Coke oven heating wall repair, replacement or construction

Abstract

The invention relates to a heating wall of a coke oven battery, which a plurality of coke oven chambers distributed along a longitudinal direction (X), adjacent coke oven chambers being separated by heating walls (10), wherein the heating walls have a height along a vertical direction (Z) and a width (Y) extending transversally to the longitudinal direction, and wherein the heating walls define a plurality of vertically extending flues (16) distributed along the width of the heating wall. At least one heating wall is mainly built from blocks referred to as first blocks (20). Such first block (20) is configured as a pre-formed block including a first brick (22) and a second brick (24), the first and second bricks being staggered in the width direction, each of the first and second bricks defining at least one flue passage (22.1, 24,1). The first and second bricks are further staggered in the vertical direction by a predetermined offset. Form-fit connection means (28.1-28.4) are provided at or near the edges of the first blocks. The first block (20) consists of the first and second bricks (22, 24), the second brick being of same shape and same height as the first brick, and connected thereto by one lateral side.

Description

COKE OVEN HEATING WALL REPAIR, REPLACEMENT OR CONSTRUCTIONTechnical field

[0001] The present invention generally relates to the maintenance of existing coke oven batteries as well as to the erection of new coke oven batteries, and more particularly to an efficient design of heating wall that is applicable for replacing or repairing a heating wall of a coke oven during operation of the coke oven battery as well as for constructing a heating wall of a new coke oven battery during erection.Background Art

[0002] Coke oven batteries are largely used to produce coke by heating coal in an air-free environment at temperatures up to about 1300 °C. Such coke oven batteries typically comprise a plurality of side-by-side coking chambers, hereinafter called ovens, which are separated from each other by heating walls and covered by a vault herein after also called ceiling, and a battery roof. The heating walls and the coking chambers extend from one side of the coke oven battery, referred to as the pusher side, to the other side, referred to as the coke side. Typical installations may comprise from 27 to 54 or even up to more than 100 coking chambers, each chamber having a height ranging from 3.5 to about 8 m, a length from about 12 m up to 16 m and a width from about 0.4 m up to 0.5 m. At each end side of the coke ovens are provided coke oven doors allowing airtight closure until, at the end of each coking cycle, the oven doors are removed and the hot coke is discharged from the chamber with the help of a pusher ram mounted on a pusher machine.

[0003] Each heating wall is typically built up from a number of horizontally extending courses of silica bricks, the bricks being assembled to define vertically extending flues within the heating walls, which flues cycle between heating and drafting conditions. There is a gas nozzle at the bottom of each flue. There may be six bricks or more in each course for each flue. Thus, in a heating wall having twenty- six courses and twenty-eight flues there may be over 4,300 bricks, each brick being location specific.

[0004] While such coke oven batteries may have life times from 30 up to sometimes over 50 years, such extended times of service require appropriate maintenance and repair to oppose normal wear and tear.

[0005] Heating walls in coke ovens were conventionally repaired by knocking down the portion of the wall which was to be repaired and individually replacing each silica brick, following a method such as the one disclosed e.g. in US 2,476,305 or in US 4,452,749 wherein each brick was molded from a castable refractory material which only slightly expands upon heating up the heating wall.

[0006] However, such processes are very labor intensive and time consuming, needing two to three weeks for the sole purpose of replacing the bricks. Moreover, due to the high cost of the silica bricks and the loss of production due to the down time of the coke ovens, such processes are also very expensive.

[0007] Alternative methods were developed, such as disclosed e.g. in EP 0 527 318 A2 or US 2021 / 102124 A1 . While it is still mandatory to knock down the full part of the wall that is to be repaired and replace bricks, the bricks are not of conventional size but correspond to so-called big blocks. A big block is sized as multiple conventional bricks and may be made of fused silica instead of silica. JP 2019 184225 A discloses a method for additive manufacturing of big blocks.

[0008] Due to the big blocks’ dimensions, placing of blocks is faster and wall erection phases are shorter. Moreover, the big blocks being made of fused silica, there is no need for long heating curves in order to avoid sudden thermal dilatation and potential cracks. Only a few days of heating up are required to achieve a temperature of about 900 °C, wherein three months are needed when using conventional silica bricks.

