Tower furnace

Claim 1

A tower furnace comprising in combination structure forming a vertically extending chamber rectangular in section, a plurality of vertically displaced and opposing rows of burners forming a portion of opposite walls of said chamber, means to supply fuel to said burners, means to control individually the pressure of the supply of fuel to each row of burners in opposing walls of the furNace to provide greater pressure for the burners in one wall than in the other, means forming a roof for said furnace chamber having an elongated opening therein substantially parallel to and midway between said opposing walls having said burners therein, means to form and supply through said opening a loosely formed sheet of particles to be bloated, and means at the bottom of said chamber to collect the bloated particles.

Claim 4

The method of controlling the operation of a tower furnace having a vertically extending, unobstructed furnace chamber with oppositely disposed sidewalls and with vertically displaced opposed rows of burners having adjustable fuel supplies in each of the sidewalls which comprises forming and dropping by gravity a sheet of substantially uniformly sized particles of a bloatable material vertically downward to the bottom of said chamber between the oppositely disposed rows of burners from a location substantially midway between said sidewalls, firing said rows of burners to create on opposite sides of said falling sheet of particles a substantially nonturbulent curtain of flame and combustion gases, heating said sheet of particles to bloating temperature as they fall, controlling the direction of falling of said particles and the location where they contact the bottom of said chamber by increasing the fuel supply to the rows of burners in one sidewall relative to the fuel supply to the rows of burners in the other sidewall by individual adjustment of the fuel supply to said rows of burners, collecting said particles at the bottom of said chamber and moving said particles away from the bottom of said chamber under one of said sidewalls.

Claim 5

The method of controlling the operation of a tower furnace having a vertically extending, unobstructed furnace chamber with oppositely disposed sidewalls and with vertically displaced opposed rows of burners having adjustable fuel supplies in each of the sidewalls which comprises forming and dropping by gravity a sheet of substantially uniformly sized particles of a bloatable material vertically downward to the bottom of said chamber between the oppositely disposed rows of burners from a location substantially midway between said sidewalls, firing said rows of burners to create on opposite sides of said falling sheet of particles a substantially nonturbulent curtain of flame and combustion gases, heating said sheet of particles to bloating temperature as they fall, controlling the direction of falling of said particles and the location where they contact the bottom of said chamber by increasing the fuel supply to the rows of burners in one sidewall relative to the fuel supply to the rows of burners in the other sidewall by individual adjustment of the fuel supply to said rows of burners, collecting said particles at the bottom of said chamber and moving said particles away from the bottom of said chamber under one of said sidewalls.

Claim 8

The method of controlling the operation of a tower furnace having a vertically extending, unobstructed furnace chamber with oppositely disposed sidewalls and with vertically displaced opposed rows of burners having adjustable fuel supplies in each of said sidewalls which comprises forming and dropping by gravity a sheet of substantially uniformly sized particles of a bloatable material vertically downward in said chamber from a location substantially midway between the oppositely disposed rows of burners in said sidewalls, firing said rows of burners in said sidewalls to create on opposite sides of said falling sheet of particles a substantially nonturbulent curtain of flame and combustion gases, heating said sheet of particles to bloating temperature as they fall, moving said particles when they reach the bottom of said chamber from under one of said walls, and controlling the time said particles remain in said chamber by adjusting the pressure of the fuel supply individually to the rows of burners in one of the sidewalls to change the pressure in said chamber thereby to vary the trajectory of the particles so that the lighter particles fall nearer the wall having burners with the lowest pressure.

Claim 9

The method of controlling the operation of a tower furnace having a vertically extending, unobstructed furnace chamber with oppositely disposed sidewalls and with vertically displaced opposed rows of burners having adjustable fuel supplies in each of said sidewalls which comprises forming and dropping by gravity a sheet of substantially uniformly sized particles of a bloatable material vertically downward in said chamber from a location substantially midway between the oppositely disposed rows of burners in said sidewalls, firing said rows of burners in said sidewalls to create on opposite sides of said falling sheet of particles a substantially nonturbulent curtain of flame and combustion gases, heating said sheet of particles to bloating temperature as they fall, moving said particles when they reach the bottom of said chamber from under one of said walls, and controlling the time said particles remain in said chamber by adjusting the pressure of the fuel supply individually to the rows of burners in one of the sidewalls to change the pressure in said chamber thereby to vary the trajectory of the particles so that the lighter particles fall nearer the wall having burners with the lowest pressure.