US942346A - Method of and converter vessel for bessemerizing copper matte. - Google Patents

Description

W. H. PBIRGE & E. A, 0. SMITH. METHOD OF AND CONVERTER VESSEL TOR BESSBIIIERIZING comm MATTE.

' APPL IUATIORT'PILED JUNE 13. 1908, 9%%,3j;6 I Patented Dec.?,1909.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

v W H. PEIRGE & A. G. EMITE METHOD or AND comvzmm VESSEL 1 0m BESSEMEEIZIHG comm MATTE. APPLIOATIOH FILED QY'GHE 18 1908.

3 8HEETS-8KEET 2.

Patanted Dec.7,1909. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

SMITH.

PEIRGE & E

urmoflmn rum: mm: 1a, 1908.

CONVERTER VESSEL FOR BESSEMERIZING COPPER MATTE ammo 01* m llldlllflF-il @TATES PATENT @lilhllfilh "trimmer/i H. rnrncn AND iin'ias A. c.

METHOD OF AND CONVERTER VESSEL Specification of Application filed June 13,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM H. PEIRGE and ELIAS A. C. SMITH, citizens of the United States, and residents of the city of Baltimore, State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Method of and Converter Vessels for Bessemerizing Copper Matte, of which the following is hereby declared to be a full and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

. In customary method, the bessemerizing of copper matte to obtain blister copper, involves the use of an air blast pro ected through the molten matte as it lies charged within a suitable converteiavessel having a quartzose or other highly silicious lining. The air promptly reacts with the hot iron snllid, presenta necessary constituent of the matte,driving off the sulfur in gaseous form (S0,) while the iron burns to an oxid, and, at the high temperature prevailing, immediately umtes with the silicic acid (Sill) of the lining, with, perhaps, some minor lime or alumina in addition, to form a copious slag afloat upon the charge.

Owing to the large ipercentage of iron always present in the matte, as a/chief source of fuel supply to insure requisite fluidity, the corrosion of the converter lining goes on apace, the whole of the free silica being quickly taken up so that the renewal of the. lining becomes constantly requisite, at much delay and expense, after only a few hours run. To avoid such fre quent renewals of the acid lining, it has been proposed to employ a basic lining instead, this being generally, composed of magnesite brick, as a material suliiciently refractory to protect the vessel shell and equally a non-conductor to prevent excessive loss of heat by radiation, at the outer surface'of the converter. The silicious flux, for union with the iron oxid to form slag, was no longer derived from the lining, but, in the form of loose, pulverulent additions, was supplied at intervals, directly to the charge witlzlin the vessel. Experience soon showed that the converter with basic lining was nearly as short-lived as the earlier form which, as already noted, .had equipped withlhe corrodible acid liningf, The t wyers, for the air blast-were composed of per-foe;

SMITH, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

iron nnssnivinnizmo corrnn MATTE.

ieaersraem. Patented Dec. "2?, mos. 1908. Serial No. 438,286.

.each twyer being submerged during the blow, beneath the molten charge within the .vessel.

As is well known, the entering blast chills the charge in near proximity to the air vents, so that a cold nose quickly forms and becomes adherent to the tip of the twyer. Constant vigilance on the part of the Workman becomes requisite to dislodge the nose by thrusting his punching tool 'through-the air channel of the twyer. Un-

less the" nose be broken oil, the twyer vent gradually, closes and, by so much, the volume of entering air diminishes. The cold nose was especially adherent to twyers of magnesite brick and thus, in client to clear the nose away, more or less of the brick itself chipped olf, thereby disintegrating the body of the twyers at various points along the belt, and, so far, tending to loosen the compact structure of the brick lining throughout..

()ur invention aims to correct the defects named and, to such end, we have devised a new method for bessemerizing copper matte in converters equipped with a non-corrodible lining, left free to shift under changing heat conditions, the plan being to deliver the a matte converter of improved sort for practice of the method, the vessel struc ure involving the presence at the outer shell of .an inner noircorrodible lining, free to shift relatively thereto under varying heat conditions, in combination with a set of blast twyers extended through tlxe lining and, at their receiving ends, established in continuous full delivery connection with the source of air supply.

In preferred practice the plan is to equip the converter wi h a non-corrodible lining of tenacious, coherent texture, left free to expand or shift under hight heat, without risk of buckling or rupture, said lining to be united with a set of twyers projected. through the converter shell, but flexibly sustainedso as to participate in the play of the lining, up and downin floating fashion,

rated magnesite brick, the, inner end at as it weres by which expedient each separate twyer remains intact and neither suffers leaks to ()t't'ill, nor presents an nnyielefing obstruction, as in former practice, most apt to start or dislodge the lining in its shift.

