US914830A - Apparatus for feeding flour iron ore to blast-furnaces. - Google Patents

Description

E. L. HARPER, JR. APPARATUS FOR FEEDING FLOURIRON ORE T0 BLAST FURNACES.

.APPLIUATI ON FILED APR. 8, 1908.

Patented Mar. 9, 1909.

By ATTORNEYS EDWARD L, HARPER, JR., OF BIG STONE GAP, VIRGINIA.

APPARATUS FOR FEEDING FLOUR IRON ORE TO BLAST-FURNACES.

I Specification of Letters-Patent.

Patented'March 9, 1909.

Application filed April 8, 1908. Serial No. 425,954.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD L. HARPER, Jr., a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Big Stone Gap, in the county of Wise and State of Virginia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Ap aratus for Feed ing Flour. Iron Ore to B as't-Furnac es, of

which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improve ments in theapparatus for feeding o flour iron ore, that is, ore in an extremely' fine state of subdivision, to blast furnaces, in such a mannerthat it will not be blown out immediately by the blast, but will become amalgamated with the molten or fused mass in the bosh of the furnace. f

In the ordinary type of blast furnace, ore, fuel and limestone are fed to the furnace through the hopper at the u per end thereof, upon the openlng of the be but due to the strong blast of air forced into the furnace at the lower end thereof and the strong current of gas escaping through the gas outlet pipe or down-take, a large portion of the fine ore is blown out of the furnace and cannot be smelted. Infact, such a large quantity of this fine ore or dust is blown out of the furnace, that it is necessary to provide dust catchers, wherein this fine ore or dust may separate fromthe blast furnace gases. It is needless to return this dust or flour ore to the hopper for re-charging in the furnace, for as soon as it enters the furnace it will be immediately blown out again. This dust accumulates in enormous quantities, and, even though it is very rich in iron, yet at the present day it is considered of no value, due to the inability to economically smelt the same. In the working of my invention, I remove the flour ore from the dust catcher and return the same to the furnace at such a point that it cannot be blown out again. That is, I return it directly to the zone of fusion, where it is immediately amalgamated or.- melted before the blast can remove it through the down-take.

My invention consists in the means em ployed for forcing the flour ore above referred to directly into the air pipe connecting the bustle pipe and twyer and above the peep hole, theforcing means being so constructed that the rate at which the ore is fed may be varied at will or may be stop ed entirely without air escaping through t e ore-delivery means.

'co umn 12.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, showing a blast furnace in vertical section with my improved mechanism connected theretol My improved mechanism may be used in connection with any blast furnace whatsoever, but for purposes of illustration I have shown an ordinary type of blast furnace, havin a crucible 10, a bosh 11, and a stack or The stack is supported by suitable columns 13, and is fed at its upper end through a hopper 14, which may be closed by a vertically-movable bell 15. Adjacent the hopper is a suitable platform 16, along which the ore may be conveyed for dumping into the hopper, and there is provided suitable mechanism, including a lever 17, for operating the be Surroundin the furnace, adjacent the bosh, is an alr-distribu-ting pipe or bustle ipe 18. Below the bos'h any suitable number of twyers 19 may be provided, each of which is connected to the bustle pipe by a conduit, including a horizontally-disposed ortion or blow pi e 20 and an inclined or eg ipe 21. The air which is delivered from the ustle pipe to the twyers comes into contact with the molten material and serves to support the combustion of the fuel. nitrogen in the airand the gases generated within the furnace, rise through the material in thestack, carrying all dust and finely subdivided ore to the upper end and force them out of the furnace through a as outlet or down-take 22. The down-take eads to a dust catcher, not shown, where the dust is separated from hot gases before the latter are conducted to burners, engines,-or storage tanks. p

None of the features thus far described, constitute any portion of the invention hereinafter claimed, inasmuch as they may all be constructed in accordance with common practice.

In the specific mechanism illustrated for carrying out my invention, I provide a con duit, casing, or shall 23, having a rotary conveyer 24, mounted therein, and having one end thereof in communication with the leg pipe 21 leading from the bustle pipe 18. At

received rom a hopper '26. The screw con- .or. adjacent the rear end of the casing or con- -duit 23, there is provided an entrance opening '25, throu h which the fine flour ore or dust is veyer 24 may be operated in any suitable manner, as, for-instance, by a worm 27, en-

gaging with a worm wheel 28 at the end of the casing. A suitable agitator 29'fmay, desired, be provided within the hopper, at the lower portion thereofpto prevent the "mate- I rial from collecting at the entrance opening and this a tator may be operated from the shaft of t e screw conveyer. In order to prevent the large particles irom passing into the conveye'r or the .air 1pipe, 'IIn ay, 1Q desired, provide a rotarycy '30, receiving the. material from a chute 31 leading to theinterior of the cylinder and de 1 livering the coarser particles but at the oppo- 'sit e end of the'cylinder. The detailed con- 15 struction of the co'nveyer, hopper and screen may be variedwithin wide limits, as it is only necessary that coarse ore be eliminated and only the fine ore delivered to the air;pipe. -When it is not desired to employjthis' orefeeding mechanism, the escape of 'airthrough the same may be, prevented y the closing of a suitable valve 32,"adj acent the intersection of the pipe 21 with'the casing '23.

" The ore,'fuel, &c., arefedtothe n-j eri' the ordinary manner,-fand; fact, the "op ation isconducted according to well-known practice, exce t that the flour orewhich collects in the. ust catcher," instead ofibein'g thrown away as valuele'ss, is conveyedto' the hopper 26 and forced into the a r pipe at such 'it's assage upward through the bosh and drical' screen substantial v and asubstanti'ally vertically-extending por a rate as to be conveyed'into the'furnace' be-. low the upper limits of the'zone" of fusion. The flour ore here immediately amalgamates with the molten or semim'olten' material, and

tion, a conduit extendingsubstantially horizontally and connected to's'aid air pipe intermediate the ends of the vertically-extending portion of the latter, a screw conveyer within said conduit,"a out-oil valve intermediate the ,end of said conveyer and said air pipe, and a hopper adjacent ,the outerend' of said conduit and communicating with the interior of l the latter. L p

testimonywhereofl have signed my name to this specification in the" presence of two subscribing witnesses. g EDWARDg'L. HARPER, JRQ

Witnesses: Y Y OLAIRW. FAIRBANK,

JomrP. DAVIS.

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