US980640A - Furnace for volatilizing zinc form its ores. - Google Patents

Description

H. H. HUGHES. l FURNACB POR VOLATILIZING ZINC PROM ITS GRES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.11, 1.910`

Paented Jan. 3, E911.

2 SHEETS-SHBE'I lA 'MI yf H. H. HUGHES.

FURNAGE FOR VOLATILIZING ZINC FROM ITS ORES.

APPLIUATION FILED 111113.11, 1910.

Patented .121113, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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UNITED? .sragrnsrarnnr oFFIoE. i

:reinar II. HUGHES, or SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI, AssIGNoIt or ONE-HALEN F. x. HEER-AND A. J. EISENMAYEB, BOTH or SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI.

yFU'RJI'AC FOR VOLATILIZING ZINC FROM ITS CRES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, Hanny H. HUGHES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Springfield, in the county of Greene and State of Miouri, have invented certain' new and useful Improvements in Furnaces for Volatilizing Zinc from Its Ores, of which the following is a specification, refi. erence beinghad therein to the 'accompanying drawing.

.This invention relates to an Improvement in furnaces for volatizing zinc from-its ores, and pertains'more'particularly'to -an improvement inthat form of furnace illuslio trated and described in U. S. Letters Patent No. 922,906, issued to me on the 25th day of*- May 1909.

In the funa- 'specifically deseribed in -1 my aforementioned patent, the so-caller.; 'er

therein stated condenser member was, de-

si ed to be connected with the retortand' tobe rotated'with the retort. While-such a construction would operate A satisfactorily, l: have ascertained that to preserve the retort-.-in itsl proper shape end to prevent straining an thereby cracking, it is more advantageous to applyl to the retort, substantially direct, the outer 4rotating instru- I have 4also ascertained/that the condenser can be a fixed member, as istinguished from a rotating member, Jand' serve its purpose equally as well. I find,

however, that in connection with the condenser of the stationary ty'pe heretofore referrell'to, is advisable to have' the internalarea thereof greater t-han thatl of .the retort 'and to eliminate or extract the residue or'non-volatile matter at a point well in advance of the outlet. from the 'coiilensen B the employment of a--relativoly large con enser an expansion permitteclrfthich results inthe more complete separatimr of the vapor from the non-volatile matter, and

that by removing the non-volatile matter :is-a preliminary step to the final condensation 'of the 'volatile material a more perfect separation of the 'metallic zine is secured l than heretofore.

There are other 'specific features of construction in the present invention which differ somwhatfrom that of my former patentediiivention, all of which will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed. The invention, while lwing'direeted to anv Specication of Letters'latent.

Patentedaan. 3, 1911.

Application tiled February 11, 1910. Serial No. 543,366.

apparatus also lconiprehends a method or a series of steps ofoperation differing fromA the prior artA and |Which method will hereafter be more fully explained and defined in the claims.

The general objects of the present 'invention are substantially those stated in the patent heretofore referred to, that-is to say, a substantially perfect separation of the me. tallic zinc fromf-its ores with expedition and at greatly reduced cost.

as one wherein a continuous process is-carried out 'without the .necessaryconstant hand manipulation as has been the practice'heretofore;` i

In the accompanyingy drawings, the appa.- 1

ratus is shown somewhat diagrammatica but it is to be understood that the illustrative `representations are employed herein for the purposes of specifyi and defining the invention, and that there ore the invention is not necessarily limited to specific details, as it is obvious that many minor changes can be made without. departing from the nature andprinciple of the invention.

In the drawings: F1 re 1 is a longitudinalcentral sectional view of the apparatus showing parts in elevation, Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view on the line --w of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail section of a por/ tion ofthe revolving furnace.k

A designates a. supportin base comprising. generallyspeakmg', a ramework, one endof which is supported directly on the supporting surface, while'the other end is carried conveniently by adjusting 'acks, one of which' is shown in Fig. 1 and esignated by the letter a. B this means the frame is allowed to be' a justed upand down to vary its inclination with-a'view of securino -a proper and-uniform feed of the materiali formed of cement 'or brickwork, as mday be desired. The opposing faces of these walls are formed with circular recesses into which the ends of the revolving furnace member C, are loosely fitted. The revolving furnace comprises an outer metallic 'shell C, an inner non-combustiblclining, preferably of fire clay c., and a series of radial retort supports C', The furnace'is supported for ro- The invention-may he properly classified tation, conveniently 6u standards D-D,'

each of which are provided with anti-friction rollers d, fl', the former having a central rib iitlmg 1n a groove 1n the surrounding track plate c3', while the latter are en- A gaged by the track plate c4L on the furnace wall.

