MXPA96002135A - Refractory brick design for the extreme block of a contained recipient with refractor - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a container for very high temperature materials comprising: a. a helmet having a lower part and sides, an outer surface, an inner surface, and an opening having an upper end for receiving the materials therein and for the exit of the high temperature materials thereof, the helmet has a annular surface in the opening b. a wedge configuration member having an internally inclined, internal surface and a parallel external surface that abuts against an adjacent inner surface of the helmet; a layer of refractory material that lines that portion of the interior surface that includes the bottom portion and extends upward from a site near but below the wedge configuration member; and d. another refractory having an inclined surface that abuts against the inner surface inclining inwardly of the wedge configuration member, the other refractory member further having a portion extending through the annular surface of the aperture in contact with the annular surface to protect the anul surface

Description

"REFRACTORY BRICK DESIGN FOR THE OPEN END OF A CONTAINED REFRACTORY CONTAINER" REFERENCE TO THE RELATED APPLICATION The present application is a continuation in part of the North American Application Serial Number 08 / 126,256 filed on September 24, 1993.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to improved refractory configurations for surrounding openings in refractory lined containers for high temperature melt materials, such as iron or steel. High temperature containers of the type for which the present invention is particularly effective, include casting spoons for molten metal, tilting ovens, rotary kilns or other similar containers lined with a refractory material and having a curved inner cross section, illustrative of which is that disclosed in US Pat. No. 4,989,843 issued to William E. Dietrich et al. on February 5, 1991. Due to the extremely high operating temperature of these containers, a number of problems have arisen when using the proposals of the prior art. In this way, for example, refractory materials are subject to thermal expansion and contraction, thermal shock and wear abrasion, all of which can be made worse by impurities in the molten material such as slag. In addition to the foregoing, and in part due to considerations related to extremes of thermal expansion and contraction resulting from extreme temperature travel, there has been a tendency for refractory bricks or the like to loosen, break or be dislodged from their installed positions, and either fall into the contents of the container or fall out of the container when the container is tilted or inverted to empty its contents. High temperature containers of the type proposed hereinabove and referred to above, typically include an outer hull of metal, an inner liner comprised of a plurality of aligned or overlapping logs of refractory brick and an opening in a end in the container. Unless means are provided at the open end of the container to hold the refractory bricks securely in place, forces exerted on the refractory bricks in a direction toward the open end of the container may cause one or more of the passes the refractory bricks fall out of the open end. Proposals have previously been made to retain the refractory liners in place, but all of these previous propositions have had disadvantages. As referenced in US Patent Number 4,989,843, supra, one of these prior art retaining structures was in the form of a steel angle iron having a flange attached to the inner surface of the outer case of the steel spoon. cast adjacent to the open end and another flange not enclosed by the refractory material extending from its joint or union with the flange at the open end of the ladle. This other flange is extended radially inwardly with respect to the interior of the ladle at a distance essentially the same as that to which the refractory material extends, and it speaks a layer of refractory tamping material sandwiched between a passage closer to the brick refractory and a flange surface that extends into the iron steel angle. When the ladle was completely or essentially inverted, the aligned passes of the refractory brick were supported by the flange extending inwards from the steel angle iron, thus preventing the refractory material from falling out of the inverted ladle . Nevertheless, the aforementioned types and others of the prior art retention structures exhibited problems when they were subjected to preheating or runs at extreme temperature. As is known to those skilled in the art, a preheater is typically used to heat the refractory material to a temperature close to that to which it will be subjected when it encounters molten materials, in order to reduce the risk of breakage or failure due to shock. thermal. Typically, hot gases are directed from the preheater to the open end of the container inwards. The hot waste gases escaping from the interior during the preheating operation meet the retaining structure of the prior art, and because a portion of the metal thereof was typically exposed to these gases and was not entirely enclosed by the refractory. , a portion was excessively heated by the hot waste gases, eventually resulting in deformation or failure of the structure. In this case, the effectiveness of these retention structures was essentially reduced or eliminated. As further described in the aforementioned US Patent, attempts to solve the problem of the prior retaining structure resulted in a different orientation of the iron materials used in the retaining structure so that it would be practical to cover the same entirely with a layer of refractory tamping material reinforced with other elements. However, this refractory tamping material was thus exposed to wear, thus requiring more frequent maintenance. Still other problems were inherent in the propositions of the prior art. Thus, for example, in the prior art proposals described so far, problems were encountered when it became necessary to replace the refractory or worn refractory bricks of refractory materials. For this purpose, a pneumatic hammer was mainly used. Because the geometries of the container and the inherent difficulties in the effective positioning and control of the pneumatic hammer frequently resulted in damage to the retaining structures, thus requiring their replacement.

