USRE4898E - Improvement in processes of roasting, burning - Google Patents

Description

. WHELPLEY & STORER.

Improvement 'in the Process of Roasting, Burning, and Smelting Ores.

N0. 4,898. I Reissued M'i'y 7,1872.

4,sos

UNIT D STATES JAMES n. WHELPLEY AND JACOB J. TORER, on BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

PATENT OFFICE.

mPnovimrur m Paoct-sszs 0F ROAST-ING, BURNING. ANDTREATING METALLIC ORES AND MINERALS.

@pecification forming. partof Letters Patent No. 41,251, dated J unna'ry 12, 186}; reissue No. 4,898, dated May 7,

' Division B.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JAMES 1) WHELPLE and JACOB J. STORER, of Boston, countyof Sufi'olk, and State of Massachusetts, have invented a newand useful Process of Roasting, Burnirig, and Treating Metallic Ores and Minerals; and we hereby declare the following to be a full and exact description of the same,

reference being bad to the accompanying sheet of drawing, which forms a part of this specifi cation, and which shows a longitudinal vertical section of .a furnace and its appendagessuitable for carrying out our invention.

The ore tobe treated by our process must .belreduced to fine powder, so that as it passes through the furnace itis acted upon throughout. We generally preferto grind it so as to resemble dust or flour, though this is not necessary in all cases. A distinguishing feature of our invention is that the ore or other substance isaerially supported or carried while it is undergoing the process of roasting or burnin g. The invention, therefore, consists in forcing or dropping the ore in fine powder, either alone or mixed with fluxes or chemical reagents, through "a shaft, flue, or furnace, and

subjecting it toheat by means of flame, gases, heated air, or the products of combustion from a suitable furnace, fire-box, or gas-generator. The invention also consists in separating the ore and its products from the'gaseousmatters by meansof water in the form of a shower or spray, in the manner. hereinafter described. The invention further consists in subjecting I the ore, whileit is falling, wafted, or blown through the furnace to' the action of steam and heated air, either together or separately, so as to assist and regulate the process of calcining, roasting, and smelting the ore.

The foliqwing description will enable any one skilled inthe art to make and use our in.-

vention.

A is the shell of the furnace, of brickor other suitable material. 0 is the drop-flue or flame-chimney, from twelve to twenty feet deep, formed by the fourpartit ons B B. p A cross-section of this chimneyisa parallelogram measuring atthe top six feet by one'andonehalf, and atthe bottom six feet by three. D 1s trough or tank. Z, so that when said tank is fullof water, the surface of the water shall form in effect a bottom to the flue D, which arrangement allows the deposit on the bottom to be raked out under thearches V without disturbing thedraught or opening the furnace. F is a partition or three-sided box, extending down from the top of the flue D a little more than half way toward the bottom of the same, leaving a' spacebetween the sides of the flue for the draught to pass through the holes g in the sides of said box. E is afan-wheel placed as shown in the drawing, the axle passing through the holes g in the sides of the box F,

the design of the wheel being to increase the draught anddraw into the flamefchimney 0 through the ports t and u and passages ru 8 an additional supply of air. Attached to'the shaft of the fan-wheel E, outside of the spraychamber or air-box of the wheel, are arms or dashers, b, in the passage-way leading from the chamber to the blower, which arms, when revolving, strike the water, whereby the passages are kept cool with spray, and the flame of the furnace prevented from'extending into I the wheel. The ends of the arms of the fanwheel also strike the surface of the water and fill the chamber G with spray by which all the floating dust and particles of metal are wet down, condensed, and deposited on the bottom of the chamber G, and saved instead-0f being carried oil through the chimney H and lost. To further increase the, quantity of spray in the spray-chamber, water may be let in through pipes or openings at any convenbe closed except when the fire is being kindled on the grates}? P, and a direct upward draught is desirable. T is an induction-pipe or hopper on the top of the cover X, and situated direct- 1y over the center of the flame-chimney 0, as

2 e -Leos shown in the drawing. M is a fan-blower mounted on a suitable frame, 0, and connect ed with the hopper T by means of the pipe J.

, N (shown by the dotted line) is a hopper open; ing into the center of the blower M, into which hopper is fed the finely-pulverized substance to be smelted, burned, or roasted, the same being driven by the current of air generated by the fan, through pipe J into hopperT, and,

still further increased by the combined action:

of the blowenE- and the auxiliary blower opening into the ash-pits, (not represented, being in common use in other furnaces.) The blower E is intended to be from five to six times more powerful than the blower M-so powerful as to draw into'the chimney G to aid combustion, strong currents of air through all the ports.

and openings in the sides of. the chimney, when required. Indeed in some cases we dispense with the famwheel M and depend for the draught entirely on the fan-wheel E and the auxiliary blowers forcing air iuto the ashpits, the material to be acted upon by the flame'being sifted into the-hopper-T. When it is required to mingle steam with the flame" and gases to produce certain results, it may be admitted from pipes w into a chamber, 1:,

at the top of the chimney and through an opening, 3.

From the above description it is obvious I that a large percentage of the'material roasted, burned, a or smelted will fall upon the hearth of the furnace, or (when water is used) into the water-bath W. The remaining per-y tion of the material will be drawn by the fan E into the spray-chamber G, where it will be wetted down and condensed, and thereby pre vented from being lost by passing out through the chimney H.

We do not limit ourselves to the form of apparatus shown, nor to the relative arrangement of parts, as these may be greatly varied without departing from the nature of our invention. The distinguishing feature of our .invention isthat the ore in fine powder is;

blown, floated, or falls through the furnace, and at the same time is subjected to the action of heated gases, fluxes, and chemicals.

Having thus described our invention, what 7 we claim,and desire to secure by Letters Bat ent of the United States, isg 1. The process herein described for treating ores, the same consisting in forcing or dropping the ore in fine powder through a shaft, flue, or furnace, and subjecting it to heated gas or the products of combustion, substantially as set forth.

2. The process described of separating the products resulting from the treatment of the ore by the use of water in spray, as set forth;

3, The process herein described for treatingores, the same consisting in mixing it in fine powder with suitable fluxes or chemical reagents, and subjecting it, while floated, blown, or drawn through aflshaft, flue, or furnace to the action of heat, either with or without the addition of steam, vapors, or gases, all sub

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