Patent ID: 8377371

Claim:
A battery of stationary hearth furnaces operable to produce metallic iron nodules comprising: a plurality of stationary hearth furnaces, each stationary hearth furnace including: a furnace housing having a stationary hearth, an inlet on a first side operable to deliver reducible material to the stationary hearth, and an outlet on a second side opposite the first side operable to discharge reduced iron nodules from the stationary hearth; a heating chamber beneath the stationary hearth operable to circulate heated fluids heating reducible material on the stationary hearth; passageways between ports in the furnace housing and the heating chamber operable to circulate fluids given off by heating reducible material on the stationary hearth through the ports from the furnace housing above the reducible material to the heating chamber beneath the stationary hearth; burners and air inlet ports in the furnace housing above the stationary hearth and optionally in the passageways and heating chamber capable of drying and heating the reducible material, driving off and burning volatile material from the reducible material, and reducing at least a major portion of the reducible material to form metallic iron nodules; a loading device movable from one stationary hearth furnace in the battery to another operable to load reducible material and optionally an underlying hearth material onto the stationary hearths of the plurality of stationary hearth furnaces through the inlet in the first side of each furnace housing; and a discharging device operable to discharge metallic iron nodules and optionally related material from the stationary hearth through the outlet of the second side of the furnace housing.