Coke oven charging system

Abstract

A system for charging a coke oven with coal through an opening in the pusher-side of the coke oven wherein the delivery end of a coal charger is introduced into the coke oven at a controlled rate. The amount of coal delivered by the charger is controlled to charge the coke oven with coal at a predetermined and substantially uniform level. A coal hopper is movable between a coal source and the coal charger and is movable with the coal charger when the coal charger moves into and out of the coke oven.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A bank of coke ovens is usually charged by introducing coal into an individual oven through ports in the top of the oven. Generally, larry cars move along the top of the coke ovens between a source of coal and the individual oven to be charged. The larry cars carry thereon a plurality of coal hoppers and discharge coal from the hoppers through the ports in the top of the coke ovens. Coal discharged into the ovens drops a substantial distance thereby causing large amounts of dust and the like. Pollution control has taken the form of many devices sealing the top ports in the coke ovens to prevent the effluents from escaping during charging of the ovens with coal. Many of these pollution control devices are intricate and time consuming thereby causing great expense.

Another method of reducing the amount of effluents escaping during the charging of coke ovens with coal involves the use of permanent installations wherein pneumatic lines extend from a central coal source to the individual ovens. Coal is blown through the pneumatic lines, with a carrier such as steam, into the coke ovens. Advantages of this system are that the coal is loaded through the sides of the ovens thereby reducing the vertical distance the coal drops and that to some extent the system is closed. The disadvantages of this system are the coal must be preheated or dried for conveying through the pneumatic lines which heating is expensive and produces greater amounts of coal dust.

In view of this background, the system of the present invention reduces the amount of effluents escaping during the charging of the coke ovens by introducing coal through an opening in the side of the coke oven but does not produce excessive amounts of coal dust due to the fact that the system operates with non-dried and non-preheated coal. The reduction in coal dust produced during charging is paramount.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a system for charging a coke oven with coal through an opening in the side of the coke oven and more particularly to a system wherein a coal charger having a delivery end is movable into and out of the coke oven from the pusher-side thereof to the coke side thereof.

It is a general object of the present invention to provide a system for charging coal to a coke oven which reduces the amount of effluents escaping during charging.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a system for charging a coke oven with coal which handles non-dried and non-preheated coal thereby reducing the amount of coal dust released during charging.

It is an important object of the present invention to provide a system for charging a coke oven with coal through an opening in the pusher-side of the coke oven, the system comprising a coal charger having a delivery end movable into and out of the coke oven through the coke oven pusher-side opening, and a motor for moving the coal charger delivery end through the side opening into the coke oven and between the pusher-side thereof and the coke side thereof to charge the coke oven with coal thereby reducing the quantity of effluents escaping during charging of the coke oven.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a system of the type set forth wherein there is provided a first motor for moving the coal charger delivery end through the side opening into the coke oven and between the pusher-side thereof and the coke side thereof and a second motor for transporting coal through the coal charger from a source thereof to the delivery end and control mechanism for controlling the first motor and the second motor to coordinate the rate of delivery of coal and the movement of the coal charger in the coke oven.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a system of the type set forth wherein there is provided a coal hopper having a coal dispensing condition thereof and a coal receiving condition thereof, the coal hopper in the coal dispensing condition thereof being connected to the coal charger and in position to dispense coal from the hopper to the charger, the coal hopper in the coal receiving condition thereof being disconnected from the coal charger and in position to receive coal from a source thereof, and means for moving the coal hopper between the coal dispensing position thereof and the coal receiving position thereof.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a system of the type set forth wherein there is provided a detector on the delivery end movable into and out of the coke oven with the coal charger for continually sensing the presence of coal at a predetermined level in the coke oven and control mechanism responsive to the detector for controlling the first motor and the second motor to coordinate the rate of delivery of coal delivered from the delivery end and the movement of the coal charger in the coke oven.

