Horizontal coke-oven battery

A coke oven battery has a refractory brick structure comprising a row of coking chambers (1) between an oven roof (9) and a regenerator roof (10) and a row of regenerative chambers (2) between the regenerator roof (10) and a regenerator floor (11). In order to provide protection (e.g. for an external steel frame) against leakage of inflammable gas, cladding (16-24) of metal foil is provided at both the pusher side and the coke side. This cladding makes a substantially gas tight seal with the refractory brick. The foil preferably has a thickness of 0.05 to 0.25 mm.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The invention relates to a horizontal coke-oven battery of the type having 
coking chambers arranged in a row between an oven roof and a regenerator 
roof, and regenerative chambers beneath the coking chambers between the 
regenerator roof and a regenerator floor. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
In a conventional coke-oven battery of this type, the oven roof, the 
regenerator roof, the regenerator floor and various dividing walls between 
the coking chambers and the regenerative chambers form a refractory brick 
structure which is supported by a steel construction. This steel 
construction comprises vertical uprights and horizontal braces, which are 
intended to keep the brickwork under pressure so as to prevent the 
formation of cracks due to thermal stresses. Such cracks are undesirable 
for several reasons. One reason is that cracks in the brickwork give rise 
to leaks. When inflammable gases leak outwards and ignite, the steelwork 
may become too hot and deform, so that it ceases to give the brickwork 
adequate support. This gives rise to increased crack formation, and so on. 
Efforts have been made, by installing support plates between the uprights 
in the furnace roof and the regenerator roof and fitting armour plates 
between the uprights and the brickwork, to distribute the supporting 
action of the steelwork over the largest possible area of the brickwork as 
evenly as possible. Nevertheless it would appear to be practically 
impossible to prevent leakage of inflammable gases through the brickwork 
to the outside under all circumstances. This leakage produces the adverse 
effects on the brickwork described above. 
As the combustion chambers of the coke-oven battery operate under a vacuum 
as a result of chimney draught, cracks in the brickwork, may also 
interfere with the draught and may result in leakage paths for air and/or 
gas within the oven construction. This may not only lead to undesirable 
combustion phenomena within the oven but may also reduce the chimney 
draught, extend the coking time and cause the fuel gas to pre-ignite. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The object of the invention is to provide a horizontal coke-oven battery in 
which the above problems are ameliorated or removed, in particular in 
which the danger caused by crack formation is reduced. 
The invention consists in that, on both the pusher side and the coke side 
of the battery, a gas-tight cladding of metal foil is provided on the 
refractory brickwork, the cladding being sealingly connected to the 
brickwork. 
If the brickwork for any reason exhibits porosity or initial crack 
formation, as a result of which there is a danger that gas may leak to the 
outside, then the metal foil cladding will keep the brickwork sufficiently 
gas tight by sealing it to prevent the penetration of the gas to the 
outside or of air to the inside. 
Preferably at the sides of the battery, the cladding extends from about the 
level of the top of the oven roof to about the level of the top of the 
coking chambers and from about the level of the bottom of the coking 
chambers to about the level of the bottom of the regenerative chambers. 
The metal foil of the cladding should be chosen so that it remains 
sufficiently gas-tight under the conditions of operation and so that it 
retains its shape sufficiently well to provide the brickwork with an 
effective seal. This means that the metal foil must have low 
susceptibility to chemical corrosion and must be sufficiently rigid to 
maintain its shape. The preferred material for this purpose is a 
non-oxidizable alloy steel foil and the preferred thickness is in the 
range 0.05 to 0.25 mm. Good results may be achieved in particular with a 
steel foil measuring 0.10 to 0.15 mm in thickness, preferably 0.12 mm 
thick. The preferred steel contains 15 to 30% Cr, 5 to 25% Ni and 0 to 10% 
Mo. 
We have found that for simple and effective installation of the protective 
cladding, the cladding should preferably be predominantly composed of 
sheets measuring approximately 90.times.150 cm, these sheets overlapping 
one another when fitted, each sheet having one or more edges fastened into 
joints in the brickwork. Another possibility, however, is to install foil 
direct from a coil. 
At the points where, as in existing designs, the coke-oven battery already 
has armour plates and/or support plates, the metal foil (and in particular 
the overlapping sections thereof) may advantageously be concealed between 
these parts and the brickwork. 
At various places it is usual to have detached outer brick walls. At these 
points, for example, adjacent the regenerative chambers, it is possible 
for the detached brick wall to be in front of the foil, thus protecting 
the foil from the exterior. The likelihood of mechanical damage to the 
foil is thus considerably reduced. With a structure having a detached 
brick wall located at each end of the regenerative chambers, however, the 
bending of the metal foil so that it forms an uninterrrupted protective 
seal may be no easy task. Preferably the top and bottom ends of the 
detached brick walls are also provided with extra protection at their top 
and bottom faces, their rear faces and their side faces using separate 
pieces of metal foil. 
Where support plates are provided at the level of the oven roof and/or the 
regenerator roof between the brickwork and a steel support construction, 
preferably a layer of thermal insulation material is provided between each 
support plate and the metal foil, which is adjacent the brickwork. The 
insulation material keeps the support plates cool and is itself protected 
by the metal foil.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
FIGS. 1 and 2 show the coking chambers 1 of a horizontal coke-oven battery. 