The invention further designs to form the tiexible twyer of cast iron. extended entirely 1 through the lining, bu properly jointed at back to th) air conduit in tight fashion to prevent all vagrant leaks of the blast, Such as in prior usage tended constantly to undermine the coherent lining. metal, the improved twyer stoutly stands the blows of the punt-hiugtool as experience shows, the cold nose chills constantly at the less :ttllHltl' than magnesia twyer; hence the nose detaches readily when attacked by the workman.

.tiel'erring to the drawings: Figure l is a side elevation .'ie\\', the converter roof being shown in section;

on line 2---2, Fig. 1. Fig. 2) is an enlarged sectional view on line 3 of Fig. -l-, one of the improved twyers being shown mounted in place through the lining with its outer end'llexibly sustained at the converter shell. Fig. l, a detail elevation at the twyer belt, with wind-box cover removed to display the mode for securing adjacentv twyers. Fig. 5, a detail cross section at line o 5, Fig. (i,

" that the mount for several adaeent twyers being denoted by dotted lines. .Fig. ,6, a view in longitudinal section at the junction of the twyers with the converter shell. Fig. 7, a sectional view of one of the separate twyers at; its union with the shell plate; and Fin. 8, f

an elevation of the twyer detached.

In familiar fashion, the converter has the usual cylindric body or shell 10 made of sheet steel and equipped with ring flanges 11 resting upon trunnions l2 beneath, to support the vessel and allow for its easy axial turn, at such times as may be neces sary during the progress of the blow. At one side, lengthwise of the, converter, extends the wind-box 13, deriving its air supply by pipe tlfrom some convenient source. The frame of the wind-box is riveted to the adjacent shell of the converter while, at its front, the box is equipped with a series of removable cover plates 15 to afford read y access to the box interior.

Asshown at l igs. 1 and 2, the upper side of the converter shell is left open between ends, while a, series of tie-rods 10 extend across the opening to keep the shell from spreading, which otherwise might easily occur, once the inner liningfexpands or swells far enough under influence of the extreme heat.

Each twyer 16 consists of a hollow, iron casting, made square? in cross section, to snugly adapt; itself to tliet'aces of the lining twink a di acent and extended entirely through Formed of with 1 while,

twyer tip, is much. n Illt. ease of the earner Fig. 2, a cross section,

eat-2,346

I the. lining for certain delivery of the air at the very tip end within. in position, the twyer is set at slight incline and furnished with an enlarged head 17 that rests snugly within a square hole of retainer plate 18. Ordinarily, retainer plate 18 affords seat; for a series of three twyers next adjacent and is sroutly bolted to main shell 10 through its reinforce It)". A. cross-tie 19, secured to the'retainer plate, overlaps the outer ends in adjacent twyers to help keep them in place. I

About the neck and head of each twycr is a packing 17", generally of asbestos wicking, sullicient; in quantity to stop the inflow of air from the wind-box to the lining next the. shell and'serving, besides, to sustain the twyers, as by flexible air-tight joint, (luring rise and fall of the twyer at itsfree end, l due to the heave of the lining, as the latter expands or contracts under changes of temperature, occurring within the converter. I Once the sev ral twyers are set in place, f the operator proceeds to embed their outer ends, as well as the retainer plates and crossties adjacent, in a heavy coat of thick cement, which may be of plastic clay, although often composed of ground magnesite ad mixecLwith linseed oil, to the consistency of j a. stiff mortar. Under the hcatcf the coni verter,. the coating referred to bakes hard l l and fast to parts adjacent, completely closing all vents and so far serving to check l the flow of fugitive air currents from the I wind-box, about the twyers and past the l shell into the converter lining beyond. At the more exposed parts, the vessel interior is lined with magnesite brick 20 of l usual sort but, instead of luting the layer l of brick and twyers adjacent by use of a l cement. of ground magnesite with slight addition of clay to render the cement sticky, l the customary practice is to employ for the l purpose, the same cement composition coml prising ground magncsite with linseed oil adn'iixed, ordinarily used for nor face of the wind-box. that the cement thus and fast to the brick ing, and to the shell, leak passages,

velop, and remains tenacious and adherent l l at all extremes of temperature within the vessel. Apparently, the co-etiieien't of expansion for the particular cement is suflici-ently close to that distinctive of l nesite brickand of the metal partsadjaj cent-to insure a l practically air-tight lining which becomes essentially homogeneous throughout to prevent the circulation of leak air currents altogether.