These and other objects of the present invention together with further objects and advantages thereof will best be understood by reference to the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings :

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the system of the present invention including central storage bins, a movable coal hopper, a coal charger, support structure therefor and a coke oven;

FIG. 2 is an end elevational view of the system shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is an electrical schematic diagram of control mechanism for the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a coke oven 50 which includes an oven chamber 51 having a coke side oven door 52 and a pusher-side oven door 53. A chuck door 54 may be positioned above the pusher-side oven door 53 and operated therewith. An oven top 57 encloses the oven chamber 51 and is provided with a plurality of top side ports 58 each having covers 59.

A collector main 60 is situated on the coke side of the oven 50 and is in communication with the oven chamber 51 by means of an ascension pipe 61 extending upwardly from the coke side of the oven chamber 51 and a goose neck 62 interconnecting the ascension pipe and the collector main. Gasses and particulate material produced during charging of the coke oven 50 travel upwardly through the ascension pipe 61 and goose neck 62 into the collector main 60. Steam jets (not shown) may be provided to provide a reduced pressure in the ascension pipe 61 and collector main 60 thereby positively to suck the effluents into the collector main.

A plurality of centrally located coal bins 65 each having shutoff gates 66 are in communication with a conveyor 67 disposed parallel to the longer dimension of the coke oven 50, the conveyor 67 leading to a conveyor 68 extending longitudinally of the bank of coke ovens. At several points along the conveyor 68 there is provided an extension conveyor 69 parallel to the conveyor 67 and providing for a coal loading station, as will be explained. The number of the conveyors 69 is a matter of choice and in some respects will be dictated by the length of the bank of coke ovens. The principal reason for providing a plurality of conveyors 69 is to limit the movement of the hereinafter described coke oven charging mechanism 75 between the coal loading stations and the individual coke ovens 50 to be charged. Clearly, time is lost if the coal charging mechanism 75 has to make inordinately long trips between the coal loading station and the individual oven 50 to be charged. To this end, a plurality of conveyors 69 are provided; however, the cost of material will limit the number of conveyors 69 to a reasonable number less than the number of coke ovens 50 in the bank.

The coal charging mechanism 75 includes a support gantry 76 which has a central support structure 77 having railway wheels 78 journaled for rotation thereon in position to ride upon a pair of railway rails 79 extending longitudinally of the bank of coke ovens and spaced a predetermined distance from the pusher-side of the bank of coke ovens.

A coal hopper 80 is mounted on the gantry 75 and has a top coal storage section 81 in communication with a bottom chute 82. A gate 83, seen in FIG. 1, is provided at the bottom of the chute 82 and is movable between an open position wherein coal in the storage section 81 may fall through the chute 82 and out of the gate 83 and a closed position thereof wherein coal in the storage section 81 and the chute 82 is maintained within the hopper 80. Wheels 85 are provided for the coal hopper 80 and are adapted to ride on the rails 87 positioned on an upstanding support structure 86 to enable the coal hopper to move along the gantry 75 toward and away from the pusher-side of the bank of coke ovens. A motor 88 is located toward the rear of the coal hopper 80 and has an output shaft thereof in connection with the wheels 85 thereby to provide driving power to move the coal hopper 80 between the position shown in full line in FIG. 1 wherein the coal hopper 80 is in the coal receiving condition thereof and the position shown in phantom wherein the coal hopper is in the coal dispensing condition thereof.

A movable charger in the form of a conveyor 90 is mounted on the gantry 75 for sliding longitudinal movement with respect thereto, the charger 90 having a coal receiving end 92 provided with an opening (not shown) and a coal delivery end 91. The delivery end 91 of the coal charger 90 is movable into and out of the individual coke ovens 50 between the pusher-side thereof and the coke side thereof, the charger 90 being introduced into the coke oven 50 through the opening 54 in the pusher-side of the oven. The charger 90 is moved by means of a DC motor 155 mounted on the gantry 75. The motor 155 has an output shaft (not shown) connected to a pinion 94 which drives a rack section 93 on the charger 90 thereby to provide movement of the charger toward and away from the individual coal ovens 50. A plurality of rollers 97 are provided to support the charger 90 and to guide its movement into and out of the ovens 50. Finally, a motor 125 positioned on the charger 90 is operative to drive a screw conveyor 96 located inside the charger 90 thereby to convey coal from the coal receiving end 92 to the coal delivery end 91.