The aforementioned US Patent Number 4,989,843 designates propositions to solve the problems inherent in the pre-existing prior art. In accordance with the propositions of this patent, a rounded protuberance was provided near the internal circumference of the container opening, which was installed one pass of the refractory brick in mating engagement with it. Each refractory brick in this pass was provided with a rounded recess that after installation was in mating engagement with the circumferential protrusion, thereby providing the fastening of each refractory brick in this circumferential passage towards the circumferential protrusion and consequently through the same towards the main body of the exterior of the container. However, it has been found in practice that due to extreme temperature variations and the consequent expansions and contractions, there has been a tendency for this special stressed refractory brick to fracture, thereby degrading or destroying the efficiency of the circumferential protuberances. to retain this brick in its designated locations. Accordingly, there has continued to be a need for improved construction that provides secure retention of these refractories in their designated positions, while at the same time avoiding the previously cited problems of the prior art propositions. In addition to the above-mentioned problems, the edge-arc brick of the ladle does not provide protection to the steel retaining elements or the ladle helmet. During deslagging, re-scooping and emptying or discharge of steel and / or slag, damage occurs to the steel protuberances that come into contact with the edge arcs, the steel hull of the ladle and the reinforcing bands of the ladle. This is due, for example, to the fact that slag, steel and similar materials during deslagging, re-extraction with a bucket and emptying or unloading (with reference to US Pat. No. 4,989,843) can act on the steel hull 21 , the monolithic material 40, and the metal retaining member 34.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The principles of the present invention overcome the deficiencies of the prior art by eliminating the aforementioned notch while advantageously exploiting the thermal expansion of the entire refractory lining in order to increase the friction forces between the adjacent brick to prevent its dislodging. In another embodiment, the protrusion is removed and the aforementioned inward movement is effected through the cooperative interaction of a wedge-shaped member while the same and the adjacent refractories expand with the increase in temperature. The improvement of additional durability results from the cooperative action between the refractories and a skimmed edge brick of the ladle. In addition, the edge brick of the present invention can act as a spigot to assist deslagging, bucket re-extraction, or discharge of liquid steel and / or liquid slags and can be used with any of the current edge-arch designs. .

OBJECTS AND PARTICULARITIES OF THE INVENTION A general object of this invention is to improve containers lined with refractory at high temperature. Another object of the invention is to reduce the faults and increase the life of these containers. Still another object of the invention is to simplify the repairs of these containers.

