Patent ID: 9617610
Date: 2017-04-11
CPC Classifications: C21B,F27B

Claim:
1. A process of cokeless melting ferrous metal in a horizontal reverberatory furnace or open hearth furnace consisting of two chambers, a hearth and a charging and melting chamber, separated by a refractory grid, a perforated weir with nozzles or orifices, with the charging chamber forming a sloped melting chamber at a higher elevation than the hearth to allow the flow of molten metal from the sloped charging and melting chamber to the hearth, and where the said hearth acts as a superheater for the molten metal and comprises a burner or a series of burners for liquid, gaseous fuel or pulverized solid fuel, mixed with pre-heated air and oxygen at 95% to 120% of the stoichiometric ratio, and with the resultant gases from the combustion passing from the hearth to the sloped charging and melting chamber through the separating grid, counter flow to the molten metal, where they melt the charge before being subject to further post combustion by injection of air and oxygen at the top of the sloped charging and melting chamber prior to passage through a recuperator, regenerator or heat exchanger to preheat the air and oxygen needed for combustion at the burner.