US995366A - Method of smelting. - Google Patents

Description

i. W. NESMITH, DEGD.

H. M. omnoon, EXEGUTOR. METHOD OF SMELTING. APPLICATION FILED OUT. 20, 1910.

Patented 511116 13, 1911.

XMWWX\ FL I INVENTOR 27072172 V 7242:53 1, deceased.

WITNESSES.-

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JOHN V7. IlESIlII'I'H, BECE ESFES, LEXIE GE DENVER. COI.i3'il-ADO, BY HARPER Mi ORAHGOD,

ERECUTOB, OF IXENVER, CEL'ELOEADQ, .e'i.

PAT-TY, DENVER, CGlSORADU, A COBPORATIUN 0F COLORADO.

IIIETHOD 03E SMIELTIIJG.

Specification of Letters Patent.

FIFE/tonteilv June 3%., 1911.

Application filed October 28, 153-10. Serial No. 589,274.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that JUNK lV, hnsurrn, deceased, lute ii citizen of the l iuted States,

and resident of Deliver, Colorado, (lid invent certain new and useful .lupiproveincnts in Methods of Slnclting, of which the following is n s 'ieoifiention.

This invention relates to the treatment of concentrates, snltid lines and other line ores, flue dust, and the like by subjecting them Whilegin suspension to a high degree of heat, with or without chemical reactions depending upon the nature of the atmosphere in which they are suspended, and causing them, While in such highly hen ted or fused condition to Iflll upon and unite with a bath of already s nelted material, provision against the escape of the fines being nnide as will be described.

'lheiinvention me y be conveniently untried outin What may be termed a hydn'ienrbon blast furnace, Whieh is A, furnace Whcrein' the heat necessary to be produced by earbonnceons fuel or its equii-ulent, as petroleum or other hydrocarbon or sulfur for its smelting operation, is produced in n fire box or combustion chamber, and is projected or introduced by convection, together with the gaseous products oi its combustion, into the blast furnace and thus into contact with the course ores being charged in above, and it is not necessary that fuel be burned in the blast lf'urnnce stuck in Contact with the ores.

The ii'nprovenient consists essentially in converting the course re in the steel: to a fused or molten condition by a smelting heat generated in a combustion chamber, and projected into the blast furnace, and continuously or intern'iittingly projecting lines into the combustion otnnnher under pressure and substantially horizontally whereby they {1P0 subjected to an intense heat. and undergo such chen'ii ul relations as are caused oy the nature of the atmosphere within the combustion ehainbci: and placed in condition to become e pert the bath on the hearth of the eoinlnnition chainboi;

l the drawing shows a, ertical section of furnace for (fhlf'lylng out the inventiini.

The coarser ores are ehnrgiul into the blast furnace stack A in the usual Way, Wl e the sultid lines and other line ores, tine d1 7 and the like, sire projected by pressure of air into the ntinosphere out coin ion. chainher C, where they are. melted or burned mostly in suspension, mixing and combining with the smelting or fusing product of the ('innsei' ores. The lines are forced in horizontnlly bythc nil" or other pressure and are highly heated and otherwise prepared before uniting with the molten products occupying he hearth ot the chamber C and passing into it through the opening; 1) connecting the chamber (,3 with the blast l'uri'niee stuck. .L, the heated gases passing on up through the ore column in the steel: A, heating and in ing that in. turn, such part of the tines as does not "hill upon the bath of molten ma- 1 teriol in the combustion. chamber being intercopied as it passes through. the interstices of the seniifused ore charge.

The combustion cl llil'llJOl' is relatively large. has been -tound in actual operation, using petroleum or residuum as the fuel that the volume of space in the combustion clnnnher should not be less than about thirty-live cubic feet for each pound of combustible burned per minute. More space is used for couibuslioi'i with improved re suits and when at least the space stated has not been used the best results are not only not obtained but the smelting operation is retarded and even made, lllllflOS-SlblQ.