Still another object of the invention is to facilitate the installation of refractory materials in these containers. A still further object of the invention is to reduce the initial costs and maintenance of these containers. Accordingly, and in accordance with a particularity of the invention, a non-straight angular surface of a refractory brick is placed in a wedge-like relationship with a wall of a containment container and a protrusion thereby facilitating the thermal expansion of the refractory lining. In accordance with another feature of the invention in an alternative embodiment, the protrusion is removed and a wedge of refractory material is used to advantageously provide and use the thermal expansion mentioned above. A still further particularity of the invention is advantageously to employ thermal expansion by correspondingly moving the refractory rings inwardly, thereby avoiding discrete limitations for thermal expansion and movement. A still further particularity of the invention is to advantageously employ the inward movement of thermal expansion mentioned above by correspondingly increasing the lateral frictional forces between the adjacent brick, thereby increasing the forces that hold the brick in the desired positions. Still a further particularity of the invention is to place in cooperative combination with the adjacent refractories, a configuration of a skimmed brick of the pouring ladle providing protection for the aforementioned wedge-shaped member and the associated refractories, essentially extending from this way the useful duration of refractories. It is still another feature of the invention to provide a ring of refractories, including in combination of cooperation, refractory edge configurations at sites designated for casting and other refractory in the remaining regions. These and other objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description by way of example, with reference to the drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING Figure 1 is a top view of a high temperature refractory pouring spoon; Figure 2 is a side view in partial section showing the details of a preferred embodiment, in accordance with the principles of the invention; Figure 3 is a partial cut-away view illustrating an upper layer of refractory bricks placed in accordance with the invention; Figure 4 is a view showing the wedge-shaped brick in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the invention; Figure 5 is a side view in partial section showing the details of an alternative embodiment with a refractory slag edge configuration of the ladle providing protection for its associated wedge and adjacent members; and Figure 6 is a side view in partial section showing a refractory configuration of pouring ladle rim, installed in a conventional ladle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Turning now to the drawing, and more particularly to Figure 1 thereof, it will be seen that it illustrates a high temperature pouring spoon which is generally shown at 10. Fixed at the sides 11 of the pouring spoon there is a pair of dies 12a and 12b conventional that are provided to manipulate the ladle. Also included in the embodiment of Figure 1 is an optional, outwardly projecting, conventional edge 13 which may or may not be provided, depending on the use to which the ladle is primarily intended. As is known to those skilled in the art, the outer hull of the ladle, such as that illustrated in Figure 1, is usually made of iron or steel of adequate thickness to support the weight of the refractory lining and the material that will fill the container. The thickness will vary, depending on the size of the container and the material for which it is intended to be used, and this is conventional as is well known. Accordingly, the thickness of the sides 11 and the dimensions of the wall that will be described below, the support wall, the support and the members are not critical except to the extent that will be described below. Accordingly, it should be understood that the illustrations herein are not necessarily made to scale but are provided solely to illustrate the invention and the preferred embodiment thereof. Furthermore it should be noted at this point that for purposes of clarity, Figure 1 illustrates the condition of the container before the refractory materials are installed and therefore does not show all the elements of Figures 2 and 3. In addition to the above, and more particularly as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3, Figure 1 shows an additional partial wall member 14 extending from adjacent the top 15 of the pouring spoon 10 downward to a portion of the upper part. of the annular support 16 projecting inwards. The partial wall member 14 and the annular holder 16 reinforce the container around its opening and provide support for the special trapezoidal refractory brick which is placed in accordance with the principles of the present. In addition, an annular member 17 is provided which can either be part of the wall member 14 or securely fastened to it for example by welding. As mentioned above, Figure 2 is a partial sectional view through the side of the container 10 and illustrates the elements of Figure 1 in greater detail. In addition, it illustrates the placement and configurations of the refractory brick and mortar. In carrying out the principles of the present, the lower refractory bricks eg bricks 19, 20 and 21 are conventional. As will be recognized by those skilled in the art, bricks 21 are the usual security refractory., while bricks 19 and 20 illustrate the usual refractory work. They can be manufactured from any of the conventional materials commonly employed in high temperature techniques. The refractory 18 of trapezoidal shape on the other hand, is of unconventional configuration. Although not essential for the practice of the invention, the material from which it is manufactured must not only be relatively resistant to slag and abrasion, but must also have high strength to satisfactorily resist the lateral stresses that arise from the expansion when undergoes high temperatures. The materials that are found to be especially preferred are the basic and conventional alumina brick and the pre-molded compositions used in the metallurgical pouring spoons. Again referring to Figure 2, it will be preferred to include a layer 22 of refractory or refractory plastic mortar which can be any of a variety of conventional materials well known in the art. It is provided to fill the space that would otherwise exist in the support 16, above the refractory 19, and below the refractory 18. In some cases, no cement slurry is used. As mentioned above, the shaped refractory brick 18 is of trapezoidal configuration as shown in Figure 2. Therefore, while its upper and lower