Patent ID: 8420008

Claim:
A side well for a metal melting furnace, comprising: an insulated body having a front wall adapted to form part of an insulated side wall of a metal melting furnace and a top, a cavity within said body including a single upright impeller region having a cylindrical wall adjacent to a closed bottom of the cavity, an entrance to said cavity at the top of said insulated body, a metal inlet channel leading directly into said cavity from an inlet aperture in said front wall, and a metal outlet channel leading directly from said cavity to a metal outlet aperture in said front wall; and a rotatable impeller having a vertical rotatable shaft and at least one vaned section positioned at a lower end of the rotatable shaft, wherein said vaned section has an outer periphery spaced from said cylindrical wall of the impeller region by a distance in a range of 0.1 to 10% of a diameter of the vaned section; wherein said impeller extends into said cavity with said vaned section positioned in said impeller region adjacent to said cylindrical wall.