lillicientand accurate regulation of the air supply and of the tenor of the ntn'iosphcro in the chamber C, Whether reducing, neutral or oxidizing is constantly maintained. lroportionntely much or little petroleum or other fuel may be luirned in the combustion chamber (1, depending on colulitionsand requirements. The sulfur in sulfid fines is conserved and utilized as fuel. .lli' much sul lid tines are being treated then less oil is burned and a part of the sulfur of these fines utilized for heat production, other going to the nintte, the proportions depending on the condition of the atmosphere in the ehmnher, regulation of which is under-easy and instnntmieous control through the air and oil supply, wherel'iy tenor of matte is deterin i v.1 smelting oxidi ores or carbonates to black {13179617,01" oxidized or roasted ores or 12nd cnrionntes to lend, the atmosphere of the combustion chmnbcr C should prennderete reducing, but any over oxidation of metal or mineral that may take place there by reason of excess of air, is countertiece i end the material arrested and 00ml l l l bined in the molten material coming in from the smelter stack A if a modicum of coke or charcoal is charged on with the coarse ore for that purpose keeping the atmosphere always reducing at that point.

'In previous attempts to use auxiliary twyers for the purpose of securing oxidation, these, so'far as known, have been so placed as to cause the formation of a fuel is burned apart from the ore, makes this possible. 7

In the drawings of the furnace the letters indicate at B .the twyers; F the slag and matte taps; G the air supply to the blast furnace; H the air supply to the combustion chamber; K the bustle pipe on the blast furnace, and L the oil fuel burners.

A water pipe is provided as shown at I, to cool the bridge at the junction of the space D with the stack. The combustion chamber may also be water jacketedv if found necessary or desirable. t

In carrying out the invention it has been i found that it is impossible to operate with the slag and matte taps directly beneath the stack, or indeed Within range of the semifiuid or viscous mass, the result being to clog the outlets and prevent the flow of metal. But by elongating the combustion chamber as shown, and arranging the slag and matte taps beyond the reach of the clogging effect of the viscous mass and at the point where nothing but the fluid materials can possibly reach the outlet, perfect results are secured. The fines are discharged into the hopper a and as they fall into the pipe E they come under the action of a jet of air entering at b, and are forced under pressure through ,the pipe 0 substantially horizontally into the combustion chamber C. The oil or like fuel is fed in through the burner d and the supply is controlled by suitable valves 6.

It will be observedthat the furnace shown is not designed solely for the purpose of treating fine ores, bgilt for carrying out a method by which fine ores, concentrates, flue dust and the like, may be smelted simultaneously with coarser ores undergoing smelting in the same furnace, and forming the. principal smelting operation, this main smelting operation proceeding continuously, while the feeding of the fine ore may be intermittent, if desired. I

The advantages arising from the use of this 'method consist in the ability to smelt the current production of flue dust, as well as moderate quantities of fine ore and concent-rates unsuitable as constituents of the main ore charge, and Which'ordinarily are treated only at great expense. Furthermore,

in the case of concentrates rich in sulfur, thev sulfur therein contained is utilized as fuel to a large extent, 'and reduces the amount of:-

oil or other fuel necessary to be admitted through the burner L.

What is claimed is:

1. The herein described method of smelt ing coarse and fine ores, consistingv in generating a smelting heat in a combustion chamber, converting the' coarse ore to a fused or molten condition by such heat, and

projecting fines horizontally into thecombustion chamber Where they are treated in suspension, substantially as described.

2. The herein described method, consisting in generating a smelting heat in a combustion chamber, converting ore thereby to a fused or molten condition, and as a sec ondary operation injecting fines under pressure to the combustion chamber whereby the fines are treated in an atmosphere of combustion, substantially as described; C

3. The herein described method of smelting, consisting in generating 32L smelting heat in a combustion chamber, directing the heat to a column of ore to convert the ore to a fused or'molten condition, and projecting fines intermittingly into the combustion chamber, substantially as described.

HARPER M. ORAHOOD,

Ememttor of t he last will and testament of It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 995,366, granted June [8, 1911,

upon the application of John W. Nesmith, deceased, by Harper M. Orahood, of

Denver, Colorado, for an improvement in Methods of Smeltin'g', the State of incorporation of the assignee was erroneously given as Colorado whereas said State should have been given flirtin and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 1st day of August, A. D., 1911.

SEALQ E. MOORE,

Umnmz'ssioner of Patents.

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