Patent Publication Number: US-11384985-B2

Title: Furnace stave

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application U.S. Ser. No. 62/337,448 filed May 17, 2016, which is incorporated by reference herein for all purposes. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present disclosure generally relates to the field of cooling equipment for metallurgical furnaces such as blast furnaces. More precisely, the present disclosure concerns a furnace stave cooler system and method. Related fields include systems and methods for cooling blast furnaces and other metallurgical furnaces. Related fields include cooling plates and cooling staves. 
     BACKGROUND—FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     Conventional designs and constructions for cooling refractory bricks in blast furnaces and other metallurgical furnaces include cooling staves. Conventional copper cooling staves are generally planar, rectangularly shaped and arranged within a furnace substantially parallel or as parallel as possible, given the shapes of the staves and/or the interior of the furnace, to the metal shell of the furnace. The cooling staves typically cover a high percentage of the inner surface of the metal shell of the furnace. Refractory lining, such as refractory bricks, may be disposed in, on or around the surface of the stave, such as, for example, bricks disposed within slots or channels defined by the stave. Staves also have cavities that provide passages or house internal piping. Such passages or piping are connected to one or more external pipes that extend from the furnace shell side of the stave and penetrate the metal shell of the furnace. Coolant, such as, for example, water at an elevated pressure is pumped through the pipes and passages in order to cool the stave. The cooled stave thus cools the refractory bricks disposed within slots or channels defined by the stave. 
     Current stave or cooling panel brick designs typically are not efficient at controlling the temperature across the face of the refractory bricks or at protecting such refractory bricks from damage from heat and/or falling debris within a furnace. 
     Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a stave/brick construction in which the refractory bricks are protected at the top, bottom and any level in between by a fluid-cooled nose or protrusions of the stave that may or may not have its own cooling fluid circuit. 
     In addition, it would be desirable to provide a stave/brick construction which provides additional features such as a staggered brick face producing a variable thermal profile to promote slag accretions across the stave and face of the refractory bricks to protect the stave/brick construction. 
     These and other advantages of the disclosure will be appreciated by reference to the detailed description of the preferred embodiment(s) that follow. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Many other variations are possible with the present disclosure, and those and other teachings, variations, and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent from the description and figures of the disclosure. 
     One aspect of a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure comprises a furnace stave comprising a plurality of internal channels or conduits for circulating cooling fluid through the stave; an inlet and an outlet channel associated with each internal channel or conduit; wherein one of the internal channels or conduits is disposed in a protrusion from the stave. 
     In another aspect of a preferred stave of the present disclosure, the protrusion is located at the top, bottom and/or a location in between the top and bottom of the stave. 
     In yet another aspect of a preferred stave of the present disclosure, the internal channel or conduit disposed in the protrusion is design to cool such protrusion to the extent necessary to form a gummy slag accretion on a surface of the nose or protrusion and not to over cool the same such that the accretion is brittle and susceptible to breaking off of the nose or protrusion. 
     In another aspect, a preferred stave of the present disclosure further comprises a plurality of protrusions, wherein each protrusion has its own internal cooling conduit or circuit. 
     In another aspect, a preferred stave of the present disclosure further comprises refractory bricks of at least two different thicknesses disposed within the stave to define a front face comprising one or more depressions. 
     Another aspect of a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure comprises a stave/brick construction, comprising: a stave having a plurality of ribs and a plurality of channels, wherein a front face of the stave defines a first opening into each of the channels disposed between consecutive ones of the plurality of ribs; a plurality of internal channels or conduits for circulating cooling fluid through the stave; an inlet and an outlet channel associated with each internal channel or conduit; wherein one of the internal channels or conduits is disposed in a protrusion of the stave face; wherein the protrusion extends beyond each of the plurality of ribs; and a plurality of bricks wherein each brick is insertable into one of the plurality of channels via its first opening to a position, upon rotation of the brick, partially disposed in the one channel such that one or more portions of the brick at least partially engage one or more surfaces of the one channel and/or of a first rib of the plurality of ribs whereby the brick is locked against removal from the one channel through its first opening via linear movement without first being rotated. 
     In another aspect of a preferred stave/brick construction of the present disclosure, the protrusion is located at the top, bottom and/or a location in between the top and bottom of the stave. 