E designates a cylindrical retort, conveniently formed of tire clay or other heat-resisting material. This retort is conveniently cylind-leal throughout,l andthe walls are relatively thin so that the interior of the retort can be promptly highly heated by the Qre clay or other-suitable material, are adjustableinwardly by suitable set screws F, .entering 'through threaded openings in the steel or metal casing of the furnace. The

fire contained within the furnace. To support t'he retort within the revolving furnace,

the lower. ends of the retort supports C are 'formed with suitable Vsaddles or seats con;

formingtjo the curvature ofthe outer face Aof the'retort, as shown in Fign.; These radial supports 'being convenientl made of outerA ends offthe radial supports are seated in recessesgin the fire brick liningof the' furnacewhich recesses areA sliiciently deep to 'permit of a` r'adial movement of the sup- L ports: This feature of the invention is important inasmuch A as any variations 1n temperatureprzexpansion of materialsdnay be taken up'fand properlyvaccounted for by the adjustments of the supports, thereby' main- Y taining' the" cylindrical retortA in its proper position and .preventing initial si' rains being placed thereon during rotation. The for- Ward end of the retort is capped by a suitable cap G through which a feed pipe G 1 extends, which pipe carries at its outer -end anvupstanding portion communicating with vand'suppqrting a supplement al feed hopper G2. Thefeed G vis protected by a sleeve g which extends fromA the retort through the forward furnace wall and terminates ladjjacent the hopperend of the feed.

Hvdesignates the -main feed hopper which is in the form of a receptacle supported on and secured to the front base of the furnace wall B.- p This receptacle H is of a diameter greater than that. of the supplemental 'hopper G2, thereby 4forming between the edges of the latter and the walls of the receptacle attached thereto a metallic cap J to which is keyed or otherwise conveniently attached a driving ear j.

To supp y the interior of the furnace with proper fuel, a supply pipe K is provided l leading from any suitable source and terminating end wall of the furnace into the combustion chamber. The exhaust is -in the form of a tlue leading through the forward end of the wall of the furnace, as indicated in dotted lines in-Fig. 1 at M.

Any suitable form of burner may be employed, either for gas or liquid.

L designates the condenser, t-he same being in the form of a metal cylinder of a diameter greater than that of the retort. This'condenser is elongated and itsforward end is projected into the cap J,the"joint being sealed by a suitable stutiingvbox j so `as to permit the proper' rotationofthe. cap lrelative toA the condensersffcylinder.- `The `condenser is supported .ons uprights- Z and 'adjacent itsl forward end, at .thepbottom thereof, is an 'opening -'Lfextended some-k opening'communicate's with a discharge l2, the .lower end of which communicates-with a hopper L2. The lower lend of the 'hopper is provided with two separated discharge'gates '13, 14, of a character similartothose -shown in my former .patent sothatby the'z opening of the uppero'ate the material collectedin .the hopper will descend 'into'the spacelw-4 the' upper gate and openingthel jower `gate the material may be discharged into a suitable receptacle.v The condenser vis provided with a 'discharge end, the-"forward end of which is formed witha downwardly-curved part' constituting a trap, as atv n into which' projectsA the end wall l 15 of 'the condenser, the edge of this end .wall projecting-below 'the plane of the bottom offthe condenser.

O represents the receiving; pa'nfor the condensed metal, the same be1ng`"con\en iently f mounted on 'a truck. Should it be found necessary'to increase the temperature of the condenser-a suitable .gas burner such as P may be provided, and also'a` suitable burner or heater 'as p may be positioned .below the'outlet trap of the condenser-` To rotate the furnaceanysuitablegearing may be employed, but conveniently a shaft Q' is mounted in suitable bearings andc'arries on its opposite ends pinion's g, g. 'The formermeshes, with the rack g2 on the revolving furnace, While the latter meshes with the largel gear .i mounted on ,the cap which is connected to the protruding end of the retort. The shaft Q. may be driven fromvany suitable source through a suitable sprocket or other'wheel, as at rf.A -The carbon gases escaping from the condenser may be led through the valved exhaust pipe ll tween the gates' and Vthereafteriby closing in a burner projected through the c operation.

into receiving tenias ld', R2, from whence they may be Withdrawn cit-her directly into the combustion chamber of the furnace or for any other use desired.

