Improved Blast Furnace Blocks and Twyeres.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 4th May, 1889
Complete Specification Left, 4th Feb., 1890-Accepted, 12th Apr., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Blast Furnace Blocks and Twyeres.
I, JAMES MOCANN of 14 King Street Millom in the County of Cumberland, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows
The object of my invention is to enable the blast passing through the belly pipes
in connection with blast furnaces to operate for a longer period than can be done
with the blocks and twyeres now in use at blast furnaces.
I effect this object by constructing my blocks and twyeres so as to have the
greatest flow of water passing round that part of the belly pipe nearest to the
furnace and consequently liable to be the soonest injured by the heat.
An improved twyere is made in two parts. The first part consists of a number of
coils of tubing passing round the belly pipe through which cold water is kept flowing
so as to cool the belly pipe and keep it from becoming destroyed in consequence of
its exposure to the increased heat at that part of the furnace where the blast enters.
The second part also consists of coils of tubing arranged immediately over that
portion of the first part nearest to the furnace. These second coils owing to the
increased volume of water keep the belly pipe cooler than when only one set is used.
The first set of tubes may consist of eight coils and the second of three but more
or less coils may be used to suit the requirements of particular furnaces
The twyere and block may also be constructed in three or more parts.
The block is made similar to the twyere but requiring to go round both the twyere
and belly pipe the coils are consequently larger than the coils of the twyere.
The coils of both block & twyere in their seperate parts may be arranged to run
side by side round the belly pipe until the fifth coil of the first part is reached when
the coil of the second part is raised up so as to overlap the remaining coils of the
first part, or they may be arranged side by side without overlapping.
Owing to the two or more sets of coils of tubing in both blocks and twyeres
having seperate connections with the feeder from which the supply of cold water is
obtained they work independantly of each other and after one set in either block or
twyere is injured by the heat the others will continue to keep the belly pipe cool and
thereby permit the blast to enter the furnace but in consequence of the reduced
volume of water the cooling effects of either block or twyere will not be so great
when one or more sets of coils are injured as when they are all in working order.
As an alteration which is calculated to increase the length of time which a block
or twyere may be considered to perform this cooling work, the first parts may be
made of coils of double tubing one arranged inside the other but both allowing of
the passage of seperate streams of cold water. By this arrangement the circulation
of the cold water in the inner tubing can be maintained after the outside tubing has
been destroyed but the cooling effect will be considerably decreased.
The blocks and twyeres may be supplied with cold water from one or more feeders
and they may also have one or more dischargers. The feeders and dischargers may
also be reversed so that a feeding pipe may become a discharging pipe and vice versa.
The blocks and twyeres are usually made of wrought iron but they can also be
made of copper brass or malleable iron.
The tubing of the coils of blocks and twyeres is of various sizes to suit the
requirements of furnaces.
In order to ascertain which of the parts working has become injured a small stop
cock is placed in each of the discharging pipes. If there be any appearance of a
leakage in the block or twyere, by turning on the stop cock the nature of the water
discharged will indicate whether this particular part is injured or not.
If there is a

page_text: decreased flow of water impregnated with gas it is an indication that the heat has
injured the tubing from which the discharge has been obtained. A full volume of
water free from gas shows that the part is uninjured.
Dated the 2nd day of Mo! 1000
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Blast Furnace Blooks and Twyeres.
I, JAMES MCCANN of 14 King Street, Millom, in the County of Cumberland, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
The object of my invention is to enable the blast passing through the belly pipes
in connection with blast furnaces to operate for a longer period than can be done
with the blocks and twyeres now in use at blast furnaces
I effect this object by improved blocks and twyeres, which are so constructed as to
have the greatest flow of water passing round that part of the bolly pipe nearest to
the furnace, and, consequently liable to be the soonest injured by the heat.
And in order that my said invention may be properly understood I have hereunto
appended two explanatory sheets of drawings, whereon
Fig 1 shows in elevation an arrangement of feeder for supplying water to the
twyeres or blocks.
Figs. 2 and 3 show improved constructions of twyeres.
Fig. 4 shows an old style of twyere.
Figs. 5 and 6 shows nose pipos
Fig 7 shows a block as made in accordance with my invention.
Figs 8, 9 and 10 are details.
Fig 11 shows a feeder in section with twyeres on either side. The twyeres in this
view being in a reversed position from those at fig. 1.
Figs. 12, 13 14 and 17 are views of the feeder.
Figs. 15, 16, and 18 are details.
An ordinary twyere consists as shown at fig. 4 of a single pipe or tube, a, coiled
into the shape shown, through which water is circulated to cool the belly pipe and
keep it from becoming destroyed in consequence of its exposure to the increased
heat at that part of the furnace where the blast enters.
