Steelworks converter with cone cooling system

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6277325
  • Patent Number
    6,277,325
  • Date Filed
    Thursday, February 3, 2000
    24 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, August 21, 2001
    23 years ago
Abstract
The steelworks converter on the vessel cone of which a cone cooling system is provided, having sinuously arranged lines for channeling the cooling medium, which open into at least one channel-like collector in the top and bottom regions of the converter head. At least one cooling medium supply and discharge is provided for the cooling medium. Collecting pipe is provided in the region of the bottom collector, that the collecting pipe is spaced away from at least one of the side walls of the bottom collector. The collecting pipe has at least one closable drain and is in communication with the bottom collector in such a way that the cooling medium in the collector can be channeled into the interior of the collecting pipe.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The invention concerns a steelworks converter on the vessel cone of which a cone cooling system is provided. The cooling system includes a multiplicity of cooling medium lines which open into channel-like collectors. At least one cooling medium supply and discharge being provided.




2. Disscussion of the Prior Art




DE 33 30 237 C2 discloses a metallurgical reaction vessel, in particular a steelworks converter, the vessel cone of which is provided with a so-called cone cooling system. The cone cooling system in this case comprises sinuously arranged pipes, a plurality of pipes—in the present example three—arranged regularly in parallel transporting the cooling medium in the same direction. The individual pipes, arranged essentially parallel to the central axis of the converter, end at the top and bottom in channel pieces.




DE 30 48 199 C2 discloses a vessel cone cooling system which comprises a pipeline arranged spirally around the converter cone.




In certain operating cases, it is required to drain the cone cooling system as quickly as possible. During converter operation, considerable damage can occur to the cooling elements of the converter cone and considerable amounts of water can escape. Under some circumstances, the converter vessel can no longer be tilted to do this, in order to prevent cooling water from penetrating into the region of the steel ladle or the slag ladle.




No measures for quick drainage of the cooling medium are known from the documents referred to above.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide, by means which are of a simple design, a discharge for the cooling medium of the cone cooling system with which the cooling medium can be drained in a certain time out of the cooling system, without the cooling elements being damaged by excessive pressure because of inadmissible vapor formation.




According to the invention, a collecting pipe is provided in the region of the bottom collector of the cooling medium. The collecting pipe is in communication with the collector in such a way that the cooling medium passes via openings or via connecting pipes from the collector into the collecting pipe, the collecting pipe having at least one closable drain.




The arrangement according to the invention makes it possible for the cooling medium to be drained quickly out of the cooling elements of the cone cooling system, especially in emergency situations.




Cone cooling systems usually comprise sinuously arranged cooling elements. This arrangement makes draining the cooling system laborious and take a relatively long time, since, for fluidics-related reasons, the individual segments are not connected to one another, or only via connecting pipes of a diameter which is deliberately kept small. However, the prolonged flowing away of the cooling medium entails the risk of vapor formation, which can lead to significant damage, especially in the case of hot converters.




The collecting line proposed according to the invention forms an endless ring, on which any number of drains are provided. In an advantageous embodiment, the ring can be shut off in ring portions by means of fittings, so that there is the possibility of also allowing individual segments to be quickly drained on their own in an emergency—for example in the event of damage.




In the case of the collecting line arranged in the collector, openings designed as a slit or as bores are provided, through which the cooling medium enters the collecting pipe. To ensure an adequate exchange between the collector and the collecting pipe, with the water in the collecting pipe at the same time being refreshed, the entire free surface area of the openings is made to be of a size which corresponds to 5 times the outlet surface area of the associated cooling medium discharge.




In a further advantageous embodiment, the pieces of pipe connecting the individual converter cone segments are provided with compensators, so that stresses are avoided, both on the cone and on the collecting line.




It is also proposed to design these pieces of pipe connecting the converter cone segments as T pieces and to provide them with shut-off elements. This allows any desired drainage program of the collecting pipe to be set in a simple way, provided that vents are provided in the individual segments.




