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US 12,158,306 B2Granted
Melting furnace purge system and method
AssigneeFives North American Combustion, Inc.
InventorsThomas F. Robertson, Douglas A. Clauss
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A furnace has a melting chamber with a periphery defined by a surrounding wall structure. The furnace is provided with a purge system configured to direct inert gas to flow downward in the melting chamber in the configuration of a curtain that adjoins the wall structure and reaches only partially around the periphery of the melting chamber.
Claims17
An apparatus comprising:
- a furnace configured to melt metal pieces, the furnace comprising a melting chamber with a periphery defined by a surrounding wall structure, a charge port configured for entry of the metal pieces into the melting chamber, and a discharge port configured to drain molten metal from the melting chamber;
- a source of an inert gas;
- and
- a purge system communicating with the source of inert gas, wherein the purge system comprises a port structure only at a distal end of the melting chamber away from the charge port, wherein the purge system is configured to direct the inert gas from the source to flow through the port structure downward in the melting chamber in a configuration of a curtain that adjoins the wall structure in only a portion of the periphery of the melting chamber distal to the charge port to limit a surface area of an interface between the inert gas and an atmospheric gas in the melting chamber, the purge system is further configured to slowly flow the inert gas such that an upper surface of the inert gas rises in the melting chamber to displace the atmospheric gas from the melting chamber.
1 more element
An apparatus comprising:
- a furnace structure defining a melting chamber, a charge port configured for entry of metal pieces comprising lithium into the melting chamber, and a discharge port configured to drain molten metal from the melting chamber, including a block of refractory material having a surface within the melting chamber at a peripheral boundary of the melting chamber;
- a source of an inert gas comprising argon;
- and
- a port structure communicating with the source of inert gas, wherein the port structure is only at a distal end of the melting chamber away from the charge port to limit a surface area of an interface between the inert gas and an atmospheric gas in the melting chamber, and the port structure is open at the surface of the block and is configured to direct the inert gas downward over the surface of the block.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.