Untitled record

Application filed August 12, 1926. Serial No. 128,726.

This invention comprehends improvements in gas treating apparatus of general utility and in its more specific aspects relates to the treatment of gases which arise in coke oven 5 quenching stations.

In the ordinary operation of coke ovens the hot coke at the end of the coking period is discharged from the ovens into a car in which it is conveyed to the quenching stalo tion and there subjected to sprays of water to arrest combustion. This results, however, in the evolution of steam and noxious and objectionable gases, together with impalpable ash and coke dust or coke breeze which 15 arise in clouds from the quenching station. These products, particularly in the presence of steam, produce very deleterious effects on surrounding structures, causing corrosion of metal and abrasion and disintegration of the 20 structural parts and are both unpleasant and harmful to animal· and vegetable life in the neighborhood. Some of the objectionable features of quenching stations have been partially overcome by locating the stations at a 25 distance from the ovens and providing them with walls and chimneys to convey the undesirable products to a more remote point, thus reducing, though not eliminating their objectionable effects.

The object of my invention is to substantially eliminate the harmful effects of the substances arising from quenching stations by treating them to a purifying or precipitating process whereby they are separated 35 out and are not permitted to escape to regions where they may exert deleterious effects. This permits also the location of the stations nearer the ovens thereby effecting a saving of time required for the opera⁴⁰ tions. :

In order to accomplish these results I provide, at the quenching station, means for collecting the products which arise when the hot coke is treated with a quenching spray and thereafter treat these products before permitting escape of any of the gases from the quenching station._; Asa convenient manner of effecting these results I may provide a tower into which the products are passed at a point below the top of the tower and then subject the ascending products to the action of purifying means located in the upper portion of the tower. I have found that this may be very efficiently effected by _: y spraying downwardly from the top of the S5 tower, a liquid of a character to accomplish the results desired. A finely divided spray of water very satisfactorily answers the purpose in ordinary cases and its effect is mate- : rially increased by the provision across the 66 tower of a series of hurdles or reticulated obstructions which when wetted by the descending spray provide a large surface contact between the liquid and the ascending ; products of quenching and prevent the chan- 65 neling of these products and the descending water, thereby producing an intimate commingling of the two. By this operation the noxious gases are substantially absorbed in :: the descending liquid, the ascending steam 70 is condensed,: and the more solid dust-like particles are carried down thereby. The liquid containing the products of quenching is collected at the base of the tower and con- veyed by appropriate troughs to the settling 75 sump where the more solid particles are precipitated. The liquid above the precipitate being substantially freed of the injurious products may be again returned by the pump to the spraying system. go

The invention further Consists in such other new and useful improvements, and has for further objects such other operative advantages or results, as may be found to obtain in the processes and apparatus herein- 85 after described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and showing, for purposes of exemplification, a preferred form and manner in which the invention may be 90 embodied and practiced, but without limiting the claimed invention to such illustrative instance or instances:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section taken across the quenching station showing the essential fea- 95 tures of one embodiment of my invention ;

Fig. 2 is . a top plan view of the station shown in Fig. 1: and . .

Fig. 3. is a vertical section of! a modified form of station. 100 ,818 partitions 26. The pipe 25 discharges the water and the materials carried thereby on the sloping floor of the quenching chamber which in turn conveys it to the trough 27 by which it is carried to the car drip drain 28 ₇n which extends along the trackway, and thence it is carried by the return pipe 29 to the collecting sump 6. Leading from a point near the top of the reservoir or tank. 9 to a point directly above the trough 27 is an 75 overflow pipe 30 of less capacity than the feed pipe 10. The foundation members 31 in the floor of the quenching chamber support blocks which carry the rails for the car 32 employed to convey the burning coke from so the ovens to the quenching, station. 33 is a cover, usually of wood, for the sump.

In the modification shown in Fig. 3, the framework of the tower on one side consists of an extension of that portion 8¹ of the 85 framework of the tank supporting structure adjacent the trackway, while the opposite portion 21¹ of the framework of the tower rests upon the cross-beam 18, and the outer side Avail 22¹ of the tower is connected at its so base to the deflecting roof member 4¹ extending above the quenching chamber. The funnel shaped bottom 24¹ has its outlet directly over the trough 27. The remaining features are substantially the same as in the first modi- v5 ficatioh. .

The operation of the device is substantially as follows:

The charge of hot coke from an oven is conveyed by the car 32 to a point below the ion spray nozzles 17¹.in the quenching chamber. The valves 13« and 135 being previously closed, 13α is opened and the pump 12 is started. The pump 12 will force a flow of water up the vertical pipe 11 through the 105 horizontal portion IT into the pipe 15 and through the branched extensions .16 and 19 to the spray pipes 17¹ and 20¹, respectively. Since the tank 9 is located at a point above the quenching spray pipes 17¹ it will insure 110 a supplement al supply of water to these pipes for quenching the coke should the pump supply prove inadequate. Inasmuch as the tank 9 in the preferred form shown is located below the tower treating spray pipes 20¹ it can- 115 not be relied upon directly to feed these pipes. However, since the. direction of flow from the pump at 11¹ is horizontal and the water there has.consider able velocity in the horizontal direction, producing an'aspirator effect,, this 12<'· taken in connection with the. fact that the relatively small capacity of the overflow pipe 30 and the head of the water , in tank 9 presents considerable resistance;to flow from the pump to the tank, causes the water from the pump 125 to ascend to the tower spray pipes 20¹. I may, of course, locate the tank 9 at a sufficient elevation to create a /head which would, directly cause it to feed the spray pipes 20¹, but I prefer the former arrangement for the reason ¹³⁰

1,848.