I In lieu of linseed oil, it is feasible to subl stitute core oil, such as the moldcrs use,

consisting of crude petroleum with some minor percentage of resin dissolved therein.

the mag.

erases magnesite and linseed oil, chosen in usual times bulging them outwardly.

practice, may serve the purpose, if the result be to insure the homogeneity of the lining, in the sense that no vagrant currents of air can circulate to accomplish disintegration. Except for matter of cost, the magnesite brick may be displaced and the lining be composed solely of the cement proper. But the baked bricks in compressed form better withstand the hard usage experienced in regular converter practice, and, for such reason are generally preferred. In ordinary use, the heat of conversion developed by the blast becomes intense enough to swell the inner lining which gradually expands, in turn, into the openspace left at top of the converter shell, until, eventually, the lining comes in contact with the tie-rods 10 often- Being 0t closed, ar ched form, the inner non-corrodi-- ble.lining acts to sustain itself despite the expansion, and, by reason of the peculiar cement chosen, not only keeps air-tight joints and courses, but also at junction with the floating twyers as well. The

- marked heave in place experienced by the lining, Would constantly tend to break or bend the twyers embedded therein, were it not that each t-wyer is flexibly sustained at back, leaving the main body and tip end free to float with the lining in'complete avoidance of all rupture or dislocation. That is to say, the lining proper and the twyers united therewith maintain a tena cious, coherent relation, despite the shift, while the twyers are kept tight outside both at converter shell and air conduit beyond, effectually preventing the familiar inroads fon the lining, before met with, and thus preserving the life thereof for weeks or months at a time, during constant use.

Obviously, the details of structure can be varied according to the skill of the mechanic Without departure from the 'essen' tials of the invention.

Having thus described the inveuticmwhat we claim as new, and de ire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In copper matte converters, the combination Willi an outer shell, ofan inner, noncorrodiblelining left free to expand under through the lining to participate in the shift thereof while still preserving the tight,

coherent state of such lining, substantially as described.

3. In copper matte converters, the combination with an outer shell, of the internal, i'lon-corrodible lining free to heave therein, a set of blast twyers embedded in and extended through said lining, and an external windbox within which such twyers are flexiblysustaincd in air-tight state, substantially as described.

4;. In copper matte converters, the combination with an outer shell, of theinternal, nolrcorrodible lining free to heave under ex treme heat, the blast twyers extended through the lining but flexibly sustained adjacent the converter shell, a Wind-box inclosing the inlets for said twyers and a cement coating to close the junction of each twyer with the converter shell and with the wind-box respectively.

5. In copper matte converters, the combination with an outer shell provided with an internal lining, of a series of metal twyers, square in cross-section, sustained flexibly from the shell and embedded in the lining brick to form a snug joint therewith, substantially as described.

6. In copper matte converters, the combination with an outer shell, of a series of projecting metaltwyers, united. loosely tothe shell, the retainer plates to receive the twyer heads, cross-tics to keep adjacent heads in place and an internal lining in which the free ends of the twyers are embedded, substantially as described.

7. In copper matte converters, the COHlDination with an outer shell, of an inner noncorrodible lining shiftablerelatively to the shell under the changing heat conditions, and a set of blast twyers extended through the lining and having continuous full delivery.

connection at their receiving ends with the source of blast supply; substantially as de scribed.

8. In the bessemerizing of copper matte in converters having a non-corrodible lining, the method of maintaining the desired reactions in the bath and preserving. the lining intact as it expands and contracts under the changing heat conditions to which it is subjected, which method consists" in conducting through the non'corrodible lining and delivering into the bath the air blast required for the blow and guardingit during transit through the lining against diminution of its volume and leakage into the body of the lining; substantially as described.

9. A converter for bessemerizing copper matte comprising anouter shell, an inner tenacious, coherent lining continuous with the shell and formed of magnesite brick, and

blast twyers embedded in the lining, the joints of the magnesite brick with one another and with the twyers being luted. with a ceblast twyers embedded in the lining and inent formed of ground inignesite admixed having a continuous full delivery connection with a suitable oil, substantially as described. at their receiving ends with the air supply, 10. A converter for bessei'nerizing copper substantially as described. 5 matte consisting of a cylindrical shell rota- W1 1*). 'tablysustained in horizontal position and g g 3 open at its upper side, cross tie-rods cennectk ing the sigfe edges of said 0 ening, an inner, l vitnesses: non-corrodible lining arche over at the to CHAS. N. SAPPINGTON, l0 and free to expand Within the shell, ans CHARLES S. GAN'YP.

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