As the nose coil of the pipe a is very liable to become burned and the whole
twyere-to-be-thus-destroyed I, in a somewhat similar manner to that described by_me
in my prior patent No. 11556 of 1887, fit or place immediately in front of said
nose coil a nose pipe b which may be of the shape shown at figs 5 and 6, or two or
more nose pipes may be fitted over said nose coil as shown at figs. 2 and 3. These
second coils & may, as under my prior patent, be supplied with water separately from
the pipe a and the volume of water kept circulating around the belly pipe keeps it.
cool and as a consequence great durability is obtained.
In figs 2 and 3 as will be seen, two nose pipes b, b1 are fitted in front of the coil a.
The front nose pipe 6' is preferably made with a single bend as shown at fig. 5 whilst
the nose pipe b is preferably made with two bends or coils in it. The pipe a may
have 8 coils or bends. It is to be understood that although I prefer to make the
number of coils in each pipe as above I do not confine myself thereto as a greater or
less number of coils may be used to suit the requirements of particular furnaces.
Further instead of having a single nose pipe b or two nose pipes 6, b' any other
desired number of nose pipes may be used.
As shown at fig. 7 the block is made in a similar manner to the twyere. The block
which requires to go round both the twyere and bellypipe is of large diameter and
consists, preferably, of the coil pipe a and a single nose pipe 6 fitted in front of the
pipe a although two or more nose pipes may be used if desired.

page_text: Instead of fitting the pipes in position in the manner hereinbefore described, the
coils of the twyere and block, in their separate parts a b may be arranged to run side
by side round the belly pipe until the fifth coil of the pipe a is reached when the coil
of the nose pipe b is or may be raised up so as to overlap the remaining coils of the
pipe a; or they may be arranged side by side without overlapping or in other
convenient or desirable manner.
Instead of supplying water direct to each coil pipe a, b, b' as in my prior patent,
the same water is, under this invention made to circulate first through the nose b¹
then through the pipe b and lastly through the pipe a, and in order to effect this
as shown at figs. 1, 2 and 3 the legs of the coils a, b, b' are connected to branch
pipes c which extend from a main water feeding pipe or feeder e. This feeder which
inay be a double one supplying two twyeres G, H, one on either side as shown in
vertical section at fig. 11, has valves a' situated in its legs B B¹. A valve a³ is shown
in elevation at fig. 10) and three valves are shown in longitudinal section as fitted in
position in the feeder e at fig 12. With this arrangement water is supplied to the
legs B, B1 of the feeder, at its lower end, from thence it passes first along
branch 1 (fig. 1) enters the leg 1 of the nose pipe b and circulates round the nose
of the twyere returning by the leg 2 into the branch 2 of the feeder. The water is
caused to flow upward in the feeder, in the direction of the arrow (fig. 11) by the
valve a and enters the branch and pipe through which it circulates again
returning to the feeder by the leg 4 and branch 4 It again as indicated by the
arrow, enters the branch 5 and circulates though the pipe a returning to the feeder
by the branch b from which it is discharged by the pipe E. Likewise the right hand
twyere is fed from the leg B', the water passing first along the pipe b' then through
the pipe band finally through the pipe a and discharging at E
Instead of the water
being discharged at E as hereinbetore described the stream of water admitted at B
may be forced by a suitable valve fitting at top or by the closing of the feeder at
its upper end to circulate back through the pipe B' and the right hand twyere, the
water in this case being passed first through the pipe a and then through 6 and b¹ and
finally escaping at the lower end of the feeder. In fig. 11, the feeder is shown as first
feeding the pipe a and then the pipes b, b'. In some cases it is found desirable to
have the feeder made with three divisions or channels the entering water passing
down the central channel and then up through the outer channels B, B' as before.
In this case the lower end of the feeder is closed, the central channel alone communi-
cating at its lower end with the outer channels B, B' and the discharge is at top
The ends of the branches c may be connected directly to the tubes a, b, 6 or
Jointing cross or tee pieces m, m¹ may be fitted at their outer extremities to which the
tubes a, b, bare connected In these cross or tee pieces keys or plugs n made hollow
and having a slot or opening n' in them (see fig. 9) are fitted so as to serve as stop
cocks. The plugs n are screwed at bottom (see figs 8 and 9) and to this screwed
part the top of the p.pes forming the twyere are connected. The plugs a³ and n have
preferably triangular or tapered heads n' on them so that when the point or tapered
part is turned by a triangular headed key (see fig. 18) so as to point in a certain
direction it indicates that the way to the tubes is open or shut as the case may be.
Thus by turning the plug n say on the pipe 1 in such manner that its head points to
either the left or right communication is opened between the feeder and the pipe 1
and again by turning the plug so that its head points upwards or downwards the way
to the pipe 1 is closed or vice versa.
Instead of having cross pieces and stop cocks n on every branch, tee pieces may
be used on every second or feeding branch and cross pieces on the discharging ones
as shown.