[0009] However, as there are less dilatation joints when building up a wall using big blocks instead of conventional bricks, the blocks have to present a near negligible thermal expansion upon heating and are thus made of more expensive material than silica, such as fused silica. And the erection crew must be more skilled and the lifting means more complex in order to handle the bigger sized bricks, or big blocks.Technical problem

[0010] It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an improved design of heating wall of a coke oven battery, which can be erected during repairing or replacing operations of an existing heating wall as well as during construction of a new coke oven battery without the aforementioned shortcomings.General Description of the Invention

[0011] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention proposes a heating wall of a coke oven battery as claimed in claim 1 .

[0012] The battery has a plurality of coke oven chambers distributed along a longitudinal direction, adjacent coke oven chambers being separated by heating walls, wherein the heating walls have a height along a vertical direction and a width extending transversally to the longitudinal direction, and wherein the heating walls define a plurality of vertically extending flues distributed along the width of the heating wall.

[0013] At least a portion of at least one of said heating walls is mainly built from blocks referred to as first blocks. A first block is configured as a pre-formed block including a first brick and a second brick, the first and second bricks being staggered in the width direction, each of the first and second bricks defining at least one flue passage. The first and second bricks are further staggered in the vertical direction by a predetermined offset.

[0014] Moreover, the first block consists of the first and second bricks, the second brick being of same shape and same height as the first brick, and connected thereto by one lateral side.

[0015] Form-fit connection means are advantageously provided at or near the edges of the first blocks.

[0016] The vertical and staggering of the bricks creates a overall Z or N shape of the first blocks. When first blocks are assembled with one another in a heating wall, they form so to speak ‘labyrinth’ joints. That is, there is no single linear joint extending over a plurality of bricks / blocks, which advantageously reduces the risk of joint cracks. In other words, there is no horizontal linear joint / junction extending throughout the width of the heating wall, nor vertical joint / junction extending throughout the height of the heating wall, or diagonal joint / junction extending from corner of the wall.

[0017] The first blocks can be designed as relatively large blocks, bigger than the bricks used in prior art silica bricks. This will also reduce the number of joints.

[0018] The heating wall according to the present invention may advantageously be erected during construction of a new coke oven battery, or during repairing or replacing operation of an existing coke oven battery, e.g. as replacement of a part of an existing heating wall.

[0019] For existing coke oven batteries, due to their long service life and the maintenance efforts that need to be undertaken to achieve such long operating times, especially at such harsh conditions, each coke oven chamber or even sections within a same coke oven chamber are different from one another and the actual configuration or the actual damage at any particular location may be different from that found even in close proximity. The inventive wall design can be used to restore / rebuild any portion of an existing heating wall. Accordingly, the invention also covers portions of heating walls. In particular, adjacent coke oven chambers may present different (in position and / or dimensions) portions of heating walls according to the present invention.

[0020] Advantageously, by forming a heating wall according to the present invention, it is not only possible to reduce the number of differently shaped bricks or blocks to a strict minimum and thus to significantly reduce the time required for appropriately laying and assembling all these bricks and blocks, but moreover a very robust and durable wall structure can be formed in a significantly shorter period.

[0021] The first blocks may be made from any appropriate heat-resistant material. Advantageously, the first blocks may be made from low expansion refractory material, such as e.g. fused silica, as it will allow for quick heat-up cycles. The expression “low expansion refractory material” means a refractory material having a linear thermal expansion of at most 5.0 %, preferably at most 3.5 %, most preferably at most 2.0 % or even at most 1.5 %, such as at most 1.25%, 1.0 %, 0.75%, 0.5%, 0.25%. Advantageously, due to the use of low thermal expansion material, the resulting wall (portion) has high dimensional stability, negligible expansion on heating, excellent refractory properties, good compressive strength and proper thermal shock resistance.

[0022] In the present text, the term “same shape” is to be understood as referring solely to the form or geometric configuration of the bricks. In particular, “same shape” indicates that the bricks share the same outline or structural design, independently of their dimensions. The term does not imply that the first and secondbricks have identical size, volume, or proportions. Bricks having the same shape may differ in one or more dimensional parameters (such as width, or length), provided that their overall form remains consistent. In particular, the bricks within the first block may have same shape (e.g. rectangular, square, or trapezoidal), but the widths of the bricks in the direction transverse to the wall length may vary to implement a taper, as will be explained below. In such case, two neighboring first blocks will not necessarily have the same width. And even within a first block the width may vary between the first and second brick.

