at its bottom end is xed to the top of the bunker 192 and at its top end extends all the Way up to the lower surface of the bucket means 202, so that in this way the entire space through which the coke falls from the |bucket means into the bunker is closed off from the outer atmosphere to prevent release of dust to the outer atmosphere.

FIG. 16 shows a .bunker 192 which may be the same bunker as that shown in FIG. 15. However the bunker is illustrated in FIG. 16 in a plane taken at right angles to the plane of FIG. 15. Thus, FIG. 16 shows the cover carriage 211 which has wheels 214 riding on the tracks 216 supported at the top of each bunker 192 and situated within the enclosure 210. The cover 208 is of course located between the tracks v2.16, as is apparent from FIG. 15. The cover carriage 211 is driven by any suitable motor which through a suitable transmission drives one or more of the wheels 214 so that the carriage will travel along the rails 216. The same motor is used to rotate pinions 218 rotatably carried by the carriage and meshing with racks 220 which are xed to and extend vertically from a vertically movable part 222 of the carriage 211. This part carries at its lower surface hooks or the like which enter into eyes carried by the cover 208 so that when the member 222 is elevated the cover 208 will be raised for opening the bunker 192. At the same time, the upwardly moving part 222 has a grooved portion 224 thereof which moves upwardly and receives in its interior the projections 64 xed to the closure gate at the bottom of the bunker means such as the bunker means 20. In this way a driving connection is established between the carriage 211 and the gate at the bottom of the bunker means. With this construction when the cover 208 is displaced to the right, for example, as viewed in FIG. 16, the gate 62 will also be displaced to the right to a position opening the bucket means simultaneously with the opening of the bunker means, so that the contents of the bucket will drop into the bunker. Then when the bunker is closed the bucket is simultaneously closed through the reverse of these operations.

As is shown in FIG. 17, the cover 208 of the bunker means 192 can be removed in the same way, but with this embodiment the closure bell of the bunker means 86 is lowered by operation of the crane means to lower the rod 92, and in this way the contents of the bucket means 86 will drop into the bunker means 192.

Referring to FIG. 18, there is schematically illustrated therein another embodiment of a bucket means 232 of the present invention. This bucket means 232 can receive coke from an oven in any of the ways described above. It also rests on a suitable framework 234 carried by a car 28. In this case, however, the car 28 is provided with a vibrator means 236 capable of vibrating the bunker means 232 while it is loaded with coke discharged from a coke oven so as to achieve in this way also a better distribution 13 of the coke in the bucket means 232. Such a vibrator means 236 may be used with any of the embodiments described above.

With the embodiment of FIG. 18, however the bucket means 232 has a lower end 238 of a channel-shaped configuration provided with a concave upper surface and this lower end 238 extends from one end to the other of bucket 232. Above the lower end region 238 the bucket 232 is provided in its interior with a lower wall 240 which is perforated as by being formed with a large number of openings which may have a diameter on the order of l1/2 inch, for example. 'This wall 240 is strong enough to support the entire load of coke in the bucket 232 so that the coke rests in the bucket on the perforated wall 240 over the bottom wall 238. With this construction during delivery of coke to the bucket means 232, coke breeze will fall through the apertures of the wall 240 to be received between the wall 240 and the bottom 238 in the manner shown schematically in FIG. 18. In this way the extent to which screening operations must be carried out can be reduced and the quality of the coke delivered to the coke wharf is improved.

When a bucket means such as the bucket means 232 is delivered to a bunker such as the bunker 242l shown schematically in FIG. 19, the crane lifts the bucket means 232 from the car 28 and places it on a supporting carriage 244 which travels onto a tiltable framework 246 carried by the supporting structure at the region of the top of the bunker 242. This support 246 is swingable about a pivot 248 and can be swung by way of a hydraulic assembly 250.

In addition it is to be noted that with this embodiment the bucket 232 is provided with a pair of

closure doors

252 and 254 at its right end, as viewed in FIG. 19. These doors are connected at their side edges to a link 256 which in turn is connected pivotally with a link 258 driven by a hydraulic assembly 260 mounted on the side of the bucket 232. This hydraulic assembly maintains the

doors

252 and 254 closed. The door 252 is located just above the apertured wall 240 While the door 254 communicates with the space below the Wall 240.

