Patent ID: 8684727

Claim:
Ring furnace having a longitudinal axis and comprising a first elongated bay and a second elongated bay, each bay being parallel to said axis and including a casing, a plurality of hollow partitions arranged within said casing of each bay so as to be parallel to said axis, and a plurality of transverse walls including a first end transverse wall located at a first end of each bay, a second end transverse wall located at a second end of each bay, and possibly one or more intermediate transverse walls located between said first and second ends, said transverse walls being arranged so as to be perpendicular to said axis, said hollow partitions and said transverse walls defining baking pits within said bays for stacking carbonaceous articles therein, said baking pits having a length measured parallel to said axis and a width measured transverse to said axis, said length being at least 15 times greater than said width, wherein said hollow partitions have lateral walls and include a built-in expansion joint comprising at least one gap between specified bricks in each said lateral wall and sealing bricks arranged within said hollow partition so as to overlap said gap and thereby seal the same.