     In yet another aspect of a preferred stave/brick construction of the present disclosure, the internal channel or conduit disposed in the protrusion is design to cool such protrusion to the extent necessary to form a gummy slag accretion on a surface of the nose or protrusion and not to over cool the same such that the accretion is brittle and susceptible to breaking off of the nose or protrusion. 
     In another aspect, a preferred stave/brick construction of the present disclosure further comprises plurality of protrusions, wherein each protrusion has its own internal cooling conduit or circuit. 
     In yet a further aspect, a preferred stave/brick construction of the present disclosure further comprises bricks of at least two different thicknesses disposed within the stave to define a front face comprising one or more depressions. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       For the present disclosure to be easily understood and readily practiced, the present disclosure will now be described for purposes of illustration and not limitation in connection with the following figures, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of a conventional stave; 
         FIG. 2  is a side perspective view of a brick for use with a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 3  is a top perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a stave/brick construction for modification according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 4  is a side perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a stave/brick construction for modification according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of a preferred embodiment of a stave/brick construction for modification according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of a preferred embodiment of a stave/brick construction for modification according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view of a preferred embodiment of an alternative stave/brick construction for modification according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 8  is a top plan view of a conventional furnace lining employing conventional stave/brick constructions; 
         FIG. 9  is a top plan view of a preferred embodiment of a furnace lining comprising a preferred embodiment of a stave/brick construction for modification according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 10  shows a front elevational view and a cross-sectional view of a preferred embodiment of a stave according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 11  shows a front elevational view and a cross-sectional view of a preferred embodiment of a stave and brick construction according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 12  shows a front perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a stave and brick construction having a face with a variable thermal profile according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 13  show schematic views of a preferred embodiment of a stave and brick construction according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 14  shows a side view of a preferred furnace wall cooling construction comprising a preferred embodiment of a stave and brick construction according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 15  shows a front elevational view of another preferred furnace wall cooling construction comprising a preferred embodiment of a stave and brick construction of the present disclosure and schematic views of preferred internal cooling fluid circuits therefor according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 16  shows a side view of yet another furnace wall cooling construction comprising a preferred embodiment of a stave and brick construction according to the present disclosure; and 
         FIG. 17  shows a front elevational view of a further preferred furnace wall cooling construction comprising a preferred embodiment of a stave and brick construction of the present disclosure and schematic views of preferred internal cooling fluid circuits therefor according to the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying examples and figures that form a part hereof, and in which is shown, by way of illustration, specific embodiments in which the inventive subject matter may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice them, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural or logical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the inventive subject matter. Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred to, individually and/or collectively, herein by the term “disclosure” merely for convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application to any single disclosure or inventive concept if more than one is in fact disclosed. 
