Reverberatory furnace

Metallurgical or process furnace that isolates the material being processed from contact with the fuel, but not from contact with the combustion gases

Advantages: High volume processing rate Low operating maintenance costs Disadvantages: High metal oxidation rates Low efficiencies Large floor space requirement

http://chem-brains.blogspot.in/2012/04/p-block-elements-ii-five-marks.html

1815 1820 : R. Stirling

Now it is possible to increase the efficiency of the process

Modern steel making by Dr. R.H. Tupkary, V.R. Tupkary

Open Hearth Furnace for steel making

1861 :
Developed by William & Fredrick in Germany Emile & Pierre Martin in France Siemens-Martins process or Open hearth process Acidic process or Basic process

Charge : Scrap + Molten metal + limestone

Heated by either Liquid/gaseous fuels using the heat regeneration principle, to attain steel making temperature of about 1600-1700 oC Slow, therefore better control of refining reactions to achieve a good quality product

Furnace construction

Main parts: Reaction chamber Gas & Air uptakes and downtakes The regenerators & the stack The reversing valves

1. Reaction chamber
a) b) c) d) Hearth Walls Roof Ports

Massive & rigid concrete foundation and I-beams

Hearth:
Rectangular steel pan with 15-30 cm thick Chill boxes are provided to facilitate cooling at each end Initial lining is done by insulating or fire bricks Three layers of acid or basic bricks to shape the hearth contour such that it is sloping from all sides towards the tap hole located in the centre of the back wall The sub-hearth is thoroughly dried first and then working hearth is prepared in either cold or hot condition Slag wash to the working hearth to decrease the attack of a similar slag
Thickness of the lining 60-75 cm Depth of the hearth 90 cm

Note: 1. A shallow bath results in a large slag-metal interfacial area & hasten the heat and mass transfer 2. For a given capacity, the length, the width & the depth are chosen in a way that the flame should cross over the bath in less than 2 seconds since its temperature falls at the rate of about 200 oC/s

Walls:
Heavy steel sections
Front wall is vertical & the back wall, at least in the lower part is inclined to gradually make it a part of the hearth banks (above the slag-level) The back wall contains the tap hole at the bottom centre Front wall is made up of doors with water cooled steel frames Doors are lined by either firebricks or by chrome-magnesite monolith End walls are vertical

Roof:
Difficult to repair during service Made of either acid or basic bricks Two kinds of design (i) Suspended (3040 cm) and (ii) Sprung arch with reinforcing rib steel plates (40-50 cm)

Ports:
Openings through which the air & the gaseous fuel enter the furnace chamber Gaseous fuel or Oil As big as possible to deliver maximum fuel & air to liberate maximum heat in the chamber per unit time

Alternatively acts as a burner and as a offtake

The angle & its size should also ensure smooth & almost unidirectional flow of the products of combustion across the combustion chamber The directional control of the flame is effective if the off-take is of smaller size

Ports:
The material used for constructing the port should withstand the action of very fast moving hot furnace gases Either silica brick construction with a layer of chrome-magnesite at the nose or of chrome-magnesite bricks backed with fireclay

Water cooling arrangement to improve the life of the port

Dog house is a refractory structure to protect the oil firing burner

Gas & air uptakes (downtakes):

Vertical passages connecting the ports to the regenerators Acts as uptake (to carry fuel & air up) and as a downtake (to carry furnace exhaust gases down) Either silica brick or basic brick construction with a backing layer of fire bricks Slag pocket (to collect slag particles and others) To store the sensible heat of the furnace gases

Checker bricks

Efficiency is proportional to the surface area/unit volume