Apparatus and Method for Flame Control to Melt Metal
AssigneeAir Products and Chemicals, Inc.
InventorsEric R. Seo, Reed Jacob Hendershot, Anandkumar Makwana, Valmiro Correia Sa
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus, system, and process for melting a metal can be configured to utilize a scheme for flame control to improve heating of scrap metal while also avoid flame impingement on liquified metal. Embodiments can utilize one or more sensors to detect a solid or liquid state of the metal to be melted and adjust the flame (e.g. adjust the length and/or direction of the flame) output from one or more burners of a furnace to account for the detected state of the metal.
Claims21
A process for melting metal material comprises:
- directing at least one flame to metal material in a bath such that the at least one flame impinges the metal material or is within a pre-selected distance that is no greater than 2 meters from the metal material while an entirety of the metal material is in a solid state;
- in response to detecting that the metal material has melted such that the metal material is at least in a partially liquid state, adjusting the at least one flame to move the at least one flame away from the metal material.
An apparatus for melting metal material comprising:
- a bath having a bottom, a plurality of sidewalls extending above the bath;
- at least one sensor positioned to monitor metal material that is positionable in the bath to collect data related to melting of the metal material in the bath;
- at least one burner posited adjacent to the bath to output at least one flame for melting of the metal material that is positionable in the bath;
- a controller having a processor connected to a non-transitory computer readable medium, the controller communicatively connectable to the at least one sensor and the at least one burner;
- the controller configured to
- control operation of the at least one burner so that the least one flame impinges an upper surface of the metal material or is within a pre-selected distance that is no greater than 2 meters from the upper surface of the metal material within the bath while an entirety of the metal material is in a solid state;
- determine that the metal material has melted such that the metal material is entirely in a liquid state based on sensor data received from the at least one sensor, and, in response to determining that the metal material is entirely in the liquid state, control operation of the at least one burner to adjust the at least one flame to move the at least one flame away from the metal material.
A control system comprising:
- a controller having a processor connected to a non-transitory computer readable medium, the controller communicatively connectable to the at least one sensor and at least one burner positioned to output at least one flame to melt metal material;
- the controller configured to
- control operation of the at least one burner so that the least one flame impinges an upper surface of the metal material or is within a pre-selected distance that is no greater than 2 meters from the upper surface of the metal material while an entirety of the metal material is in a solid state;
- and
- determine that the metal material has melted such that the metal material is entirely in a liquid state based on sensor data received from the at least one sensor, and, in response to determining that the metal material is entirely in the liquid state, control operation of the at least one burner to adjust the at least one flame to move the at least one flame away from the metal material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.