In a another embodiment, the collecting pipe is arranged around the cone as a ring line outside the collector and is connected to the collector via connecting pipes. In the case of this embodiment, it is proposed to pass a partial flow through the collecting pipe in order to provide fresh water here during operation.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING




An example of the invention is represented in the attached drawing, in which:





FIG. 1

shows a diagram of the cone cooling system;





FIG. 1



a


is a section along line a—a in

FIG. 1

;





FIGS. 2 and 2



a


are views similar to

FIGS. 1 and 1



a


of a further embodiment;





FIGS. 3 and 3



a


show another embodiment;





FIGS. 4



a


,


4




b


and


4




c


show a detail of the collecting line and of the collector;





FIG. 5

shows a diagram of the drainage layout











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




In

FIG. 1

, a detail of a converter vessel


11


is shown in the center, to be precise of the converter cone


12


including the terminating flange


15


, with segments


13


, which have sinuously arranged pipes


21


. The pipes


21


open at the top into a collector


23


and at the bottom into a collector


22


. In

FIG. 1



a


, a collecting pipe


24


is provided in the collector


22


, in

FIGS. 2 and 2



a


this collecting pipe


24


is arranged outside the collector


22


and in

FIGS. 3 and 3



a


this collecting pipe


24


is fitted as a half-pipe on the converter cone


12


, lying inside the collector


22


. Fitted onto the collecting pipe


24


in


1




a


to


1




c


is a drain


27


, which can be shut off by shut-off elements


42


.




The collecting pipe


24


provided in the collector


22


is connected between the segments via pieces of pipe


34


. The collecting pipe


24


shown in

FIGS. 2 and 2



a


, arranged outside the outer wall


28


, is connected to the collector


22


via connecting pipes


37


.




Shown in

FIGS. 1

,


1




a


,


3


and


3




a


is a section through the converter cone with a pipe


21


, the collector


22


and the internal collecting pipe


24


. In


2


, the collecting pipe


24


lies outside the collector


22


, the collecting pipe


24


being connected to the collector


22


via the connecting pipes


37


. Also connected to the collector


22


is a cooling medium discharge


26


. Provided on both the internal and external collecting pipes


24


is the drain


27


, which can be shut off by the shut-off element


42


.




In the top collector


23


there is provided at least one openable vent


29


.




Shown in the detail in

FIG. 4



a


is the collecting pipe


24


, which in the bottom collector


22


is spaced at approximately equal distance from the wall


14


of the converter cone


12


and from the base of the outer wall


28


of the collector


22


by a distance “a”. Connected to the collecting pipe


24


is the drain


27


.




Shown in

FIG. 4



a


is a section through the collector


22


, with a collecting pipe


24


which has openings


31


, to be precise in

FIG. 4



b


in the form of bores


33


and in

FIG. 4



c


in the form of slits


32


. The slits are in this case arranged in such a way that the flow of the cooling medium W on the way to the interior space of the collecting pipe


24


is countered by resistance, here as an opening wedge in the direction of the pipe interior.




Furthermore,

FIG. 4



b


shows the pieces of pipe


34


which are connected to the collector


22


via compensators


35


. Furthermore, the pieces of pipe


34


can be shut off by a shut-off element


41


, here in the form of a threeway cock, which is connected to the cooling medium discharge


26


.





FIG. 5

shows the layout of the segments


13


with the sinuously arranged pipes


21


, which are connected at the top to the collector


23


and at the bottom to the collector


22


.




The collector


23


is connected to the cooling medium supply


25


and to the cooling medium discharge


26


and, in addition, is connected to the collecting pipe


24


. The collecting pipe


24


is in communication with a water supply


36


.




The cooling medium supply


25


and the water supply


36


can be switched over by means of a changeover valve


51


. In this case, the direction of the flow fed via the cooling medium supply


25


and the water supply


36


is reversed.




