IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND APPLIANCES FOR BREAKING UP AND DISPOSING OF SLAG FROM FURNACES
Year: 1883

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Cochrane at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 11th May 1883.
WILLIAM COCHRANE of St Johns Chambers, Newcastle on Tyne in the County
of Northumberland "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND APPLIANCES FOR
BREAKING UP AND DISPOSING OF SLAG FROM FURNACES "
This invention has for its object to reduce the quantity and the wear and tear of
rolling stock ordinarily in use at blast furnaces for the removal of the slag, as also
to expedite the cooling of the slag and facilitate the breaking up of large blocks
thereof, so as to reduce the cost of loading into barges for removal.
'
According to one part of my invention, I facilitate the cooling and breaking up
of large blocks of slag, whether produced in the manner hereinafter described, or
by any known means, and whether it be retained in the mould or stripped, by
placing in the mould or casing in which the slag is cast, one or more iron bars
or cores which may be either solid or hollow, and which may either be so constructed
as to be capable of removal from the block when sufficiently solidified so as to
leave one or more passages or holes through the slag, through which a current of
air, either natural or forced, is made to pass, thereby both accelerating the cooling
of the mass and facilitating its fracture; or, according to another arrangement, the
said bars or cores, being in this case made hollow, are left in the block, and have
natural or artificial currents of air or water passed through them, or through a coil
contained therein to accelerate the cooling of the mass, after which they or any one
or more of them may either be removed, or they may serve as means of attachment
for raising the block out of its mould by means of a crane, to a height for stacking,
or for causing the block to fall from such a height as will effect its fracture. In
the latter case, the block may, according to one arrangement, be allowed to fall with
the bar, or core or cores, in it, in which case it may be made to fall on an open
framework, so that the bar or core, which is made taper, will, by its impetus, fall
from the block through a central opening, while the block will be broken up upon
the framework, the pieces being made to fall down an incline or shoot to the barges
or other receptacles.
Or the block with the bar, or core or cores, may be made to fall or strike upon a
plain or furrowed or mounded surface where the taper bar or core, projecting
below, will exercise a wedging action, so as to assist in the breaking up of the

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block, the bar or core being, if necessary, made with a ribbed surface to further
facilitate the fracture.
According to another arrangement, the bar or core is made as a lewis-bolt, that
is to say, it is formed of two outer parts and a central key, so that, after raising
the block from its mould to the requisite height, by the crane by means of attach-
ments to the two outer parts, the central key can be withdrawn, thus freeing the
two outer parts from the block which then falls upon the frame or furrowed
surface, leaving the parts of the core suspended from the crane.
According to another part of my invention, I construct the moulds or casings for
the slag in such a manner that they can be raised from the trucks by a crane and
be removed to a place where they can be stowed or stacked and from which they
can be again raised in order to discharge the slag block therefrom.
For this purpose, I construct the mould or casing with sides tapering from the
top to a smaller size at the bottom, and at some convenient point I form trunnions
thereon, by which it can be slung to a stationary or travelling crane for raising it
with the slag block from the bogie and depositing it either in stacks or otherwise.
When sufficiently cooled, the moulds are again raised by a crane to a sufficient
height, and, being freed from a catch, are made to swing round on their trunnions
so as to allow the slag block to fall from them on to a plain or furrowed or
mounded surface, or upon the framework above described, and thus effect the
breaking up of the block.
'
The moulds or boxes may be either open or closed at bottom, but by preference
I make them open, so that the lowest stratum of slag on being cooled forms a
sufficient base for the mass, thus enabling me to dispense with the additional weight
and cost of the closed bottom's.
I in some cases, form holes in the bogie into which fit the lower ends of the bars
or cores, so that, on removing these, a free passage is formed through the block and
mould for cooling. I sometimes make the said holes so that the hollow bars or
cores can be driven down through them out of the block when this has solidified,
the bars or cores being temporarily secured while the block is being cast, and
when it is required to raise the block for stowing or for effecting its fracture as
above described, I pass solid bars or cores up through the said holes into the block
in order to serve both as a means of lifting the block and of assisting in its
fracture.
Although I prefer to make the moulds of the above described tapering shape, yet
they may also be otherwise formed and be made to divide in halves or otherwise
for releasing the slag.