Apparatus for the continuous refining of metals

Claim 1

An arrangement for the continuous refining of metal, especially pig iron, comprising at least one refining reactor and at least one decantation vessel located downstream of said one reactor; means for feeding at a first level liquid metal containing slag forming impurities into said reactor; discharge means providing communication between said reactor and said decantation vessel for discharging material from said reactor into said decantation vessel, said discharging means communicating with said reactor at a second level which is higher than said first level; means for blowing a refining gas into said reactor to react with said slag forming impurities so as to form a metal-slag foam consisting of slag foam having said metal in subdivided form suspended therein and having a volume greater than that of said metal introduced into said reactor so as to cause said metal slag foam to pass through said discharge means of higher level into said decantation vessel; and means for discharging from said decantation vessel the metal and the slag separated from each other, said last mentioned means communicating with said decantation vessel at a level which is lower than said second level.