[0023] The first and second bricks may generally comprise upper and lower sides joined by four lateral sides that define a quadrilateral horizontal cross-section. The quadrilateral may be a trapezoid, a rectangle or a square.

[0024] For ease of operation, it is desirable that the heating walls have a generally tapering profile from the pusher side to the coke side. Typically, the taper, from one end to the other end of the wall, may be than 10% or less, i.e. there is an absolute difference in depth between longitudinally opposite wall ends of no more than 10%, or 5% or less. In embodiments, the wall taper may range from 4 to 6%, or can be less.

[0025] Accordingly, in embodiments the quadrilateral is a trapezoid, in particular an isosceles trapezoid. The first brick has a lateral side forming a short trapezoid base having a first length (being a depth of the first brick), which is joined to a lateral side of the second brick that forms a large trapezoid base having a second length (which is a depth of the second brick), such that the first block has a tapering cross-sectional shape. In other words, according to such embodiments, each brick (and thus the first block) presents a tapered shape. Tapering of the first blocks allows to decrease the depth of the first blocks along its width and thus increase the width of the coke oven chamber from the pusher side toward the coke side of the chamber (i.e. the coke oven chamber is wider at the coke side than at the pusher side, namely the heating wall is thicker at the pusher side than at the coke side), which helps pushing coke outside the coke oven chamber.

[0026] Typically, the absolute difference in depths between the distally opposite lateral sides of one block does not exceed 3%, more preferably does not exceed 1 %, even more preferably does not exceed 0.5% of the larger depth. For example, it may represent between 0.2 and 0.4%. For example, due to the taper,the difference in depth between the two opposite ends of one first block may lie between 1.0 and 3.0 mm, preferably 1.0 and 2.0 mm.

[0027] In embodiments, the first block may have a width between 0.75 and 1 .25 m, in particular 1 m, a height between 0.4 and 0.6 m, in particular 0.5 m, and a depth at one end of 0.4 to 0.6 m, in particular 0.5 m, with a difference between opposite ends lying between 1 .0 and 2.0 mm.

[0028] In embodiments, within the heating wall most first blocks are arranged such that a given first block has its respective first brick vertically sandwiched / squeezed (i.e. put) between the second bricks of adjacent first blocks, whereas the respective second brick is vertically sandwiched / squeezed between first bricks of other adjacent first blocks, the respective flue passages being in vertical alignment. Such an arrangement of the first blocks advantageously further ensures that there is no formation of any linear joint between blocks and increases mechanical strength of the (portion of the) heating wall. High stiffness of the (portion of the) heating wall is advantageously ensured in the diagonal, horizontal and vertical direction, due to the concatenations between layers of first blocks.

[0029] The vertical offset is to be different from a vertical height of the first brick of the first block, and preferably the vertical offset corresponds to less than half of the vertical height of the first brick, more preferably the vertical offset corresponds to strictly less than half the vertical height.

[0030] According to the same or other embodiments, each brick defines the same number of flue passages, whereby the first block includes an even number of flue passages. Preferably, each one of the first and second brick of the first block includes the same number of flue passages, thereby participating to the substantial symmetricity of the first block.

[0031] In embodiments, the form-fit connection means of the first blocks comprise grooves and tongues extending over substantially the whole length of the corresponding edge of the first blocks. Such connection means are easy to implement while advantageously providing for a stiff and strong connection between first blocks.

[0032] According to preferred embodiments, the heating wall further comprises a plurality of second blocks, wherein the second blocks are arranged at theperiphery of the portion of the heating wall mainly built from first blocks to fill in gaps resulting from the vertically staggered shape of the first blocks; the second blocks comprising form-fit connection means adapted to cooperate with the first blocks and other second blocks. Full (portions of) walls may thus be erected using blocks according to the present invention without having to resort to conventional silica bricks. Preferably, the second blocks are arranged in the bottom and top rows of first blocks, as well as on first and last column, where the gaps will occur.

[0033] As apparent, the first blocks represent the main building components of the (portion of the) heating wall and may thus be regarded as construction blocks, while the second blocks are designed and used to fill the gaps resulting from the staggered shape of the first blocks at the periphery of the portion of the heating wall, and may thus be regarded as filing blocks. Therefore, in the present text, the expressions “first block” and “construction block” may be used alternatively and independently to refer to the first blocks, while the expressions “second block” and “filing block” may be used alternatively and independently to refer to the second blocks.

