Method and arrangement for regenerating a contaminated metal bath
AssigneeStolberger Metallwerke GmbH & Co. KG
InventorsKlaus Elbern, Robert Leffers, Albert Rumbach
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Abstract
A method and a system for regenerating a metal bath contaminated by mixed crystals, particularly a tin bath (17) in a hot-dip coating process. A partial stream of the tin bath (17) is removed from the coating tank (15) and is first of all heated above its liquidus temperature in a heating unit (24). Subsequently, the tin bath is conducted over a cooling unit (27) and, while flowing through a filter (29), is cleaned of mixed crystals coming down as a result of the cooling. The filter 29 is a ceramic foam filter made of silicon carbide. Subsequently, the regenerated tin bath (17a) is heated in a melting tank to process temperature, and returned from there to the coating tank (15).
Claims9
A method for regenerating a metal bath contaminated by mixed crystals, comprising the steps of:
- (a) heating the metal bath to at or above its liquidus temperature to form a liquid metal bath,
- (b) conducting the liquid metal bath over a cooling unit designed as a gutter with a downhill grade and equipped with thermal elements,
- (c) removing mixed crystals coming down during cooling, wherein during flow-through, the bath is guided through at least one ceramic filter located at the end of the downhill grade to separate the mixed crystals and regenerate the bath, and
- (d) collecting the regenerated bath, free of mixed crystals, in a receiving tank, via an outlet of the gutter, wherein the regenerated bath is used in a coating process without requiring repetition of the separation step.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.