Carbon black apparatus

Claim 1

IN A GENERALLY TUBULAR, REFRACTORY-LINED FURNACE COMBUSTION-TYPE CARBON BLACK REACTOR HAVING AN UPSTREAM INLET, A FURNACE SECTION, A QUENCH SECTION, A DOWNSTREAM OUTLET, AND MEANS FOR INJECTING A HYDROCARBON FEEDSTOCK INTO THE REACTOR IN THE PRESENCE OF FEEDSTOCK-DECOMPOSING HOT COMBUSTION GASES, THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES: A RING-LIKE CONSTRICTION IN SAID QUENCH SECTION, SAID CONSTRICTION INCLUDING A FRUSTO-CONICAL SURFACE INTERSECTING AT ONE END THEREOF WITH THE TUBULAR SURFACE OF SAID QUENCH SECTION AND NARROWING TO AN OPENING OF CONSIDERABLY REDUCED CROSS-SECTIONAL AREA WITH RESPECT TO THE CROSS SECTIONAL AREA OF SAID FURNACE SECTION, SAID OPENING COMPRISING A GENERALLY CYLINDRICAL SURFACE EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY DOWNSTREAM FROM SAID FRUSTO-CONICAL SURFACE AND TERMINATING IN A PLANAR SURFACE GENERALLY PERPENDICULAR TO THE AXIS OF SAID QUENCH SECTION; AN EXPANSION CHAMBER IN SAID REACTOR DEFINED BY SAID PLANAR SURFACE AT ITS UPSTREAM END, BY SAID OUTLET AT ITS DOWNSTREAM END AND BY THE REACTOR LINING INTERMEDIATE SAID ENDS, SAID EXPANSION CHAMBER HAVING A RELATIVELY LARGE CROSS SECTIONAL AREA THAN SAID OPENING; A PLURALITY OF RADIALLY DISPOSED PASSAGEWAYS IN THE BODY OF SAID CONSTRICTION, SAID PASSAGEWAYS INTERSECTING THE JUNCTURE OF SAID FRUSTO-CONICAL AND CYLINDRICAL SURFACES AND COMMUNICATING WITH THE EXTERIOR OF SAID REACTOR; AND QUENCH NOZZLES AND SUPLY PIPES THEREFOR SITUATED IN SAID PASSAGEWAYS, SAID NOZZLES BEING MOUNTED SUBSTANTIALLY ENTIRELY WITHIN SAID PASSAGEWAYS AND ADAPTED TO PRODUCE OVAL SPRAY PATTERNS, SAID NOZZLES BEING SITUTATED THAT THE MAJOR SEMI-AXES OF THE SPRAY PATTERNS PRODUCED THEREBY WILL BE PERPENDICULAR TO THE AXIS OF SAID CONSTRUCTION.