Importance

Loading Importance Indicators...

Abstract

A spray cooling system for cooling a furnace for the melting or treatment of molten metal, and particularly the roof and/or sidewall of electric-arc, plasma-arc and ladle furnaces. Other types of metal treating furnaces and accessory equipment may also be cooled with the system of the invention. In the invention, spray headers and pipes (14, 16, 18) supply coolant to spray nozzles (70) distributed within a coolant space in a roof structure (10) to spray coolant against the working plates (22) of the roof. The spray pipes and headers also comprise part of the framework for the roof, resulting in a simple, lightweight, one-piece structure. A pump (56) is connected to evacuate the coolant from the coolant space, and thermocouples (58) are embedded in the working plates to monitor their temperature and operate controls to adjust the flow rate so that only the amount of coolant necessary to maintain a desired temperature is supplied to the roof. The sprays of coolant produce many small droplets which provide a large surface area for more effective cooling, and at least a substantial portion of the droplets are vaporized during cooling whereby the latent heat of vaporization of the coolant is utilized to provide a significantly increased cooling rate. Similar arrangements may be used to cool the delta and/or sidewall of the furnace. The method of cooling a furnace by directing sprays of coolant against the working plates is also disclosed.

Loading the Abstract Image...

First Claim