IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REMOVING SLAG FROM BLAST FURNACES
Year: 1871

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Thomas Bell at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 27th
November 1871.
I, THOMAS BELL, of the Walker Iron Works, near Newcastle-upon-
Tyne, in the County of Northumberland, Iron Master, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
REMOVING SLAG FROM BLAST FURNACES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is the construction and employment of
apparatus for facilitating the removal of slag from blast furnaces, the slag
being brought or rendered into suitable sizes and shapes for easy
transport, either to be distributed or deposited as refuse or to be used as
a body, or for admixture with concrete or otherwise for building
operations.
According to one construction or arrangement of apparatus I employ
a series of flat or trough shaped plates upon endless chains or belts
which pass over tumblers, drums, or rollers (segmental, or otherwise)
mounted in or upon a frame, the tumblers, drums, or rollers being
driven by steam or other power. One end of the frame is in proximity
to the slag spout of a blast furnace so that the molten slag can be run
into or upon the plates in succession and become solidified as the plates

page_text: travel on towards the other end of the frame from which the blocks,
slabs, or sheets can be tumbled into a cart or other vehicle placed there
to receive them. The plates may have partitions in or on them if
necessary to limit the sizes of the blocks or pieces.
In lieu of attaching the plates to the chain they may be pushed or
drawn along the frame by studs or claws on the links or by wire ropes,
the edges of the plates riding in grooves formed in the sides of the frame
or in rails in connection therewith.
According to another method I employ an endless belt or band of
metal passing over rollers on to which belt or band the slag may be run,
the endless belt having raised edges to form the trough or not, as desired.
Again a segmental wheel may be used and either with separate plates or
with a continuous band, or the plates may be slung by eyes and pins to a
wheel so that each plate as it rises or falls, as the case may be, receives its
supply of slag and then carries it in a vertical circular direction to the
place where the vehicle is situated, there to be upset to discharge its
contents. Two wheels may however be used to carry the slabs to any
distance.
According to another method I employ a disc or a portion of a disc
which has a continuous or an intermittent movement in one direction
given to it by suitable gearing, the disc being so shaped that the
solidified slag can be scraped off or otherwise removed when sufficiently
cooled down, the disc being caused to move in a circular direction from
a central shaft or spindle, or it may move eccentrically and either
continuously or reciprocating, as desired.
To expedite the cooling down of the slag I sometimes use water or a
current of cold air, either upon the surface of the slag or against the
under side of the plate, but in practice I prefer to only half fill the plates
with slag, and then, as soon as it sets or becomes solidified, to completely
fill the plates up with water; this plan not only serves to cool the slag,
but also the plates which when brought into position to receive fresh slag
have lost the greater part of their heat.
MAK
ho formed of rosenate alaton if dariend