     The following description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limited sense, and the scope of the inventive subject matter is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a planar, fluid cooled stave  10  of known construction having a plurality of stave ribs  11  and defining a plurality of stave channels  12 , both of generally rectangular cross-sections for use with bricks having matching cross-sections. Other stave designs of known construction (not shown) employ stave ribs and stave channels having cross-sections complementary to the dovetail sections of conventional refractory brick (not shown) to allow such dovetailed sections thereof to be inserted into the side ends of the stave and slid into position therein with or without mortar in between each adjacent brick. A major disadvantage of such known stave/brick constructions is that due to the closeness to each other when installed in a furnace, such staves  10  must be removed from the furnace to allow the bricks  14  to be slid out of the stave channels  12  whenever the stave/brick construction needs to be rebuilt or repaired, either in-whole or in-part. Removing such staves  10  from the furnace is necessitated because such bricks cannot be removed or inserted into stave channels  12  through the front face of stave  10 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , stave  10  comprises a plurality of pipes  13  disposed inside the stave  10  which may be connected to one or more external pipes that extend from the furnace shell side of the stave  10  and penetrate the metal shell of the furnace so that coolant, such as, for example, water at an elevated pressure is pumped through the pipes  13  in order to cool the stave  10  and any refractory bricks disposed within stave channels  12  when assembled and installed in a furnace. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a preferred embodiment of a refractory brick  18  according to a preferred embodiment of a stave/brick construction  28  of the present disclosure. Brick  18  has an exposed face  26  and oblique or slanted top and bottom sections  19  and  20 , respectively. Brick  18  also comprises or defines a locking side  29  comprising concave groove  22 , a generally arcuate nose  23 , a generally arcuate seat  25 , a generally arcuate concave section  24 , a lower face  27  and a generally planar front face  31 . Brick  18  also has a neck  21 , the vertical thickness (“ab”) of which is increased with respect to the vertical neck  15  of known bricks  14 . Preferably, the length “ab” of vertical neck  21  is equal to or greater than about two (2) times the length “cd” of the depth of brick  18  that is disposed in stave channel  37  when the brick  18  is installed therein. The shapes, geometries and/or cross-sections of brick  18  and/or any part thereof, including, without limitation, one or more of exposed face  26 , lower face  27 , front face  31 , oblique/slanted top section  19 , oblique/slanted bottom section  20 , groove  22 , nose  23 , seat  25 , concave section  24  and front locking side  29  may be modified or take other forms such as being angular, rectilinear, polygonal, geared, toothed, symmetrical, asymmetrical or irregular instead the shapes of the preferred embodiments thereof as shown in the drawings hereof without departing from the scope of the disclosure hereof. The refractory bricks  18  of the present disclosure preferably may be constructed from many of the refractory materials currently available including, but not limited to, silicon carbide (such as Sicanit AL3 available from Saint-Gobain Ceramics), MgO—C(magnesia carbon), alumina, insulating fire brick (IFB), graphite refractory brick and carbon. In addition, bricks  18  may be constructed from alternating or different materials depending upon their location in a stave  30  or within the furnace. Also, as set forth above, the shape of bricks  18  may also be modified or altered to meet various stave and/or furnace spaces and/or geometries. 
     Preferred embodiments of a stave/refractory brick construction  28  of the present disclosure is shown in  FIGS. 2-7 and 9 , including a preferred embodiment of a stave  30  of the present disclosure. Stave  30  may comprise a plurality of pipes (not shown), such as the pipes  13  disposed inside the stave  10  as shown in  FIG. 1 , which may be attached to one or more external pipes that extend from the furnace shell side of the stave  30  and penetrate the metal shell of the furnace so that coolant, such as, for example, water at an elevated pressure is pumped through such pipes (not shown) in order to cool the stave  30  and any refractory bricks  18  disposed within stave channels  37  thereof when assembled and installed in a furnace. Preferably, the stave  30  is constructed of copper, cast iron or other metal of high thermal conductivity, while any pipes disposed with stave  30  are preferably made from steel. 
     Each stave  30  preferably may be curved about its horizontal axis and/or about its vertical axis to match the internal profile of the furnace or area in which they will be used. Each stave  30  preferably comprises a plurality of stave ribs  32  and a stave socle  33  to support stave  30  in a standing position which may be a fully upright 90 degrees as shown, or a tilted or slanted position (not shown). Each stave rib  32  preferably defines a generally arcuate top rib section  34  and a generally arcuate bottom rib section  35 . Stave  30  preferably defines a plurality stave channels  37  between each successive pair of stave ribs  32 . Preferably, each stave channel  37  is generally “C-shaped” or “U-shaped” and includes a generally planar stave channel wall  38 , although stave channel wall  38  may also be curved or contoured along its vertical and/or horizontal axes, toothed, etc., to be complementary with the front face  31  of brick  18  if such front face  31  has a shape other than the planar shape depicted herein, which may depend upon the application. Each stave channel  37  also preferably includes a generally arcuate upper channel section  39  and a generally arcuate lower channel section  40 , all as defined by stave  30  and a successive pair of stave ribs  32 . The shapes, geometries and/or cross-sections of one or more of the stave ribs  32 , top rib sections  34 , bottom rib sections  35 , stave channels  37 , stave channel walls  38 , upper channel sections  39  and lower channel sections  40 , preferably may be modified or take other forms such as being contoured, angular, rectilinear, polygonal, geared, toothed, symmetrical, asymmetrical or irregular instead the shapes of the preferred embodiments thereof as shown in the drawings hereof without departing from the scope of the disclosure hereof. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , while the stave bricks  18  of the present disclosure may be slid into stave channels  37  from the sides  45  of stave  30  when space permits, stave bricks  18  may also preferably and advantageously be inserted into the front face  47  of staves  30 . Beginning at the bottom of stave  30 , each stave channel  37  may be filled with stave bricks  18  by rotating or tilting each brick  18  in a first direction  46  where the bottom portion of brick  18  moves away from stave  30  preferably (1) about an axis substantially parallel a plane of the stave or (2) to allow nose  23  to be inserted into stave channel  37  and into concave, arcuate upper channel section  39 , after which brick  18  is rotated in a second direction  48  generally such that the bottom of brick  18  moves toward stave  30  until (i) nose  23  is disposed in-whole or in-part within concave, arcuate upper channel section  39  with or without the perimeter of nose  23  being in partial or complete contact with upper channel section  39 , (ii) front face  31  of brick  18  is disposed substantially near and/or adjacent to channel wall  38  with or without the front face  31  being in partial or complete contact with channel wall  38 , (iii) arcuate seat  25  is disposed in-whole or in-part within arcuate lower channel section  40  with or without the perimeter of seat  25  being in partial or complete contact with lower channel section  40 , (iv) arcuate concave section  24  is disposed in-whole or in-part over the arcuate top rib section  34  of the lower stave rib  32  of the successive pair of stave ribs  32  defining the stave channel  37  into which the brick  18  is being inserted with or without the inside surface of concave section  24  being in partial or complete contact with the arcuate top rib section  34  of such lower stave rib  32 , (v) lower face  27  of brick  18  is disposed substantially near and/or adjacent to rib face  36  with or without the lower face  27  being in partial or complete contact with rib face  36 , and/or (vi) slanted bottom section  20  of the brick  18  being installed is disposed substantially near and/or adjacent to slanted top section  19  of the brick  18  immediately below the brick  18  being installed with or without such slanted bottom section  20  being in partial or complete contact with such slanted top section  19 , in the case where the brick  18  is being installed in any of the stave channels  37  except the lowest stave channel  37  of stave  30 . As illustrated in  FIGS. 5-7 , when the nose  23  is disposed in-whole or in-part within concave, arcuate upper channel section  39  with or without the perimeter of nose  23  being in partial or complete contact with concave, upper channel section  39 , and/or arcuate seat  25  is disposed in-whole or in-part within concave, arcuate lower channel section  40  with or without the perimeter of seat  25  being in partial or complete contact with concave, lower channel section  40 , each of the bricks  18  is prevented from being moved linearly out of stave channel  37  through the opening in the front face  47  of stave  30  without each brick  18  being rotated such that the bottom thereof is rotated away from the front face  47  of stave  30 . 
     As also shown in  FIGS. 4-7 , once a row of bricks  18  is installed in a stave channel  37  above a row of previously installed bricks  18 , the bricks  18  in such immediately lower row are locked into place and cannot be rotated in the first direction  46  away from stave  30  to be removed from stave channel  37 . The stave/refractory brick construction  28  of the present disclosure as shown in  FIGS. 2-6 and 9  may be employed with or without mortar between adjacent stave bricks  18 . 
       FIG. 7  illustrates another preferred embodiment of a stave/brick construction  90  of the present disclosure which is the same as stave/brick construction  28  of  FIGS. 3-6  except that it employs at least two different sizes of stave bricks  92  and  94 , respectively, to form an uneven front face  96 . As shown, bricks  92  of the stave/brick construction  90  have a greater overall depth “ce 1 ” than the depth “ce 2 ” of bricks  94 . This staggered construction resulting from the different depths of stave bricks  92  and  94 , respectively, may preferably be used in accretion zones or other desirable zones of the furnace where the uneven front face  96  would be more effective at holding an accretion or buildup of material to further protect the bricks  92  and  94  from thermal and/or mechanical damage. 