With this arrangement after the crane means raises the bucket means 232 up to the carriage 244 and rests the bucket means thereon, carriage 244 rolls with support 246 and the hydraulic drive 250 can be actuated to tilt the carriage support 246 in a clockwise direction so that the bucket 232 will assume the inclined position, which may be an inclination of 45, as shown schematically in FIG. 19. Then the drive 260 is actuated to simultaneously open both the

doors

252 and 254. The arrangement is such that in the inclined position of the bucket 232, it will be prevented from moving down by engagement of the carriage 244 with a stop 262. At this time the opening of the

doors

252 and 254 by the drive 260 will release the coke above the wall 240 so that it falls into the bunker means 242 while at the same time the breeze will fall through the open door 252 into the upper open end 264 of a duct 266 which extends downwardly alongside the bunker 242 so that the breeze can be separately delivered to a location different from the interior of the bunker means 242. With this embodiment also an outer shielding tubular assembly 268 can be provided, as shown schematically in FIG. 19 to close olf the space through which the coke and breeze fall so as to further reduce pollution of the outer atmosphere.

Thus, it will be seen that with the structure of the invention as described above it is possible to push the entire contents of a coke oven into a bucket means of the invention without polluting the atmosphere, and then the bucket means can 'have its contents transferred to a dry-quenching bunker. All of the operations required can be carried out in a highly efcient manner involving less costs than has heretofore been the case while at the same time avoiding pollution of the outer atmosphere. In addition it will be noted that the operations involved with the present invention are much safer than conventional operations and great economies are achieved by reason of the fact that considerable energy in the hot coke can be recaptured.

It is understood and to be noted that delievery of the coke from bucket means 232 to the bunker means 242 by tilting the bucket and separating coke and coke breeze in the above described manner could be arranged at plant yard level instead of on the top of the dry quenching bunker by utilizing another bucket attached to a hoist ending at the charging opening of bunker means 242.

In this configuration, the tiltable framework means 246 is located in plant yard level, furthermore coke bucket 232 and car means 28 are fitted together to one unit and the hoist bucket is located adjacent to means 246 in a pit below yard level when in its receiving position.

Car and coke bucket means 232 will be driven by the existing locomotive onto the tiltable framework means 246, then tilted to the inclined position as described before by drive means 250 and at the same time held in position on the inclined tilting framework by stop means 262. When opening the doors means 252 and 254 by drive means 260 the coke above wall means 240 will fall into the hoist bucket to be delivered to bunker means 242 and the breeze below wall means 240 will fall into the open upper end means 264 of a duct means 266 which extends downward along the pit wall to a breeze storage hopper.

A hood connected to dust collection equipment, as well as a tubular shielding means 268 around the hoist, is provided to prevent pollution of the outer atmosphere during the coke transfer.

What is claimed is:

1. In an apparatus for smokeless pushing and transportation of hot coke, bucket means having an interior volume sufficient great to receive the entire contents of a coke oven, said bucket means having a side wall surrounding the interior of said bucket means and terminating in a top edge situated in a horizontal plane and dening an open top end through which coke pushed from a coke oven enters said bucket means, coke car means carrying said bucket means, cover means carried by said top edge of said side wall and extending substantially horizontally across said open top end and situated substantially at said horizontal plane for permanently covering said top end of said bucket means and remaining connected thereto during operation thereof, said cover means being formed with an opening passing therethrough and carrying a door which has a closed position closing the latter opening and which is displaceable upwardly away from said opening for giving access to the interior of said bucket means through the latter opening, coke guide means situated next to a coke oven for guiding coke which is pushed therefrom, hood means carried by said coke guide means, extending between said coke guide means and said cover means and communicating, when said door is displaced upwardly away from said opening, through said opening of said cover means with the interior of said bucket means and through said coke guide means with an oven from which coke is to be pushed, said hood means, coke guide means, and cover means closing off from the outer atmosphere a space through which the coke travels when pushed from a coke oven into said bucket means, suction means communicating with the latter space for withdrawing gases, vapors, and particulate matter which otherwise would be released to the outer atmosphere, scrubber means communicating with said suction means for receiving from the latter the matter withdrawn from said space and for cleaning said matter before releasing any gases to the outer atmosphere, whereby the latter gases are clean and pollution of the atmosphere is avoided, crane means and bunker means situated at a location to which said bucket means is carried by said coke car means with coke received from a coke oven and with said door closing said opening of said cover means so that the latter maintains the coke in said bucket means closed ott from the outer atmosphere during travel with said coke car means to said crane means and bunker means, said crane means coacting with said bucket means for raising the latter to the top of said bunker means, and discharge means carried by said bucket means at an elevation thereof lower than said cover means for discharging the contents of said bucket means into said bunker means when said crane means has raised said bucket means to the top of said bunker means, and wherein said bucket means is operatively connected to said car means and said cover means for rotation with respect to said cover means and car means, and rotating means carried by said car means and operatively connected with said bucket means for rotating the latter with respect to said car means and cover means during pushing of coke out of an oven through said coke guide means and hood means into said bucket means, for distributing the coke evenly in said bucket means.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein a closure bell means is located at the bottom end of said bucket means for releasably closing said bucket means at said bottom end thereof, and elongated rod means operatively connected to said bell means and extending therefrom upwardly through the interior of said bucket means along a central axis thereof and through said cover means to the exterior of said bucket means over the top of said cover means, said rod means having at its top end a connecting means for connecting said rod means to a crane so that through said crane said bucket means may be raised when supported on said rod means and bell means to the top of a bunker to rest thereon with said crane then lowering said rod means and bell means for releasing coke from the interior of said bucket means to fall into said bunker.

3. The combination of claim 1 and wherein a vibrator means is operatively connected with said bucket means for vibrating the latter.

4. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said bucket means carries in its interior adjacent but spaced from the bottom of said bucket means a transverse wall means formed with aperture through which breeze can fall into the space beneath said transverse wall means, and a pair of said discharge means carried by said bucket means for discharging the breeze and the coke above said wall means separately from said bucket means.

5. The combination of claim 4 and including means adjacent the top of said bunker for tilting said bucket means to a position for discharging only the coke above Said wall means into said bunker means, and guide means located adjacent said bunker means for receiving the breeze which discharges from said bucket means simultaneously with discharge of coke into said bunker means and for guiding the breeze to a location where it will be used.

6. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said bucket means carries at its bottom said discharge means for discharging coke out of said bucket means through the bottom thereof.

7. The combination of claim 6 and including closure means located at the top of said bunker means for closing the space between said bucket means and bunker means oi from the outer atmosphere, and means at the top of 4said bunker means for opening the top of said bunker means while simultaneously opening the bottom of said bucket means to release coke out of the latter into said bucket means and for then, when said bucket means is empty, closing the bottom of said bucket means and simultaneously closing the top of said bunker means.

8. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said scrubber means is carried by said car means.

9. The combination of claim 1 and wherein an elongated main extends longitudinally along a coke battery and is connected at one end to said scrubber means, telescoping pipe means operatively connected between said hood means and main for providing communication between the interior of said hood means and said main so that the gas, vapor, and particulate matter will be drawn into said main and from the latter delivered to said scrubber means, and conduit means communicating with said main for continuously circulating therethrough a gas which will not explode.

10. The combination of claim 9 and wherein a plurality of pilot burner means are distributed along said main for continuously burning ames therein to prevent explosion from taking place.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,547,782 12/ 1970 Schon 202-227 2,802,778 8/ 1957 Koppers et al. 202-228 3,647,636 3/ 1972 Helm 202-263 3,580,813 5/1971 Hinchliffe 201-39 1,457,713 l6/ 1923 Moetteli 202-228 3,697,381 10/ 1972 Kemmetmueller 202--263 2,956,833 10/1960 Morin 294-69 R 3,647,053 3/1972 Palumbo 201-40 FOREIGN PATENTS 892,832 3/ 1962 Great Britain 201-39 381,408 9/ 1923 Germany 202-230 NORMAN YUDKOFF, Primary Examiner D. EDWARDS, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R.