The regenerative chambers 2 are located beneath the coking chambers 1. 
Each of the coking chambers is closed by a door 3 which is fastened by 
means of clamps 5 and 6 in cradles 7 and 8. The door is provided with 
refractory brickwork 3a. The coking chambers 1 are in a row between an 
oven roof 9 at the top and a regenerator roof 10 at the bottom. Beneath 
the regenerative chambers 2 is a regenerative floor 11. The regenerative 
chambers 2 are closed at their ends (i.e. at the side of the battery) by 
brick walls 25. The whole structure comprising oven roof 9, regenerator 
roof 10, regenerator floor 11 and the dividing walls between the adjacent 
pairs of coking chambers 1 and the adjacent pairs of regenerative chambers 
2, as well as the end walls 25 is formed of refractory brickwork. 
Uprights 4 of steel are located in the front of the battery between each 
adjacent pair of coking chambers to provide support for the brickwork 
construction. Steel support plates 13 and 14 are also fitted for this 
purpose between the uprights 4 and the oven roof and the regenerator roof 
respectively. It is also possible for armour plates (not shown in the 
drawings) to be installed from top to bottom of the construction between 
the uprights 4 and the brickwork to distribute the pressure. The uprights 
4 on the two sides of the battery may be connected by ties (not shown) 
extending through the roof 9. 
The coking chamber doors 3 are fitted in a gas-tight manner in the coking 
chamber openings. For this purpose, steel door frames 15 are fitted around 
these openings. 
FIG. 3 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1 but omitting the uprights 4, 
doors 3, support plates 13 and 14 and door frame 15 and shows how, in 
accordance with the invention, metal foil sheets 16 are fitted so as to 
overlap along the top of the side edges of the oven roof 9. Below this row 
of sheets 16, there are sheets 17 of metal foil which again overlap one 
another. In the same way, the edge of the regenerator roof 10 is fitted 
with rows of sheets 18,19 of foil and ends of the regenerative chambers 2 
are covered with vertically extending sheets 20 of metal foil. 
In this embodiment, all these sheets 16-20 of metal foil are of 0.12 mm 
thick steel containing 18% Cr and 8% Ni. Such foil is thin enough to be 
easily shaped and installed, but provides sufficient protective effect and 
is sufficiently rigid to maintain its shape. As far as possible, a unit 
size of 90.times.150 cm was used, but although these dimensions will 
naturally be adapted to the particular embodiment. The overlaps of the 
sheets are indicated by means of broken lines in the Figures. 
The sheets 16-20 are sealingly connected to the brickwork, as described 
below, and to each other so as to form a gastight protective cladding for 
the brickwork at the regions which they cover. This cladding provides an 
excellent seal against leakage of gas through the brickwork to the 
exterior or vice versa. 
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 2 but showing the sheets 
of metal foil applied in accordance with the invention. In contrast to 
FIG. 3, the uprights 4, pressure plates 13 and 14, door frame 15 and door 
brickwork 3a are shown in FIG. 5. The line III--III in FIG. 5 is the line 
of the view of FIG. 3. FIG. 5 also shows how the sheets 16 and 18 are 
fitted behind the pressure plates 13 and 14 between these plates and the 
brickwork. Between the pressure plates 13 and 14 and the sheets 16 and 18 
respectively, plates of thermally insulating ceramic material 26 and 28 
are fitted to keep the steel construction cool. FIG. 5 also shows that, at 
regenerative chamber recesses 12, there are two layers of brickwork at the 
ends of the chambers 2, with the sheets 20 of metal foil partly concealed 
behind the front detached (outer) layer 25. It will be noted that the 
parts of the sheets 20 which do not fit behind the brick layer 25 are 
protected by uprights 4. 
FIG. 5 shows how the various sheets 16,17,18,19 and 20 are bent in order to 
obtain an effective seal against the brickwork, and in particular how the 
top edges of these sheets fit into joints in the brickwork. Some of these 
joints may be moving ones. 
At a number of critical points, it will not be a simple matter to arrange 
abutting sheets of metal foil so that they overlap to provide an efficient 
seal. For this purpose, an extra layer is installed behind the sheets 
shown in FIG. 3, these extra layers being shown in FIG. 4. In the FIGS. 3 
and 4, the parts of the sheets which are visible when assembled are 
shaded. The covered parts of foil are shown unshaded. Above the door frame 
15, there is an extra layer 21 which is a strip attached by its top edge 
in the brickwork and with its bottom edge covered by the door frame 15. On 
the underside of the door frame 15, there is a strip 22 fitted between the 
regenerator roof and this frame. The strip 22 extends in front of the 
sheet 18 to behind pressure plate 14. The sheet elements 23 and 24 each 
consist of two bent pieces of foil sheet which are shown in more detail, 
in perspective, in FIGS. 6 and 7. The two parts of elements 23 are bent in 
such a way that they protect the upper end of the brickwork layer 25 at 
its top, rear and sides, this element being concealed behind sheets 19. In 
a similar way, the element 24, which is composed of two folded, 
interleaved sheets of foil, is shaped as shown in FIG. 7 so that it 
protects the bottom end of brickwork 25 at its bottom face, rear and 
sides.