[0034] In preferred embodiments, the second blocks are made from the same material as the first block, more preferably made of low expansion refractory material such as e.g. fused silica.

[0035] Preferably, the second blocks are similar in construction to a first and / or second brick of the first block, with same number of flues, except for the height.

[0036] In embodiments, the heating wall comprises at least one of the two following kind of second blocks, namely type-1 second blocks having a height corresponding to the vertical offset of the first block and / or a type-11 second block having a height corresponding to the height of the first / second brick minus the vertical offset.

[0037] In the present text, the expression “generally symmetrical” means comprising at least one symmetry plane. In particular, the blocks have a plane of symmetry corresponding to the vertical plane centrally traversing the block in width direction. It is however not excluded that the block may further comprises additional elements of symmetry, such as e.g. another symmetry (e.g. second blocks may present more than one symmetry plane).

[0038] A second aspect of the invention provides a kit of parts comprising a plurality of first blocks and a plurality of second blocks. A first block is configured as a pre-formed block including a first brick and a second brick, the first and second bricks being staggered in the width direction, each of the first and second bricks defining at least one flue passage. The first and second bricks are further staggered in the vertical direction by a predetermined offset and form-fit connection means are provided at or near the edges of the first blocks.

[0039] The second blocks are similar in construction to a first and / or second brick of the first block, with same number of flues, except for the height. The second blocks comprise form-fit connection means adapted to cooperate with the first blocks and other second blocks.

[0040] In a third aspect, the invention discloses the use of the kit of parts of the second aspect in the repairing or replacing of a heating wall of a coke oven chamber in a coke oven battery in operation or for constructing a heating wall of a new coke oven chamber in a coke oven battery.

[0041] Embodiments and advantages of the first and second blocks mentioned above in relation to the heating wall applies mutatis mutandis to the kit of parts according to the second aspect of the invention, and to its use according to the third aspect.Brief Description of the Drawings

[0042] Further details and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of several not limiting embodiments with reference to the attached drawings in which:Fig. 1 A) is a schematic view of a first embodiment of a heating wall according to the present invention and Fig. 1 B) is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view through a portion of the heating wall of Fig. 1 A);Fig.2 is a schematic view of a second embodiment of a portion of a heating wall according to the present invention;Fig.3 is a schematic perspective view of the first block of the heating wall of Fig.1 ;Fig.4 is a schematic perspective view of a first embodiment of a second block according to the invention; andFig.5 is a schematic perspective view of a second embodiment of a second block according to the invention.Description of Preferred Embodiments

[0043] A coke oven battery (not shown) typically comprises a plurality of coking chambers (not shown), or coke ovens, arranged in a row along a longitudinal direction. That is, the coke ovens are arranged side-by-side in longitudinal direction. The coke ovens are separated from each other by heating walls 10 and covered by a vault or ceiling, and a battery roof. Adjacent ovens may share a common heating wall. The heating walls and the coking chambers extend transversally to the longitudinal direction from one side of the coke oven battery, referred to as the pusher side 12, to the other side, referred to as the coke side 14. At each end side of the coke ovens are provided coke oven doors (not shown) allowing airtight closure. Conventionally, the heating wall comprises on each side header structures typically referred to as "end headers", not shown. They provide support for the overall integrity of the wall and form an interface for the coke oven doors.

[0044] Fig.1 shows such heating wall 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Having regard to the coordinate system (X, Y, Z), the heating wall rests on a floor and has a height along a vertical direction, which is parallel to Z axis. The heating wall 10 is typically built up to define a plurality of vertically extending flues 16 (or gas flow passageways, see Fig. 1 B) supplying heat to the coking chambers. Axis X indicates the longitudinal direction of the coke oven battery. The flues 16 are distributed along the width of the heating wall 10, which is along axis Y, i.e. transversal / perpendicular to axis X.

[0045] The heating wall 10 comprises a plurality of first blocks 20, which may also be referred to as construction modules. In the present embodiment (see e.g. Fig.1 A), the heating wall 10 is mainly composed of (built from) these first blocks 20, that is to say the first blocks 20 are provided and arranged so as to cover at least 80% or 90% of the area of the heating wall 10. The first blocks 20 are identical in shape. Such heating wall 10 may be erected e.g. during the construction of a new coke oven battery or upon repairing a heavily damaged heating wall in need of full replacement.

[0046] Each first block 20 is configured as a pre-formed block including a first brick 22 and a second brick 24, where each one of the first and second brick defines at least one flue passage 22.1 , 24.1 .