It is also shown in this diagram that the cooling medium supply


25


serves with a pump


45


for the main flow, that is to say approximately 85-95% of the amount of water, the water supply


36


serves with a pump


46


for the secondary flow, that is to say approximately 5-15% of the amount of water, and the cooling medium discharge


26


serves after its drainage for supplying air to the other segments via the connecting piece


43


.




The invention is not limited by the embodiments described above which are presented as examples only but can be modified in various ways within the scope of protection defined by the appended patent claims.



Claims
  • 1. A steelworks converter, comprising: a vessel cone; a cone cooling system provided on the vessel cone and having sinuously arranged lines for channeling a cooling medium, which open into at least one channel collector at top and bottom regions of the converter cone; at least one cooling medium supply and discharge provided for the cooling medium; and a collecting pipe provided in a region of the bottom collector so as to be spaced away from at least one side wall of the bottom collector, the collecting pipe having a closable drain and being in communication with the bottom collector so that the cooling medium in the collector rapidly runs into the collecting pipe when the cooling medium supply is stopped.
  • 2. A steelworks converter as defined in claim 1, wherein the collecting pipe is arranged so as to be spaced at approximately equal distance from both side walls and a base of the bottom collector, the collecting pipe having a wall provided with openings via which the cooling medium can be channeled from the bottom collector into an interior of the collecting pipe.
  • 3. A steelworks converter as defined in claim 2, wherein the openings are formed as a slit.
  • 4. A steelworks converter as defined in claim 2, wherein the openings are bores.
  • 5. A steelworks converter as defined in claim 2, wherein the openings of the collecting pipe have a form that hinders an in-flow of the cooling medium during operation.
  • 6. A steelworks converter as defined in claim 5, wherein the openings of the collecting pipe have a conical shape with side walls that open in a direction of coolant flow.
  • 7. A steelworks converter as defined in claim 2, wherein the openings are configured so that an entire free surface area of the openings corresponds to at most 5 times an outlet surface area of the cooling medium discharge.
  • 8. A steelworks converter as defined in claim 2, wherein the converter cone cooling system is divided into segments, and further comprising closed pieces of pipe that connect the collecting pipes that are arranged in the segments and provided with openings.
  • 9. A steelworks converter as defined in claim 8, and further comprising compensators arranged to connect each of the closed pieces of pipe to a wall of the converter cone segments.
  • 10. A steelworks converter as defined in claim 8, wherein the closed pieces of pipe are shaped as T pieces, and further comprising a shut-off element provided for each drain.
  • 11. A steelworks converter as defined in claim 1, wherein the collecting pipe is spaced away from an outer wall of the bottom collector, and further comprising connecting pipes that connect the collecting pipe to the bottom collector.
  • 12. A steelworks converter as defined in claim 11, and further comprising shut-off elements operatively arranged to shut-off the collecting pipe, at least one cooling medium discharge being respectively provided between two shut-off elements.
  • 13. A steelworks converter as defined in claim 12, wherein the collecting pipe is connected to a water supply, via which a partial amount equal to between 5 to 15% of a main flow of coolant can be channeled.
  • 14. A steelworks converter as defined in claim 1, and further comprising at least one openable vent in the top collector.
  • 15. A steelworks converter as defined in claim 1, and further comprising changeover valves operatively provided so as to switch over the cooling medium supply and, if appropriate, the water supply, and switch off the cooling medium discharge.
Priority Claims (1)
Number Date Country Kind
197 30 250 Jul 1997 DE
PCT Information
Filing Document Filing Date Country Kind 102e Date 371c Date
PCT/DE98/01634 WO 00 2/3/2000 2/3/2000
Publishing Document Publishing Date Country Kind
WO99/02740 1/21/1999 WO A
US Referenced Citations (4)
Number Name Date Kind
3963223 Eysn Jun 1976
4085924 Fisher et al. Apr 1978
4128232 Nagati Dec 1978
4278241 Shadid Jul 1981