Patent ID: 8522729

Claim:
A stud arrangement for protecting water-cooled tubes of a slag opening adapted to deliver a flow of flue gas and slag, comprising a plurality of studs, each of the studs comprising: an annular segment having first and second sides; an outer edge connecting the sides; and a projection extending from the sides and terminating in an inner edge contoured to contact a tube and defining an inner edge depth, the projection having a surface adapted to receive a fillet weld between the inner edge and one of the sides and defining a weld depth; wherein the weld depth is greater than the inner edge depth; wherein the plurality of studs are disposed about the water-cooled tubes of the slag tap opening in a substantially horizontally-staggered arrangement; wherein the studs are stacked in vertical columns, with each column vertically offset from the adjacent vertical column; and wherein the studs are offset in a direction perpendicular to a direction of the flow.