[0047] The bricks 22, 24 are arranged with respect to each other in a staggered manner along the vertical direction, i.e. they are offset by a predetermined distance noted O. The first 22 and second 24 bricks of the first block 20 are further staggered in the width direction, along the Y axis.

[0048] Form-fit connection means 28.1 -28.4 are advantageously provided at selected locations at or near the edges of the first blocks 20 to allow interlocking stacking between adjacent first blocks. Preferably, the connection means are provided at or near each edge of a respective first block 20 and are configured to cooperate with form-fit connections means 28.1 -28.4 provided onto another first block 20. However, it might be possible and still within the scope of the present disclosure that some edges are not provided with connection means.

[0049] A first embodiment of the first block 20 is shown in detail in Fig.3. First block 20 consists of two bricks, namely the first and second bricks 22, 24.

[0050] The two bricks 22, 24 are identical in shape and are connected to one another by one lateral side, such that first brick 22 forms the left-hand portion of block 10 whereas second brick 24 forms the right-hand portion of block 20 (referring to the orientation in the figures). In other words, the first and second bricks 22, 24 are of similar construction and differentiate from one other mainly by their position within the first block 20.

[0051] Both first and second brick 22, 24 have a hollow block shape with six sides 22.2-22.7, 24.2-24.7. Upper 22.7, 24.7 and lower 22.2, 24.2 sides in the horizontal plane (X, Y), are joined by four lateral (vertical) sides 22.3-22.6, 24.3-24.6 that define a quadrilateral horizontal (in a X-Y plane) cross-section. As can be seen, the lateral sides 22.3-22.6, 24.3-24.6 are defined by four corresponding walls, which also define a central though-hole forming the flue passage 22.1 , 24.1. The flue passages 22.1 and 24.1 are thus internal passages of the bricks, respectively of the first block.

[0052] As further indicated in Fig.3, the first block 20 has a height H1 along axis Z, a width W1 along axis Y. The bricks each have a same height H2 and samewidth W2. The dimension of the sides extending in the transversal direction, i.e. sides 22.3, 22.5, 24,3 and 24.5 is referred to a depth. The first and second brick 22, 24 within first block 20 are arranged in an adjacent manner in the width direction, with similar side walls being adjacent, namely the long side walls in the depth (X) direction. Accordingly, the first and second brick 22, 24 are said to be staggered in the width direction. As indicated previously and visible from the figures, the blocks are also staggered in the vertical direction, with offset 0 measured from the bottom of the first block, i.e. between surfaces 22.2 and 24.2. The same offset 0 hence exists on the right side, between surfaces 22.7 and 24.7.

[0053] Although not visible by the naked eye in the drawings, the bricks 22, 24 advantageously each have a trapezoidal horizontal cross-section and are assembled such that the first block 20 has a tapering horizontal cross-section, here from left to right. Accordingly, the lateral sides 22.3 and 22.5 of the first brick 22 form respectively the large and short bases of the trapezoid; they have a depth D22.3 and D22.5. The lateral sides 24.3 and 24.5 of the second brick 24 form respectively the large and short bases of the trapezoid; they have a depth D24.3 and D24.5.

[0054] It is desirable that the assembly of the first blocks define a slight continuous taper along the heating wall, although some local discontinuities are allowed within a first block or from one first block to another.

[0055] Exemplary relationships are given here. Within a block, we have D22.3 > D22.5 and D24.3 > D24.5, with L22.5 > L24.3. That is, it is desirable that the depth D22.5 of the short base of the first brick is equal to the depth D24.3 of the large base of the second brick, or substantially equal thereto, e.g. D22.5 > D.24.3 > D22.5*0.9. Furthermore, it is preferred that the depths of the short bases D22.5, D24.5 are not smaller than 95%, preferably not smaller than 99%, more preferably not smaller than 99.5%, of their respective large bases D22.3 and D24.3.

[0056] In preferred embodiments as disclosed on Fig. 3, the trapezoidal horizontal cross-section defines an isosceles trapezoid, whereby the first block 20 presents a vertical symmetry plane (Y,Z plane) extending though the midline of the block.

[0057] The height of a first block according to the present disclosure is not particularly limited but may generally correspond to the cumulative height of a few, such as e.g. two to five, traditional silica bricks, so that only a small number, such as e.g., but without being limited thereto, ten to fifteen, of blocks are needed in order to build up the whole height of the heating wall.