At figs. 15 and 16 double stop cock arrangements are shown as fitted to the
branches c which latter are preferably in all cases made with a bend and so fitted to
the feeder that they can be swivelled round to any convenient position to meet and be
connected to the twyere or block tubes. In these views the water enters at A, and by
the turning of the cock n, can be made to pass either to the connections D and so to
the twyere or block or can be discharged by the pipe E.

page_text: In fig 17, the current directing cock or plug a³, is shown as fitted into position in
the feeder e, it is also shown in section it fig 12 and in end view at fig 13 In
fig 14 an edge view of the feeder is shown with the openings for connecting the
brauches c in the manner shown in cross section at fig 17.
A great difficulty in the old system in the case of injury to the block or the twyere
was to locate the injury In most cases both the block and twyere had to be removed
out of the furnace in order to ascertain the whereabouts of the damaged coil, with my
feeders the broken part can at once be discovered and either one or all parts of the
block or twyere tested simultaneously. This is done simply by first, preferably,
affixing a spout or tap N to the cross pieces m and then turning the first and second
feeding taps N' in say the division B₁ so as to allow the water to pass up the division
and flow through the three fooding arms 1, 3, 5 at once. This considerably slackens
the pressure of water (because what formerly ran through one is now divided amongst
the three) and allows the pressure of blast inside the furnace to get ahead the pressure
of water and to cause gas to pass into the part injured or broken. (The blast can be
increased and the stronger the better to force the gas quicker through the burnt coil;
this is better for the progress and safety of the furnace). The stop cocks in the
crosspieces are at the same time turned so as to conduct the discharging water
through the spout N (see fig. 8) The cocks in the feeding arms may not be turned.
Then whichever part has become injured can be detected by the issue of gas mingling
with discharging water emitted from that particular part. The water supply can
then be cut off from that part by turning the stopcock in the tee-piece on the feeding
arm in connection with it and transferred to the next part in order that every part
may be kept supplied and in constant operation and no delay or inconvenience caused.
When all the arms or branches c or the discharging ones only have crosspieces on
them, spouts N may be fitted therein and when the twyeres or blocks are operating,
the cocks n may be so turned, at anytime, as to discharge water through said spouts
and thus test the proper action of each pipe without interfering with the proper action
of the twyeres or blocks If desired the water may be tested through the pipes E
instead of through the pipes N.
As the twyere or block is made up of two or more parts having separate
connections with the feeder from which the supply of cold water is obtained they
work independently of each other and after one set in either block or twyere is
injured by the heat the others will continue to keep the bellypipe cool and thereby
permit the blast to enter the furnace but in consequence of the reduced volume of
water, the cooling effects of either block or twyere will not be so great when one or
more sets of coils are injured as when they are all in working order.
As an alteration which is calculated to increase the length of time which a block or
twyere may be considered to perform this cooling work the coils may be made of
double tubing one arranged inside the other but both allowing of the passage of
separate streams of cold water. By this arrangement the circulation of the cold water
in the inner tubing can be maintained after the outside tubing has been destroyed but
the cooling effect will be considerably decreased.
In some cases a nose pipe can be fitted on the point of the belly pipe and thus serve
as a small tw yere.
The blocks and twyeres may be supplied with cold water from one or more feeders
and they may also have one or more dischargers
The feeders and dischargers may also be reversed so that a feeding pipe may become
a discharging one and vice versa.
By the application of ammonia and a current of cold blast the pipes can be cleaned
free of leaves or dirt and be thus prevented from being choked up. When this is
done salt water may also be used without injurious effects.
The twyere may be coiled of two diameters so that two sizes of blast may be passed
through it.
The blocks and twyeres are usually made of wrought it on but they also can be made
of copper, brass, Delta metal or malleable iron and if desired they may be cast in parts
and fitted together.

page_text: The tubing of the coils of blocks and twyeres may be of various sizes to meet the
requirements of different furnaces and if desired they may be made of square or
oblong section.
The coils of the twyeres and blocks may be made in any suitable shape and the legs
of the coils may be brought down either inside or outside of the coils or be crossed or
recrossed or otherwise fitted.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
(1) The hereinbefore described apparatus for cooling the belly pipes of furnaces
consisting of a twyere made in two or more parts and surrounded or not by a block,
arms or branches connected to the legs of the twyere and a feeder having valves
therein for controlling and directing the water supply, the several parts being
arranged and operating substantially as set forth.
(2) The arrangement of feeders with feeding and discharging branches c connected
to the twyere or block having stopcocks n for cutting off and controlling the
water supply, substantially as herein before described and shown on the annexed
drawing.
(3) The method of testing and detecting the damaged parts of twyeres or
blocks, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
(4) The combination with a block or twyere made in two or more parts or portions,
of a feeder having cocks or valves arranged therein for directing the water to the
several parts, of said twyere or block, substantially as hereinbefore described and
shown on the annexed drawings.
(5) A twyere or block made with coils of double tubing the one inside the other
through which separate streams of cold water are passed substantially as hereinbefore
described.
1
TH
T1
1000