ln operation, the ore mixed with the carhon in the usual manner, and crushed, is into the supplemental hopper from whence it is discharged "nto the cylindrical retort. As the retort is highlyv heated and rotated, the ore is constantly agitated and new surfaces presented to the heated Walls of the retort continuously until the saine is discharged from end of the retort. Buring the heating interval, the metallic vapors are. generated and pass from the retort into the enlarged condensing' chamber While the resi due or non-volatile material flows from the end of the retort immediately into the loottom of the condensing chamber. Owing to the inclination of the apparatus the residue will immediately pass into the discharge 'Z2 and he collected in the discharging hoppers thereoelow, While the vapors will expend in the condensing chamber and there meeting with a reduced temperature he condensed in the remoter portions of the chamber, collecting in the bottom and escaping through the escape or discharge. Owing to the sealing of the discharge and to the sealing of the other joints in the apparatus, air is prevented from enterino the furnace during This is important, as is well known to those skilled in the art. lWhen it is desired to remove the vgases contained Within the condenser, the valve in the dis charge J is opened and the gases allowed to pass into the storage tanks, or to any other point for subsequent u.

By making the retort cylindrical l have found that the same may he constructed more economically and with greater uniformity es to thickness of material. l have also found that the cylindrical retort is more easily and accurately adjusted in the center vof the furi nace. The driving` wheel K, as will he observed, is of the' saine diameter es the rack g2 on the furnace, and inasmuch as the driving,` pinions are of the same diameter, a uniform speed will he acquired by the furnace and retort, thusvpreventing the friction which is created lat the protruding end of the retort from tending to turn or twist the retort and thus crack the saine.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1.,ln a furnace for volatilizing` metallic zinc from its ore, the combination With a revolulile retort, ineens for revolving the re tort, a stationary condenser coupled directly to the retort and adapted to receive the ivolatile orcl and residue therefrom, and

means for feeding material to the revolving' retort.

S. ln a furnace for volatilizing Zinc from its ores, a revoluhle retort, means for revolve which the retort. disci.

ing the retort, a stationary'condensing ehenr lier ernznrnunieating,l directly min the retort, a 'discharge means the forward eno' of the condenser, and a discharge means end of the condensera o r. e eb. ,an

, ruine; zinc reni for feeding; material to the retort.

5. ln a furnace for volatilizing zinc from its ores, the combination with a revolving furnace, a cylindrical retort mounted there in, means communicating with the forward end of the retort for continuous feeding ore thereto during rotation thereof, a condenser coupled to the rear end of the rear end of the retort and of a capacity greater than that of the retort,v and a sealed discharge for the condenser.

6. ln a furnace for volatilizing Zinc from ,its ores, the combination 'with a revolving furnace, of cylindricnl retort mounted Within the furn ce, a feed for the forward end of the retort, a stationary condenser connected to the rear end of the retort, said condenser having a discharge at its forward end for the noiivolatile material, and a discharge for the condensed material at the opposite end.

7. ln a furnace for volatilizing zincfroin its ores, the combination with a revolving furnace` of a retort mounted therein, moans for feeding material into the end of the retort,a condenser into which the rear, end of the retort leads, said condenser hanf` ing a discharge at its forward end, and a discharge for the condensed material at its rear end. I ,v

ln a furnace for volatilizing zinc from its ore, the combination with a revolving furnace, of a retort centrally located therein, and adjustable means for supporting the retort. in the furnace. i

9. ln a furnace for voletilizing zinc from 'ts ores, the combination with a revolving furnace, of e series of radial supports in, means for adjusting the supports and ,2;1 retort. carried hy said support.

l0. ln n furnace of thecharacter scribed, a revoluhle retort, a cond:

es, a cai;A haring connection with the retort and engaging the the rear means for revolving the retort, and ineens' lil() ies lltl

condenser. means associated with the cap for assisting' `1n drlring the' retort, and means for driving' the retort associatedlwith said firstY mentioned means.

d ll. In a furnace for volatilizing zinc from itsores. the conihmatlon. with a revoluble retortl and a furnace therefor, mean'sjfflir feeding the ore into the front end o the E retort, a condenser into which the' rearjend of the retort discharges, said condenser being provided with an' opening in the bot tomA thereof adjacent its forward end, a hopper communicating with the opening,

and a sealed discharge at the rear end of the retort. l.

12. In an apparatus forvolatilizing zinc

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