Cooling of tuyeres in blast furnaces

Claim 2

A tuyere for use in a blast furnace, formed of spaced apart walls meeting at a nose end of the tuyere which is the end adapted to be located within a furnace, and comprising; a plurality of heat pipes extending longitudinally of the tuyere body within the space between said walls and having closed ends terminating in the vicinity of said nose end of the tuyere so as to be able to remove heat therefrom, said heat pipes extending, from the closed ends, to a heat exchange location, said heat pipes adapted to convey a low pressure boiling-condensing fluid and having means for conveying the fluid in liquid form towards the said closed ends and, as a gas, within the same pipe, away from said closed ends, All of said pipes including at least one portion inclined downwardly between its heat exchange location and its closed end to facilitate movement of liquid from said heat exchange location towards said closed end.

Claim 3

A tuyere according to claim 1, wherein all of said pipes are downwardly inclined throughout their lengths from said heat exchange location to their said closed ends, so as to allow gravity to assist in returning the working fluid toward said closed ends throughout the length of each pipe.

Claim 4

A tuyere according to claim 2, the walls of the tuyere body forming an inside space of generally frustro-conical form, the closed ends of said heat pipes being equally spaced around the said inside space near the nose end of the tuyere, and the ends of the heat pipes at said heat exchange location all being clustered together at a height higher than the level of the tuyere.

Claim 5

A tuyere according to claim 1 or claim 2, including a heat exchanger means at said heat exchange location for removing heat from said heat pipes.

Claim 6

A tuyere according to claim 4, the end of said tuyere opposite from said nose end being opened, and the heat pipes passing through said open end for operative connection to said heat exchanger means at said heat exchange location.

Claim 7

A tuyere according to claim 1, the portion of said heat pipes within the said space being constituted by a plurality of hollow segments, each of which constitutes a heat pipe.

Claim 8

A blast furnace having tuyeres positioned therein and adapted to act as a nozzle for directing blasts of air into the furnace, said tuyeres having spaced apart walls meeting at a nose end of the tuyere, said nose ends located within the furnace, each tuyere comprising: a plurality of heat pipes extending longitudinally of the tuyere body within the space between said walls and having closed ends terminating in the vicinity of said nose end of the tuyere so as to be able to remove heat therefrom, said heat pipes extending, from the closed ends, to a heat exchange location, said heat pipes adapted to convey a low pressure boiling-condensing fluid and having means for conveying the fluid in liquid form towards the said closed ends and, as a gas, within the same pipe, away from said closed ends, all of said pipes including at least one portion inclined downwardly between its heat exchange location and its closed end to facilitate movement of liquid from said heat exchange location towards said closed end.

Claim 9

A blast furnace having tuyeres positioned therein and adapted to act as a nozzle for directing blasts of air into the furnace, said tuyeres having spaced apart walls meeting at a nose end of the tuyere, said nose ends located within the furnace, each tuyere comprising: a plurality of heat pipes extending longitudinally of the tuyere body within the space between said walls and having closed ends terminating in the vicinity of said nose end of the tuyere so as to be able to remove heat therefrom, said heat pipes extending, from the closed ends, to a heat exchange location, said heat pipes adapted to convey a low pressure boiling-condensing fluid and having means for conveying the fluid in liquid form towards the said closed ends and, as a gas, within the same pipe, away from said closed ends, all of said pipes including at least one portion inclined downwardly between its heat exchange location and its closed end to facilitate movement of liquid from said heat exchange location towards said closed end.

Claim 10

A blast furnace according to claim 7, including a heat exchanger means at said heat exchange location for removing heat from said heat pipes, said heat exchanger means being located at a height higher than its respective tuyere.