surfaces 23 and 24 are parallel, its surface 26 facing outwardly is not parallel to this. Inward facing surface 25 thereby forming a tapered slot 27 characterized by a sharp angle 28. The degree of tapering as illustrated by the acute angle 28 is not critical to the practice of the invention. While the selected size of the angle will depend to some degree on the related geometries of the container, it has been found that an angle that falls within the range of about 10 ° to 45 ° has been satisfactory. Regardless of the selected angle, the tapered slot 27 is filled with refractory mortar or cement slurry 33 in order to eliminate any gaps that might otherwise cause problems during use. Further inspection of Figure 2 will reveal that the surface 26 facing outward at its lower end abuts against the intersection 29 of the inner surface 30 of a partial wall member 14 and the upper surface 31 of the annular support 16. It does not need to come up against the surface 31. In addition, the surface 26 comes into contact with the adjacent curved surface 32 of the annular protrusion 17, but does not need to. These contact points are important to define the position of the refractory brick 18. As mentioned above, the lower refractories are conventionally installed, after which a layer of grout 22 of refractory mortar is prepared. The refractories 18 are then installed in a ring surrounding the container opening, as illustrated in Figure 3. Turning now to Figure 3, it will be seen that a portion of the upper end of the container 10, cut away to show only one part, is illustrated. portion of the trapezoidal-shaped refractory brick 18 that remains above the conventional refractories. Figure 3 illustrates the side-to-side relationship of the refractories. As illustrated, they are essentially uniform in thickness and the slight non-uniformity in the separation between them from the front to the back (due to the circumferential geometry of the formation) is compensated by a very thin layer of mortar or grout between them. which is applied in the form of a thick suspension as the bricks are placed in place. Bricks of different thicknesses can be used. In common facilities, a combination of arch, straight or wedge brick may be used, the ring 18 as seen from the part (Figure 3) is an arched brick as illustrated by brick 18a in Figure 4 Decreasing the thickness slightly towards the center line of the container. This change in thickness is exaggerated in Figure 4 so that it can be illustrated more clearly. When a high temperature container according to the invention is put into use, it is usually preheated to a temperature close to that of the material selected for the introduction. Due to the extremely high temperature change, the refractory materials expand significantly. The expansion of the refractory materials 18, 19 and 20 is advantageously used to increase the forces that hold them in place. Therefore, as the temperature rises and the brick 18 tends to expand upwardly, its outwardly facing surfaces 26 tend to march up correspondingly.; and due to the inclination of these surfaces, the forces between the surfaces 26 and the annular protuberance 17 push the brick inward to the center of the opening of the pouring spoon. This in turn presses the forward positions of the bricks to meet, increases the friction between them, and correspondingly increases the forces that hold them in place. Accordingly, the changes due to thermal expansion become advantageous and it has been found that they hold the bricks reliably and in a manner in which it depends (such as brick 18) installed around the periphery of the opening of the bucket of laundry in their installed locations even when the ladle is tilted for casting or inverted to empty. Turning now to Figure 5, an alternative mode is shown. In it, instead of the previously described protrusion (annular protuberance 17) a wedge configuration member 40 is included, whose external surface 41 abuts against the internal surface 42 of the containment container. The inclined surface 43 of the wedge configuration member 20 is shown displaced from the correspondingly inclined inner surface 44 of a brick 45 of unsheathed edge of the pouring spoon of singular configuration. In practice, however, the surface 43 and 44 are placed in contact with one another so that the edge brick 45 expands with the rising temperature, and its surface 44 tends to run up along the surface 43 of wedge thus pushing the edge brick 45 inwardly to the center of the ladle and correspondingly increasing the friction forces previously described between it and its adjacent edge bricks in a similar manner in order to increase the forces of friction that holds them tightly in place. At the same time, the generally horizontal inner surface 46 of the edge brick 45 which extends above the top of the wedge 40, and at least a portion of the edge 13a and protects them from exposure to molten metals, the slag and other potentially harmful materials, therefore, in combination of cooperation with this, the duration of operation of the refractory assembly is markedly prolonged. To facilitate the use of the edge brick 45 and to facilitate the cooperating relationships of the refractories, a layer 47 of a conventional plastic mortar or refractory can be installed between the lower surface 48 of the edge brick 45 and the upper surfaces 49 and 50 of conventional refractories 51 and 52. Examples of the conventional plastic refractories from which layer 47 is manufactured are high alumina plastics that solidify in air, high alumina plastics linked with phosphate, alumina-chromium plastics, and refractory clay plastics. Of these, high-alumina plastics linked with phosphate are preferred. As mentioned above, Figure 6 is a partial sectional side view showing a modification of the skimmed edge brick 45a of the improved ladle installed in a conventional ladle refractory beam formation. Since these conventional formations do not include the wedge-shaped members such as the wedge member 40 (Figure 5), their generally vertical surface 44a (corresponding to the surface 44 inclined in Figure 5) abuts against the inner surface 42a containment container. Even though the wedging action described above does not occur in the embodiment of Figure 6, the presence of the skimmed brick 45a of the pouring spoon protects the layer 47, the annular support projection 53 extending in circumferential direction, the edge 54 where they meet, and all or part of the edge 13a, thus preventing the entrance of the molten or abrasive material towards the shore region. As mentioned above, one of the features of the invention includes the optional combination of the edge arc refractories as illustrated in Figures 5 and 6 towards an edge ring, thereby achieving savings in the installation.

