Process and apparatus for the metered introduction of fine-grain solid materials into an industrial furnace particularly a blast furnace or cupola furnace

An apparatus for metered introduction of granular solid substances from a metering container into a furnace comprising:

• a metering container having an upper end section and a lower end section, said metering container defining a pressure vessel which is adapted to be filled with solid substance at said upper end section, said metering container having a plurality of upwardly open chambers communicating with said lower end section;
• at least one conveying duct communicating with each of said chambers and leading to a plurality of feed locations for feeding the furnace;
• a gas-permeable incident flow floor provided in each chamber on the side thereof remote from said metering container, said gas permeable incident flow floor having attached thereto a carrier gas duct for the supply of carrier gas;
• weighing means associated with said metering container;
• a top gas duct connected to said upper end section of said metering container, said top gas duct being provided with a regulating valve for feeding top gas under excess pressure;
• first regulating means for comparing the actual weight of said metering container, after specified time intervals, with its theoretical weight, and for increasing or decreasing the pressure in the metering container by regulation of the top gas pressure in the event of the actual weight exceeding or falling below the theoretical weight, respectively, and wherein the pressure in said metering container is kept constant in the event of agreement between the theoretical weight and the actual weight;
• said conveying ducts having a cross-section which is substantially reduced defining a constriction in an area disposed upsteam of a selected feed location wherein the diameter of the conveying ducts is reduced from about 25 to 40 mm prior to said constriction to about 6 to 8 mm subsequent to said constriction;
• bypass duct means for guiding secondary gas into each conveying duct, said bypass duct means being upstream of said constriction;
• measuring means associated with each of said conveying ducts for determining the actual conveying power of each conveying duct;
• mean value former means for determining the mean conveying power for each conveying duct;
• and
• second regulating means associated with each of said conveying ducts for increasing or decreasing the quantity of secondary gas fed to the conveying duct if the actual conveying power of the conveying duct, as determined by said measuring means is greater or smaller, respectively, than the mean conveying power of each of said conveying ducts as determined by said mean value former means.