       FIG. 8  illustrates the use of conventional stave/brick constructions  58  within a furnace  49 . When using flat or curved staves/coolers, such as the flat/planar upper and lower staves  52  and  53 , respectively, with pre-installed bricks  54  arranged within furnace shell  51 , such staves  52  and  53  are installed in the furnace  49  such that ram gaps  56  exist in between adjacent pairs of upper staves  52  and such that ram gaps  57  exist in between adjacent pairs of lower staves  53 , both to allow for construction allowance. These ram gaps  56  and  57  must be used to allow for construction deviation Such ram gaps  56  and  57  are typically rammed with refractory material (not shown) to close such gaps  56  and  57  between the adjacent stave/brick constructions  58 . Such material filled gaps  56  and  57  typically are weak points in such conventional furnace linings using stave/brick constructions  58 . During operation of furnace  49 , the rammed gaps  56  and  57  erode prematurely and furnace gases track between the stave/brick constructions  58 . With the preferably curved stave/brick constructions  28  of the present disclosure, the furnace can be bricked continuously around its circumference to eliminate conventional rammed gaps with bricks  18 . As shown in  FIG. 9 , the gaps  42  between staves  30  are covered by one or more of bricks  18  of the present disclosure, eliminating the need for ramming filling material into such gaps  42 . By eliminating the conventional rammed gaps  56  and  57  between the furnace bricks of adjacent staves  30 , the integrity and life of the furnace and/or furnace lining is increased. 
     Another problem associated with the conventional stave/brick constructions  58  having pre-installed bricks  54 , as shown in  FIG. 8 , is that because such conventional stave/brick constructions  58  are not continuously bricked around the circumference of furnace  49 , edges  55  of numerous of the bricks  54  protrude into the interior of furnace  49  and are thus exposed to any matter falling through the furnace  49 . Such protruding edges  55  tend to wear faster and/or are susceptible to being hit by falling matter, causing such bricks  54  with protruding edges  55  to break off into the furnace  49  and expose the staves  52  and  53 . Again, the stave/brick constructions  28  of the present disclosure allow the furnace to be bricked continuously around its circumference thereby eliminating any such protruding brick edges  55 , as shown in  FIG. 9 . Thus, the occurrences of (i) bricks  18  being pulled or knocked out of staves  30  and (ii) of staves  30  being directly exposed to the intense heat of the furnace are both significantly reduced by the stave/brick construction  28  of the present disclosure. Such characteristics make the stave/brick construction  28  of the present disclosure well-suited for use in the stack of blast furnaces. 
     As also shown in  FIG. 9 , a plurality of pin mounting cylinders  43  are preferably formed on the back side of each stave  30  for mounting pins  41  used to handle each stave  30 , and/or to secure and/or mount each stave  30  within a furnace. Each of the pins  41  preferably defines a threaded or unthreaded thermocouple mounting hole (not shown) allowing one or more thermocouples to be easily installed at various locations on each stave  30 . 
     While the preferred embodiment of a stave/refractory brick construction  28  of the present disclosure shown in  FIGS. 2-7 and 9 , includes a preferred embodiment of a furnace cooler or stave  30 , the teachings of the present disclosure are also applicable to a frame/brick construction where such frame (not shown) is not limited to a furnace cooler or stave  30 , but is a frame for providing a standing or other supported vertical or slanted wall of bricks, whether or not refractory bricks, for applications including, but not limited to, furnace applications. 
       FIG. 10  shows a preferred embodiment of a furnace cooling stave  110  of the present disclosure having one or more noses or protrusions  112 . Each protrusion  112  preferably has an associated cooling-fluid inlet/outlet pipe  98  as part of its independent cooling-fluid circuit  120  Also, each stave  110  preferably has an associated cooling-fluid inlet pipe  96  and outlet pipe  97  as part of its main and independent cooling-fluid circuit  119 . Protrusions  112  preferably may be disposed at the top, bottom or anywhere in between the top and bottom of stave  110 . Stave  110  is preferably made from copper or other high heat conductivity material. Preferably, protrusions  112  have independent cooling circuits  120  ( FIGS. 15 and 17 ) separate from the main stave body cooling circuit  119 . With its independent cooling circuit  120 , the nose  112  acts like a cooling plate and provides a cool surface to start an accretion forming thereon and provides structural support therefore. Preferably, independent cooling circuit  120  of nose  112  is designed to cool nose or protrusion  112  to the extent necessary to form a gummy (i.e., sticky, tacky, gluey, adhesive, resinous, or viscous) slag accretion on a surface of the nose or protrusion  112  and not to over cool the same such that the accretion is brittle and susceptible to breaking off of the nose or protrusion  112 . The upper shelf created by nose  112  also shields and protects the refractory bricks  117  and  118  within the stave  110  from falling debris within the furnace. 
