Submerged feedstock charging of melting vessels
A melting furnace feedstock charger includes a charger conduit including an inlet to receive feedstock and an outlet at an outlet portion of the charger conduit to transmit feedstock, and an auger or other feedstock mover coupled to the charger conduit to convey feedstock in a direction from the inlet toward the outlet. A gate may be detachably coupled to the outlet portion of the charger conduit and configured to be coupled directly to a wall of a melting vessel. The auger may have a helical flight with an outer diameter of varying size. A stripper may be movably carried by the charger conduit and may include a stripping tool moved by an actuator with respect to the charger conduit to facilitate transmission of feedstock and/or to strip away clogged feedstock and/or molten material.
1. A melting furnace feedstock charger, comprising:
a charger conduit including an inlet to receive feedstock into the charger conduit and an outlet at an outlet portion of the charger conduit to transmit feedstock out of the charger conduit;
a feedstock mover coupled to the charger conduit to convey feedstock in a direction from the inlet toward the outlet; and
a gate detachably coupled to the charger conduit and including a gate closure having a movable feed aperture and a closure wall; and
a stripper including
a stripping tool movably carried by the charger conduit; and
at least one actuator coupled to the stripping tool to move the stripping tool with respect to the charger conduit, wherein the stripping tool is translatably disposed around the outlet portion of the charger conduit.
2. The feedstock charger of claim 1 , further comprising a fluid-cooled panel including a fixed feed aperture for selective registration with the movable feed aperture of the gate closure.
3. The feedstock charger of claim 2 , wherein the gate includes mounting rails coupled to the fluid-cooled panel, wherein the gate closure is slidably mounted between the mounting rails.
4. The feedstock charger of claim 2 , wherein the gate is fluid-cooled.
5. The feedstock charger of claim 1 , further comprising a charger conduit mount including a conduit bracket coupled to the charger conduit, and a gate bracket coupled to the gate, wherein the conduit bracket is coupled to the gate bracket.
6. The feedstock charger of claim 5 , wherein the conduit bracket and gate bracket are separate components.
7. The feedstock charger of claim 1 , wherein the stripping tool includes a rearward end having a rearward outer diameter, and a forward end having a forward outer diameter smaller than the rearward outer diameter and extendable into and through a fixed feed aperture of a fluid-cooled panel and the movable feed aperture of the gate.
8. The feedstock charger of claim 1 , wherein the feedstock mover includes an auger having a central shaft and at least one helical flight carried around the central shaft.
9. The feedstock charger of claim 8 , wherein the at least one helical flight has an outer diameter of varying size over at least a portion of the length of the at least one helical flight, including a minimum outer diameter that longitudinally overlaps the inlet of the charger conduit.
10. The feedstock charger of claim 9 , wherein the maximum diameter of the helical flight is 4 inches and a length of the central shaft is 26 inches.
11. The feedstock charger of claim 8 , wherein the at least one helical flight includes an upstream section and a downstream section, wherein the upstream section includes an upstream pitch and an upstream thickness and the downstream section includes a downstream pitch different from the upstream pitch and a downstream thickness different from the upstream thickness.
12. The feedstock charger of claim 11 , wherein the downstream section includes a metal alloy coating on an underlying last two pitches of the auger.
13. The feedstock charger of claim 8 , further comprising a feedstock mover actuator including a motor, a geartrain coupled to and driven by the motor, a conduit coupling to couple the geartrain to the charger conduit, a geartrain output shaft coupling the geartrain to the auger central shaft, and a shaft seal carried by at least one of the geartrain output shaft or the auger central shaft and seated against a downstream facing surface of a mounting flange of the conduit coupling to prevent ingress of feedstock into the geartrain.
14. The feedstock charger of claim 8 , further comprising a feedstock mover actuator including a motor, a geartrain coupled to and driven by the motor, a conduit coupling to couple the geartrain to the charger conduit, a geartrain output shaft coupling the geartrain to the auger central shaft, and an escutcheon, wherein the escutcheon has a flange seated against a downstream facing surface of a mounting flange and a hub extending axially from the flange and along a portion of the geartrain output shaft to prevent ingress of feedstock into the geartrain.
15. A submerged combustion melter, comprising:
a melter vessel including a bottom wall, a top wall, at least one perimeter wall extending in a direction between the bottom wall and the top wall, and a corner wall between the bottom wall and the at least one perimeter wall; and
the feedstock charger of claim 1 coupled to at least one corner wall.
16. The melting furnace feedstock charger of claim 1 , wherein the charger conduit is configured to transmit feedstock along a longitudinal axis (A), and wherein the stripper facilitates transmission of feedstock and/or is configured to strip away clogged feedstock and/or molten material.
17. The feedstock charger of claim 1 , wherein the feedstock mover includes a reciprocal piston.
18. A method of using a melting furnace feedstock charger, the method comprising:
passing feedstock through a melting furnace feedstock charger having a charger conduit with an inlet, and an outlet end at an outlet portion of the charger conduit to transmit feedstock out of the charger conduit, a feedstock mover coupled to the charger conduit to convey feedstock in a direction from the inlet toward the outlet end, and a gate detachably coupled to the charger conduit and including a gate closure having a movable feed aperture and a closure wall; and
translating a stripping tool along the charger conduit to a position in which a stripping end of the stripping tool extends beyond the outlet end of the charger conduit, wherein the stripping tool is movably carried by and translatable along the charger conduit and at least one actuator is coupled to the stripping tool to move the stripping tool with respect to the charger conduit, wherein the stripping tool is translatably disposed around the outlet portion of the charger conduit.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the step of translating the stripping tool includes actuating the stripping tool when feedstock and/or molten material accumulates at the outlet portion in order to clear the feedstock and/or molten material from the outlet portion.