A detector 110 is mounted on the coal charger 90 adjacent to the delivery end 91 thereof and serves to detect coal at a predetermined level in the oven 50. The detector 110 as well as the motor 88 and the motors 125 and 155 are operated from an electrical control mechanism 115 positioned in the central support structure 77 of the gantry 75.

Operation of the system will be described beginning with a coke oven 50 in condition to receive a charge of coal and with the hopper 80 empty. The hopper 80 initially may be positioned as shown in phantom in FIG. 1 wherein the hopper 80 is connected to the charger 90 and more particularly the bottom chute 82 and the gate 83 are in registry with the opening in the coal receiving end 92 of the charger 90. Since presumably the charger 90 has just finished charging another coke oven with coal and has been withdrawn therefrom, the delivery end 91 of the charger 90 is out of the coke oven whereby the hopper 80 connected thereto and the charger 90 are in the withdrawn position as shown in the phantom view in FIG. 1.

The hopper 80 which is in the coal delivery condition thereof when the hopper is connected to the charger 90 and the gate 83 is open thereby to provide communication between the hopper 80 and the charger 90 is disconnected from the charger 90 and the chute 83 is moved to the closed position. The motor 88 is actuated to move the hopper 80 from the phantom line position in FIG. 1 to the full line position wherein the hopper 80 is adjacent to the end of the gantry 76 near the coke ovens and is in position to receive coal from the central storage bins 65. The entire gantry 75 is moved along the rail 79 to a coal delivery station wherein the hopper 80 and more particularly the top coal storage section 81 thereof is in registry with a conveyor 69 which forms one of the coal delivery stations. Coal is discharged from the conveyor 69 by suitable mechanism (not shown) into the coal hopper 80, a sufficient amount of coal being stored in the hopper 80 to charge at least one coke oven 50 although it is preferred that the hopper 80 be large enough to accommodate sufficient coal to charge two or three ovens. Once the hopper 80 has received its charge of coal, the top thereof (not shown) is closed to prevent escape of coal dust and the like and the coal hopper, by actuation of the motor 88, is moved along the gantry 76 toward the phantom line position shown in FIG. 1. The coal hopper 80 is moved along the rails 87 until the chute 82 and the gate 83 are in registry with the coal receiving end 92 of the charger 90. The coal hopper 80 is again connected to the charger 90 and the gate 83 is opened thereby to put the hopper 80 into the coal dispensing position thereof wherein the coal hopper is connected to the charger 90 and communication is established between the hopper and the charger.

As seen, the flow path of the coal from the central bin 65 is indicated by the arrows 105 which show that the coal flows from the bins 65 through the gates 66 into the conveyor 67. The arrow 106 shows the flow of coal through the conveyor 67, the conveyor 68 and the conveyor 69 to the coal loading station. The arrow 107 indicates the flow path of the coal from the conveyor 69 into the hopper 80 and thereafter through the hopper 80 and more particularly the chute 82 and the gate 83 thereof into the coal charger 90. Once the coal hopper 80 is in the coal delivery condition thereof wherein the hopper 80 is fixedly connected to the charger 90 and the gate 83 has been opened thereby to establish communication between the hopper 80 and the charger 90, the charger is in condition to charge coal to the coke oven 50.

An opening on the pusher-side of the coke oven 50 is provided such as the chuck door 54. The DC motor 155 is activated thereby rotating the pinion 94 to move the coal charger 90 and more particularly the delivery end 91 thereof into the coke oven 50 through the opening 54 in the pusher-side of the oven. The coal hopper 80 connected to the coal receiving end 92 of the charger 90 moves with the charger toward the coke oven 50. The motor 125 is activated thereby to actuate the screw conveyor 96 in the charger 90 so as to transport coal from the coal receiving end 92 of the charger 90 to and out of the delivery end 91 thereof. The operation is effected so that coal 100 is delivered to the coke oven 50 immediately upon the entrance of the delivery end 91 of the charger 90 into the coke oven 50 and more particularly into the oven chamber 51.