[0058] Due to the vertical offset, we have the relationship H1 =H2+O.

[0059] It may be noted that in the present embodiment, we have O < 0.5*H2. This is desirable with two bricks of same height in order to ensure that no horizontal joint / junction may be formed and extend from one side of the portion of the heating wall mainly built of first blocks to its opposite side. Alternatively, we could have the offset O being strictly larger than half of the height H2 of one brick.

[0060] The width W1 of the first block 20 is designed so that the first block 20 defines an even number of flues 16, preferably two or four flues. In other words, in embodiments wherein the first and second bricks 22, 24 of the first block 20 are of similar construction (i.e. same shape), each one of the first and second bricks 22, 24 define one or two flue passages, extending from the lower side 22.2, 24.2 of a brick toward its upper side 22.7, 24.7. Here each brick defines one flue passage 22.1 , 24.1 and the first block 20 hence includes two flue passages.

[0061] In embodiments wherein two (or possibly more) flue passages are defined in one brick, the flue passages are preferably arranged adjacent to each other in the width direction of the heating wall, along the Y direction.

[0062] The form-fit connection means 28.1 -28.4 provided at / near the edges of the first blocks 20 may be provided with any shape known to a skilled person to be suitable for the intended purpose, however they are preferably made as cooperating tongues and grooves extending over the whole length of the corresponding edge. As visible form Fig.3, the edges on the upper side 22.7, 24.7 of the first block 20 may be provided with tongues 28.1 while the edges on the lower side 22.2, 24.2 may be provided with corresponding grooves (or ribs) 28.2. The edges on the right side 22.5, 24.5 may be provided with grooves 28.4 while the edges on the left side 22.3, 24.3 may be provided with corresponding tongues 28.3. Any other arrangements are however possible, and the tongues and grooves may present any suitable shapes. In particular, they may present a square, triangular or roundedprofile, and they may be formed continuous onto their respective edge, or each tongue and groove may be formed as a plurality of tongue (respectively groove) sections. It is also possible that one edge present both a tongue (or a plurality of tongue sections) and a groove (or a plurality of groove sections) extending parallel to each other along the direction of the edge or alternating along the edge.

[0063] When mounted in the heating wall, the first blocks 20 are arranged such that the flue passages extend vertically. As can be seen in Fig.1 , except in the peripheral region of the heating wall, a first block is normally adjacent to six first blocks 20 and interlocks with four of them. Specifically, the first / left brick 22 of a given first block is vertically sandwiched between the second / right bricks 24 of other first blocks 20 positioned directly above and below. The second brick 24 of the same first block 20 is vertically sandwiched between first / left bricks 22 of other first blocks 20 positioned directly above and below.

[0064] With this arrangement, the respective flue passages 22.1 , 24.1 of the first and second bricks of the plurality of first blocks 20 are in vertical alignment, as visible from Fig.1 B; hence each first block 20 contributes to two vertical flues 16.

[0065] As apparent from Fig.lA and Fig.2, there is a vertical, horizontal and diagonal embedding of the first blocks in a heating wall according to the present invention. A kind of labyrinth-shaped joint structure is formed, which reduces the risks of joint cracks. Indeed, contrary to the situation with a conventional rectangular block or brick, there is no horizontal linear joint / junction extending throughout the width of the heating wall. In other words, none of the junctions 62, 64, 66 formed between the first blocks 20 extends linearly over substantially a whole dimension of the portion of the heating wall built of first blocks 20.

[0066] As apparent from Fig.lA and Fig. 2, a plurality of second blocks (which may also be referred to as filling modules) 30, 40 are arranged at the periphery of the portion of the heating wall 10 mainly built of first blocks 20. As will be understood, the second blocks 30, 40 are arranged to fill in gaps resulting from the vertically staggered shape of the first blocks 20. The second blocks 30 and 40 are arranged in the bottom and top rows of first blocks, as well as on first and last column, where the gaps will occur.

[0067] Each second block has a generally hollow block shape with six sides36.1 -36.6, 46.1 -46.6 and each second block 30, 40 defines at least one flue passage 32, 42. In this embodiment, each second block 30, 40 is designed similar to the first or second brick of the first block, except for the height. That is the second blocks 30, 40 present a trapezoidal horizontal cross-section and have walls of same wall thickness as bricks 22,24, same width W2 and same tapered shape with a depth along axis X which varies along axis Y, respectively from D36.3, D46.3 (being preferably equal to D22.3 or D24.3) to D36.5, D46.5 (being equal to D22.5 or D24.5 respectively), depending on their position in the heating wall.