     Preferably, the bricks  117  and  118  installed in the stave  110  of the present disclosure as shown in  FIGS. 11-13, 15 and 17  are of different thicknesses (front to back) to create a staggered brick face  121  which provides a variable thermal profile to provide cool pockets at and near shallow bricks  117  to support the formation of accretions  123  without gas channeling. An accretion layer  123  of slag forms over the staggered brick face  121  during operation of the furnace. Such an accretion layer  123  of slag is important to promote and retain throughout the furnace&#39;s campaign life because it provides an important first layer of heat insulation. 
       FIG. 12  shows a preferred thermal profile on a preferred staggered brick face  121  of stave and brick construction  110  of the present disclosure showing cooler pockets at and near reduced thickness bricks  117  for slag accretion build up and warmer surface at the full brick surfaces  118 . 
       FIG. 13  shows that the accretions  123  preferably start to form in the cool step brick pockets  117  and as the accretions  123  grow they are supported by the staggered brick face  121  and attached to the warmer full depth brick faces  118 . Such warmer surfaces  118  also help prevent the accretion  123  from becoming too brittle and cracking off, thereby allowing it to form a large accretion  124  over the staggered brick face  121 . 
       FIG. 14  shows a system of the present disclosure comprising two rows of stave/brick constructions  110  according to the present disclosure having an independently-cooled noses  112  at the top of the system and plate coolers  125  inserted below the staves  110  and surrounded by refractory brick  126  wherein the bottom two cooling plates  125  have been extended to protect the tuyere surround  130 . Preferably, the staves  110  in this preferred cooling arrangement of  FIG. 14  are the same height &amp; width as other existing staves (not shown) and therefore can use existing cooling fluid inlet/outlet piping and installation pins and bolting locations of the furnace. Here again, the independent circuit cooling circuits  120  of the noses  112  (preferably copper) of staves  110  are designed to not over cool the noses  112  so that the slag accretion formed is gummy or viscous enough and not completely cool such that it becomes brittle and breaks off. 
       FIG. 15  shows the staggered brick faces  121  of the two rows of staves  110  from  FIG. 14  and also the cooling circuits  119  for such staves  110 , as well as showing the independent cooling circuits  120  for each of the noses  112  of each of the staves  110  in such system. 
       FIG. 16  shows another preferred embodiment of a furnace cooling arrangement present disclosure having four rows of stave/brick constructions  110 , each preferably of half the height and 1.5 times the width of other existing staves used in the furnace. Preferably, such staves  110  can use existing cooling fluid inlet/outlet piping, but may require new or additional installation pins and bolting locations on the furnace. Preferably, each of the noses  112  in these staves  110  is located at the bottom of each stave  110  and is designed to not over cool so that slag accretions can form and not become brittle and break off. Here again, plate coolers  125  are preferably inserted below the staves  110  and surrounded by refractory brick  126  wherein the bottom two cooling plates  125  have been extended to protect the tuyere surround  130 . 
       FIG. 17  shows the staggered brick faces  121  of the four rows of staves  110  from  FIG. 16  and also the cooling circuits  119  for such staves  110 , as well as showing the independent cooling circuits  120  for each of the noses  112  of each of the staves  110  in such arrangement as shown, the nose  112  of each stave  110  is preferably located on the bottom of each stave  110  in this arrangement of  FIGS. 16-17 . 
     Preferably, when the nose or protrusion  112  is disposed at the top of the stave  110 , it defines a slanted under surface  115  (as shown in  FIGS. 10-11 ) to provide a gap  116  for refractory bricks  117  and  118  to be rotated in and out of the stave  110  as described herein above and as is known in the art as per U.S. Pat. No. 9,102,990 incorporated herein for all purposes. Also, each stave  110  may have one or more noses  112  located at the top, bottom or some location therebetween on the stave  110  as needed or desired. All such protrusions or noses  112  may or may not be independently fluid-cooled, as needed, in accordance with the present disclosure. 
     Preferably, any of the stave/brick constructions  110  of the present disclosure also may be assembled initially by setting the bricks  117  and/or  118  in a form and casting the stave  110  around the bricks  117  and/or  118 . 
     In the foregoing Detailed Description, various features are grouped together in a single embodiment to streamline the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments of the disclosure require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.