During the transportation of the charger 90 and more particularly the delivery end 91 thereof from the pusher-side of the coke oven 50 to the coke side, coal 100 is discharged into the oven chamber 51. Since the charger 90 is introduced into the oven chamber 51 through the side thereof, the coal 100 has a much smaller vertical drop than does coal introduced through the top ports 58, thereby reducing the amount of coal dust generated during the charging of the coke oven 50. As the delivery end 91 of the charger 90 continues toward the coke side of the oven, a charge of coal 100 having a substantially uniform level is charged to the oven chamber 51. When the delivery end 91 arrives at the coke side of the oven chamber 51, the DC motor 155 is deenergized thereby to maintain the delivery end 91 of the charger 90 at the coke side of the oven chamber 51. While the delivery end 91 of the charger 90 is at the coke side of the oven chamber 51, coal is continually delivered to the chamber thereby forming a peak 102. Once the peak of coal 102 has reached a predetermined level, the detector 110 senses the presence of coal and signals the control mechanism 115 which causes the motor 155 to be energized thereby withdrawing the charger 90 from the coke oven chamber 51. The rate of withdrawal of the delivery end 91 of the charger 90 is controlled by the control mechanism 115 in order to charge to the oven chamber 51 a charge of coal having a substantially uniform and predetermined level. The control mechanism 115 is effective to control the motor 125 thereby controlling the rate at which coal is delivered from the hopper 80 to the delivery end 91 of the charger 90. The control mechanism 115, therefore, is effective to control the rate at which coal is delivered to the oven chamber 51 and the rate of movement of the delivery end 91 of the charger 90 and to coordinate the two rates to charge coal 100 to the oven 50 wherein the level of the charge is substantially uniform from the coke side to the pusher-side.

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the screw conveyor 96 is operated by the motor 125 at a continuous rate thereby continually delivering coal at a fixed rate to the oven chamber 51. The control mechanism 115 is effective to vary the rate at which the delivery end 91 of the coal charger 90 is withdrawn from the chamber 51 in order to charge to the chamber 51 coal having a substantially uniform and predetermined level. During the course of charging the oven 50 with coal, ejectors (not shown) are used to provide reduced pressure at the ascension pipe 61 thereby effectively to remove effluents escaping from the coke oven 50. Since the system of the present invention uses coal which does not have to be pre-heated or dried, the presently installed collector systems wherein only one collector main 60 is provided are adequate to accommodate the effluents produced during charging with the present system. The pneumatic systems previously described require additional collector means necessitating large capital expenditures. In addition, the use of a side entry system reduces the area of the oven open to the atmosphere during charging, thereby reducing the effluent emissions. Therefore, the present system is cheaper to operate, produces less effluents during the charging operation and requires far less expenditure of capital outlay than do prior art systems now in effect.

Turning now to FIG. 3 of the drawings, there is shown an electrical schematic diagram for the motors 125 and 155 and for the control mechanism 115. The DC screw conveyor motor 125 is connected to a line 120 plus and minus which is connected to a source of DC current. The motor 125 is connected to the line 120 by means of a collector rail or cable 121 extending the length of the bank of coke ovens thereby to provide power to the motor 125 regardless of position of the coal charging mechanism 75. The motor 125 is connected to the collector rail 121 plus through a conductor 125 plus, the motor 125 having its armature 126 connected through cable and cable reel contact (not shown) by a conductor 127 to a switch 130. The switch 130 has normally open contacts 131 and 132 interconnected to a manual control mechanism 133. The armature 126 is connected by a conductor 137 to the series field coil 138 which is in turn connected through the cable and cable reel contact by the conductor 139 to the accelerating resistor 140. A switch 142 having normally open contacts 143 and 144 is in parallel with the accelerating resistor 140 to enable the resistor to be shorted. The resistor 140 is connected to the collector rail 121 minus by the conductor 135 minus. The motor 125 has its rheostat 150 connected to the shunt field coil 151 by the conductor 152, the coil 151 being connected to collector rail 121 minus by the conductor 135 minus.