[0068] As visible from the drawings, two types of second blocks are used, which differ in height.

[0069] Type-I second blocks 40 (Fig. 5) have a height H4 in the vertical direction along the Z axis corresponding to the vertical offset O between the staggered first and second bricks 22, 24 of the first blocks 20. Type-I I second blocks 30 (Fig. 4) have a height H3 corresponding to the height H2 of bricks 22,24 minus the offset O. The number of second blocks 30, 40 having either height H3, H4 depends on the shape and arrangement of the first blocks 20, as well as on the dimensions of the portion of the heating wall 10, 110 built from the first blocks 20.

[0070] The second blocks 30, 40 also comprise form-fit connection means38.1 -38.4, 48.1 -48.4 provided onto their edges, which are adapted to cooperate with either form-fit connection means 38.1 -38.4, 48.1 -48.4 of another second block 30, 40 or with form-fit connection means 28.1 -28.4 provided onto the edges of a first block 20. Preferably, the form-fit connection means 38.1 -38.4, 48.1 -48.4 of the second blocks 30, 40 are identical to the form-fit connection means 28.1 -28.4 of the fist blocks 20.

[0071] In terms of dimensions, the first blocks may have a width W1 of about 1 m, a height H1 of about 0.50 m and a depth of about 0.50 m. Considering a taper of about 5% for a wall having a length of about 15 to 20 m, the difference in depth between sides 22.3 and 24.5 (i.e. D22.3-D24.5) may be in the range of 1 to 2 mm. The offset O in the first block may be around 0.15 m; and the heights H3 and H4 of the second blocks may be adapted accordingly. Such a first block has a noticeable volume with about 300 kg, replacing many traditional silica bricks (13 kg). Hence,the present design also reduces the number of parts, the erection time and the number of joints.

[0072] The heating wall 10, 110 further comprises a plurality of topping blocks 50, provided as top layer covering the topmost course / raw of first blocks. The topping blocks are configured to couple two adjacent flues. Such topping blocks 50 are conventional and will only be briefly described herein. Each topping block 50 comprises five plain walls. Four vertical walls are arranged in the manner of a quadrilateral, closed at the top by a fifth wall. A beam extends centrally in depth direction on the side opposed to wall. The horizontal cross-sectional shape of the topping blocks is adapted to that of the elements on which they are arranged.

[0073] Hence, the lower side of the topping block 50 presents an even number of openings and each topping block 50 defines a number of flue channels 52 in the shape of a hair pine, or inverted U, which forms a U-turn for flue gas ascending from a first flue, which are then deviated downward in the adjacent flue channel.

[0074] The width and depth of a topping block 50 may correspond to a width and a depth of a first block 20.

[0075] Reference sign 54 designate observation holes, normally closed by a plug.

[0076] Fig.2 shows another embodiment, where only part of the heating wall 110 is formed with first blocks 20. This would for example be the case of a partial repair of the heating wall. Here again, the new part of the wall is mainly formed of first blocks; second blocks are arranged at the periphery of the first block arrangement.

[0077] It remains to be noted that each of the first blocks 20, second blocks 30, 40 and topping elements 50 are made from heat-resistant material, preferably low expansion refractory material such e.g. as fused silica. These blocks and elements may be manufactured according to any appropriate method, e.g. by molding or casting; hence they are preferably monobloc (i.e. one piece) components.Legend:

Claims

Claims1 . A heating wall of a coke oven battery having a plurality of coke oven chambers distributed along a longitudinal direction (X), adjacent coke oven chambers being separated by heating walls (10), wherein the heating walls have a height along a vertical direction (Z) and a width (Y) extending transversally to the longitudinal direction, and wherein the heating walls define a plurality of vertically extending flues (16) distributed along the width of the heating wall, wherein at least a portion of at least one of said heating walls is mainly built from blocks referred to as first blocks (20), wherein a first block (20) is configured as a pre-formed block including a first brick (22) and a second brick (24), the first and second bricks being staggered in the width direction, each of the first and second bricks defining at least one flue passage (22.1 , 24.1 ), wherein the first and second bricks are further staggered in the vertical direction by a predetermined offset, wherein preferably form-fit connection means (28.1 -28.4) are provided at or near the edges of the first blocks, wherein the first block (20) consists of the first brick (22) and the second brick (24), the first and second bricks being of same shape and same height, and being connected to one another by one lateral side.

