Diverter valve construction and method of making same

In a diverter valve construction for controlling flow therethrough of a high temperature fluid, said valve construction comprising

• a metal housing, a refractory lining carried by said housing and lining substantially the entire inside surface of said housing, passage means in said valve construction including an inlet passage and a pair of outlet passages, and flow control means for controlling flow of said fluid between said inlet and outlet passages, said flow control means comprising a pair of poppet valves, each of said poppet valves being supported within said housing and being adapted to be operated independently of the other poppet valve, each of said poppet valves having a closure assembly with a silicon carbide ceramic protective member fixed thereto, and a pair of silicon carbide ceramic tubular valve seat members fixed against said refractory lining with each seat member being adapted to receive a protective member of an associated closure assembly thereagainst, each of said closure assemblies cooperating with an associated seat member to control flow therethrough to an associated outlet passage, each of said seat members enabling repeated cycling of an associated protective member thereagainst with minimum wear,
• said valve housing comprising a pair of parallel tubular portions each having a corresponding tubular portion of said refractory lining and a transverse tubular portion interconnecting said parallel portions adjacent one end portion thereof and placing same in flow communication and also having a corresponding portion of said refractory lining comprising same, said inlet passage being provided in one of said parallel portions, one of said outlet passages being associated with said one parallel portion and the other of said outlet passages being associated with the other of said parallel portions, each of said poppet valves being adapted to be operated in an associated one of said parallel portions to control flow therethrough to an associated outlet passage, each of said ceramic tubular valve seat members being fixed against an associated tubular portion of refractory lining, said ceramic tubular seat members being disposed adjacent said inlet passage and said transverse tubular portion being disposed upstream of said tubular seat members,
• each of said closure assemblies having a refractory material defining the main body thereof, each main body having an associated protective member comprising same, a structural disc embedded substantially centrally within said body, a poppet valve actuating stem operatively associated with said disc and extending through a portion of the refractory material defining said main body of an associated assembly, and actuating means operatively connected to said stem for actuating the associated stem and assembly, and
• each of said closure assemblies having a disc-enclosing wall embedded in its refractory material;
• said enclosing wall having a side wall portion adjoined at its opposite ends by a top wall and a bottom wall;
• said disc being disposed within said side wall and having its peripheral edge fixed to said side wall so that said disc is disposed roughly centrally within said enclosing wall and defines an upper chamber and a lower chamber in the assembly on opposite sides of said disc;
• a plurality of openings in said disc interconnecting said chambers;
• a main structural tube defining said valve actuating stem;
• a flow tube disposed concentrically within said structural tube and defining a cylindrical volume between said flow tube and said structural tube;
• a plurality of orifices in said structural tube adjacent a top surface portion of its structural assembly providing flow passages out of said cylindrical volume;
• said flow tube extending through said upper chamber, through said disc in sealed relation, and exiting into said lower chamber;
• and means for flowing a cooling fluid through said flow tube causing said cooling fluid to flow into said bottom chamber, upwardly through said openings into said top chamber, into said cylindrical volume, and exit said orifices to cool its stem and assembly;
• said cooling fluid upon exiting said orifices also serving to bathe the area of contact between its closure assembly and seat member with its closure assembly against its seat member to provide a cleaning action.