The conveyor drive motor 155 is also a DC motor connected to the source of DC current by the conductors 135, the collector rails 121 and the main DC lines 120. The DC motor 155 has its armature 156 connected by a conductor 157 to a normally open switch 160. The switch 160 has contacts 161 and 162 connected to a semi-automatic control. The control 163 for the DC motor 155 is connected to the control mechanism 115 which is also connected to the detector 110. The control mechanism 115 upon receiving a signal from the detector 110 operates the control 163 to energize the motor 155. Of course, the DC motor 155 is reversible thereby to move the conveyor 90 into and out of the associated coke oven 50. The armature 156 of the motor 155 is connected to the series field coil 168 by the conductor 167, the coil 168 being connected to the accelerating resistor 170 by the conductor 169. A normally open switch 172 having contacts 173 and 174 is connected in parallel to the resistor 170 to enable the resistor to be shorted. The resistor 170 is connected to collector rail 121 minus by the conductor 135 minus. The DC motor 155 has its rheostat (or variable resistance) 180 connected to the shunt field coil 181 by a conductor 182, the coil being connected to collector rail 121 minus by the conductor 135 minus.

It is seen, therefore, that the motors 125 and 155 are DC motors with the motor 155 being reversible to drive the charger 90 into and out of the associated coke oven 50. The control mechanism 115 in response to a signal from the detector 110 controls the motor 155 and more particularly, controls the rate of movement by the charger 90 into and out of the coke oven to control the amount of coal delivered to the oven 50, (thereby to deliver a charge of coal) having a substantially uniform level.

Initial actuation of the motors 125 and 155 and thus the charging sequence can be either manual or automatic through control mechanism 115. The motor 155 is actuated to move the charger 90 into the associated oven 50. As soon as the delivery end 91 has entered the coke oven 50, the motor 125 is actuated to start the conveyor 96 delivering coal to the oven chamber 51. When the delivery end 91 of the charger 90 reaches its furthest point of travel adjacent to the coke side door 52, the motor 155 is electrically disengaged to permit the delivery end 91 to remain stationary until the coal peak 102 is formed actuating the detector 110. A signal from the detector 110 causes the control mechanism 115 to reverse and to actuate the motor 155 withdrawing the charger 90 from the oven chamber 51 at a regulated rate. When the delivery end 91 of the charger 90 exits from the chamber 51, the motor 125 is stopped to prevent spillage of coal.

While there has been described what is at present considered to be the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will be understood that various modifications and alterations may be made herein without departing from the true spirit and scope of the present invention, and it is intended to cover in the appended claims all such modifications and alterations as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A system for charging a coke oven with coal through an opening in the pusher-side of the coke oven, said system comprising a coal charger having a delivery end movable into and out of the coke oven through the coke oven pusher-side opening, a first motor for moving said coal charger delivery end through the pusher-side opening into the coke oven between the pusher-side thereof and the coke side thereof, a second motor for transporting coal through said coal charger from a source thereof to said delivery end, a detector on said delivery end movable into and out of the coke oven with said coal charger for continually sensing the presence of coal at a predetermined level in the coke oven, and control mechanism responsive to said detector for controlling said first motor and said second motor to coordinate the rate of delivery of coal delivered from said delivery end and the movement of said coal charger in the coke oven, whereby coal is charged to the coke oven during movement of said charger delivery end from the pusher-side of the coke oven to the coke side thereof where said delivery end remains until said detector senses coal at the predetermined level, said control mechanism responsive to sensing by said detector of coal at the predetermined level coordinating the rate of delivery of coal from said delivery end and the movement of said coal charger in the coke oven toward the pusher-side thereof to deliver to the coke oven a charge of coal having a substantially uniform and predetermined level obviating the need for leveling mechanism and reducing the quantity of effluents escaping during charging of the coke oven.

2. The system set forth in claim 1, wherein said second motor is controlled to transport coal through said coal charger at a substantially uniform rate.

3. The system set forth in claim 1, wherein said control mechanism responsive to said detector controls said first motor to vary the rate of movement of said coal charger delivery end from the coke side of the coke oven to the pusher-side of the coke oven to deliver a substantially uniform charge of coal.