2. The heating wall as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first and second bricks (22, 24) comprise upper and lower sides joined by four lateral sides that define a quadrilateral horizontal cross-section, in particular a rectangle or a square.

3. The heating wall as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the first and second bricks comprise upper and lower sides joined by four lateral sides that define a trapezoidal cross-section, preferably isosceles;wherein the first brick has a lateral side forming a short trapezoid base having a depth D22.5, which is joined to a lateral side of the second brick that forms a large trapezoid base having a depth D24.3, such that the first block has a tapering cross-sectional shape.

4. The heating wall as claimed in claim 3, wherein the depths D22.5 and D24.3 are equal or the absolute difference between D22.5 and D24.3 does not exceed 3 %, more preferably does not exceed 1 %, even more preferably does not exceed 0.5% of the larger depth.

5. The heating wall as claimed in claim 3 or 4, wherein the first brick has a lateral side forming a large trapezoid base having a depth D22.3, which is opposite the respective short base, and the second brick has a lateral side forming a short trapezoid base having a depth D24.5, which is opposite the respective large base, and wherein the depths D22.3 and D24.5 are equal or the absolute difference between D22.3 and D24.5 does not exceed 3 %, more preferably does not exceed 1 %, even more preferably does not exceed 0.5% of the larger depth.

6. The heating wall as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein within the heating wall most first blocks are arranged such that a given first block has its respective first brick vertically sandwiched between the second bricks of adjacent first blocks, whereas the respective second brick is vertically sandwiched / squeezed between first bricks of other adjacent first blocks, the respective flue passages being in vertical alignment.

7. The heating wall as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the vertical offset corresponds to less than half of a vertical height of the first brick, preferably strictly less than half of the vertical height.

8. The heating wall as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein each brick defines the same number of flue passages, whereby the first block includes an even number of flue passages.

9. The heating wall as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the form-fit connection means of the first blocks comprise grooves and tongues extending over substantially the whole length of the corresponding edge of the first blocks.

10. The heating wall as claimed in any one of the preceding claims further comprising a plurality of second blocks (30, 40), wherein the second blocks are arranged at the periphery of the portion of the heating wall mainly built from first blocks to fill in gaps resulting from the vertically staggered shape of the first blocks; the second blocks comprising form-fit connection means adapted to cooperate with the first blocks and other second blocks.

11. The heating wall as claimed in claim 10, wherein the second blocks are similar in construction to a first and / or second brick of the first block, with same number of flues, except for the height.

12. The heating wall as claimed in claim 10 or 11 , wherein a type-l second block has a height corresponding to the vertical offset; and / or a type-l I second block has a height corresponding to the height of the first / second brick minus the vertical offset.

13. The heating wall as claimed in any one of the previous claims, wherein the first blocks and / or the second blocks are made of low expansion refractory material, preferably made of fused silica.

14. A kit of parts, comprising a plurality of first blocks and a plurality of second blocks, wherein a first block is configured as a pre-formed block including a first brick and a second brick, the first and second bricks being staggered in the width direction, each of the first and second bricks defining at least one flue passage, wherein the first and second bricks are further staggered in the vertical direction by a predetermined offset, wherein form-fit connection means are provided at or near the edges of the first blocks;wherein the first block (20) consists of the first brick (22) and the second brick (24), the first and second bricks being of same shape and same height, and being connected to one another by one lateral side; and the second blocks are similar in construction to a first and / or second brick of the first block, with same number of flues, except for the height; the second blocks comprising form-fit connection means adapted to cooperate with the first blocks and other second blocks.

15. The kit of parts as claimed in claim 14, wherein a type-l second block has a height corresponding to the vertical offset; and / or a type-l I second block has a height corresponding to the height of the first / second brick minus the vertical offset.

16. The kit of parts as claimed in any one of claims 14 to 15, wherein the first blocks and / or the second blocks are made of low expansion refractory material, preferably made of fused silica.

17. Use of the kit of parts of any one of claims 14 to 16 in the repairing or replacing of a heating wall of a coke oven chamber in a coke oven battery in operation or for constructing a heating wall of a new coke oven chamber in a coke oven battery.

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