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of the sprayer pipes 17' and 20'.

The same characters of reference indicate the same parts throughout the several views. ⁵ Figures 1 and 2 show a quenching station in which the treating tower is located on the far side of the quenching chamber from the liquid supply system and its supporting structure which has the advantage that it io removes the harmful products from the latter, whereas, in Fig. 3 the tower is located above the quenching chamber and contiguous to the liquid supply system,, which .results in the economy of ground space and a more 1⁵ compact and rigid structure.

Referring in detail to the drawings, and in particular to Figures 1 arid 2 thereof, 1 indicates a housing or shed having a roof 2 for the pumping plant and connections. /The ²⁰ side 3 adjacent the trackway is projected upwardly to meet the sloping roof or deflector 4 of the quenching chamber extending above the trackway and serving to deflect the products which arise from the hot coke when ²⁵ quenched to the lower portion of the tower.

The housing 1 is supported upon foundation walls' 5 and 7, the former forming one side of the collecting sump 6. Mounted upon these walls is a steel framework 8 support³⁰ ing the tank or reservoir 9 connected by the piping 10 and 11 with a water pump 12 supplied from the sump 6: The pipe 11 is curved at its upper end into a horizontal direction at 11¹ and the horizontal section is connected ³⁵ to the pipe 10, a horizontal drain pipe 14 leading from a point opposite their connection to an outlet beyond the wall 7. In the pipe section 14 are located two valves, 13α and 136. between which, the vertical pipe ⁴⁰ 15 makes connection with the pipe 14, the upper end of the pipe 15 being in turn connected to the pipe 16 leading to the branched pipe 17 carrying the quenching spray pipes 17¹ for discharging the water employed in ⁴⁵ quenching the hot coke. The spray pipes are attached to horizontal supporting girders 18, respectively attached at one end to the tank framework 8 and at the other end to the tower framework 21 which supports the treating ⁵⁰ spray system hereinafter referred to. The latter spray system. is supplied by the . pipe 19 connected at its lower end to the pipe 15 and connected at its. upper end: to the horizontal pipe. 20 carrying the treating spray ⁵⁵ pipes 20¹ provided with openings designed to produce a finely divided spray distributed across the entire area of the treating tower. This tower is supported by the framework 21 resting on foundation walls 23. and is pro⁶⁰ vided with sides 22 extending down to. a funnel shaped bottom 24 emptying into the discharge pipe 25. Extending crosswise of the tower above the point where the products arising in the quenching chamber enter are ⁶⁵ a series of horizontal hurdles or reticulated

1,848,8.18 that it permits a pump of smaller capacity to be employed: since during the period when the valves 13α and 135 are closed, the pump need operate to replenish the tank under a ⁵ relatively small head only, and when the valve 13α is opened the pump is not called upon to deliver the entire supply, of water, to the respective spray pipes since a portion of the supply to the spray pipes 17¹ at least may . ¹⁰ be furnished by the tank which also serves as a means for steadying the flow.

The steam, noxious and objectionable gases, together with the solid particles· which arise from the quenched coke are directed by the ¹⁵ guideway 4 (Figure 1.), or I¹ (Figure 3) to the opening in the tower 22 beneath the hurdles 26 and in rising therethrough encounter the descending spray of water or other spray liquid employed. By reason of the inter²⁰ position of the hurdles they also encounter in their upward passage the films of liquid covering the reticulated surfaces. The tendency for the ascending products to form channels between similar channels in the descend ²⁵ ing liquid spray is thereby prevented and an intimate commingling of said products and the . sprayed liquid insured. The steam is condensed, the gases dissolved or trapped and with the suspended solid particles are carried ³⁰ to the bottom of the tower from whence they are discharged by the funnel. 24 and pipe 25 to the slanting floor of the quenching chamber and from there they are. carried by trough 27 and return pipe 29 to the collecting sump _:³⁵ 6. The solid particles are precipitated and the overlying liquid, may again be pumped through the system and the operation repeated.

During the period when the sprays are not ⁴⁰ in operation the valve 13α is closed and the valve 135 opened to permit drainage of The spray pipes to prevent dripping therefrom. These valves are preferably magnetically actuated under control of the operator on the ⁴“ car.

The invention as hereinabove set forth or exemplified may be variously practiced or embodied within the scope of the claims hereinafter made.