It will now be apparent to those skilled in the art that an improved high temperature vessel has been described herein that provides improved reliability, service life and ease of maintenance. Although the present invention has been described by way of example of a preferred embodiment, it will be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be employed without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. For example, a series of protrusions placed annularly instead of a continuous ring could be used as illustrated. The terms and expressions used herein have been used as terms of description and not of limitation and, therefore, the exclusion of an equivalent is not intended, but on the contrary, it is intended to protect any and all of the other equivalents that may be to be used without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims (21)

CLAIMS:

1. A container for very high temperature materials comprising: a. a helmet having a lower part and sides, an outer surface, an inner surface, and an opening having an upper end for receiving the materials therein and for the exit of the high temperature materials thereof, the helmet has a annular surface in the opening; b. a wedge configuration member having an inwardly inclined, internal surface and an external surface parallel and abutting against an adjacent inner surface of the hull; c. a layer of refractory material that lines that part of the inner surface that includes the lower part and extends upwards from a site near but below the wedge configuration member; and d. another refractory having an inclined surface that abuts against the inner surface inclining inwardly of the wedge configuration member, the other refractory member further having a portion extending through the annular surface of the aperture in contact with the annular surface to protect the annular surface.

2. A container for very high temperature materials according to claim 1, wherein the wedge configuration member is adjacent to the opening.

3. A container for very high temperature materials according to claim 1, wherein the wedge configuration member is metallic.

4. A container for very high temperature materials according to claim 1, wherein the wedge configuration member is a refractory.

5. A container for very high temperature materials according to claim 1, wherein a part of the other refractory is above the wedge configuration member.

6. A container for very high temperature materials according to claim 1, wherein the external surface of the wedge is essentially vertical.

7. A container for very high temperature materials according to claim 1, wherein the wedge-shaped member is adjacent to the opening.

8. A container for very high temperature materials according to claim 7, wherein a part of another refractory is above the wedge-shaped member.

9. A container for very high temperature materials comprising: a. a helmet having a lower part and sides, an outer surface, an inner surface, and an opening having an upper end for receiving the materials therein and for outputting the high temperature materials therefrom, having the helmet an annular surface in the opening; b. an edge member extending inwardly around the inner periphery of the helmet below the opening; c. a layer of refractory material that lines that part of the inner surface that includes the lower part and extends up to below the surface of the edge member; and d. Another refractory in the opening having an external inclined surface, the other refractory one is above and completely covers the edge member and extends upwards through the opening to cover the annular surface.

10. A container for very high temperature liquids comprising: a. a helmet having a lower part and sides, an outer surface, a main inner surface and an opening having an upper end for receiving the materials therein and for exiting the fluids at a high temperature therefrom, the helmet has a surface curved in the opening and a central axis extending through the opening, b. a first wedge-shaped portion of the main interior surface extending partially inwardly adjacent the opening, the first portion of the main interior surface also laterally extending generally parallel to the opening adjacent to a majority of the opening; c. a first layer of refractory material that lines the part of the main interior surface and extends through the opening to cover the curved surface; and d. means responsive to the increased temperature of the first layer of refractory material in order to correspondingly push the first layer of refractory material towards the shaft.

A container according to claim 10, wherein the means for pushing the first layer towards the shaft includes the first part of the main interior surface.

A container according to claim 10, wherein the layer of refractory material comprises a plurality of refractory bricks of special configuration configured in accordance with the element 45 of Figure 5.

13. A container according to claim 10, wherein the layer of refractory material comprises a plurality of refractory bricks of special configuration configured in accordance with element 45a of Figure 6.

14. A container according to claim 12, wherein the means for correspondingly pushing the first layer towards the shaft also responds to the increased temperature of the refractory material in order to push together the plurality of refractory bricks of special configuration.

15. A container according to claim 13, wherein the means for correspondingly pushing the first layer towards the shaft, also responds to the increasing temperature of the refractory material to push together the plurality of refractory bricks of special configuration.

16. A container according to claim 10, wherein the first layer of refractory material includes an edge arc refractory according to claim 17.

17. An edge arc refractory having: (a) an essentially flat upper surface and an essentially planar bottom surface parallel to the top surface; (b) a first side having an essentially flat surface extending upwardly from one end of the lower surface through a distance less than the distance separating the upper and lower surface; (c) a second side having an essentially flat surface that projects downward from one end of the upper surface essentially at right angles to the upper surface, to a first position less than the entire distance between the upper and lower surface; (d) a third flat surface essentially parallel to the upper surface which depends on the lower end of the second side and which extends inwardly to the first side through a distance less than the distance between the first and second sides; and (e) a fourth substantially planar surface joining an inner extremity of the third planar surface with an extremity of the lower surface.

18. An edge arc refractory according to claim 17, wherein the end of the lower surface is separated through the lower surface away from the first side.

19. An edge arch refractory according to claim 17, wherein the fourth surface is substantially parallel to the second side.

20. An edge arch refractory according to claim 17, wherein the fourth surface is inclined with respect to the second side.

21. An edge arc refractory according to claim 17, further including another flat surface extending between the upper end of the first side and a tip of the upper surface separated from the second side.