Thermal Treatment Furnace Cooling Thin Metal Sheets
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing thermal treatment furnaces for thin metal sheets face limitations in cooling efficiency due to the pressure of air used as a refrigerant, necessitating enhanced injection speeds or shorter distances, with no effective proposals to address these issues.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a thermal treatment furnace with a combination of air injection nozzles, mist spray nozzles, and water droplet injection nozzles arranged orthogonally or obliquely to the sheet's path, allowing for high-pressure air and mist or water droplets to be injected onto both surfaces of the sheet, enhancing cooling efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If only air injection is used to cool the thin metal sheet, then the cooling process is simple, but the cooling rate is limited due to air pressure constraints
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple cooling methods (air injection, mist spray, water droplet injection) into a single cooling system. The air injection nozzles, mist spray nozzles, and water droplet injection nozzles work together to cool the thin metal sheet, achieving higher cooling rates while maintaining operational simplicity through integrated nozzle assemblies.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling system is designed to perform multiple cooling functions using different mechanisms. The same system can switch between air cooling, mist cooling, water droplet cooling, or combination modes depending on the required cooling rate and sheet conditions, making it a universal cooling solution for various thin metal sheet requirements.
2Productivity
If air injection speed is increased to enhance cooling, then cooling efficiency improves, but the complexity of the injection system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The injection system is segmented into three distinct nozzle types (air injection nozzles, mist spray nozzles, water droplet injection nozzles) that can be independently controlled. This segmentation allows each component to operate at optimal parameters without requiring excessive speed increases from a single system, thereby maintaining simpler individual components while achieving high overall cooling efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
Mist spray acts as an intermediary between air injection and water droplet injection. The mist particles are smaller and more easily dispersed than water droplets, allowing for more uniform cooling distribution without requiring high injection pressures or speeds, thus reducing system complexity while maintaining cooling efficiency.
3Productivity
If refrigerant injection distance is shortened to improve cooling, then cooling efficiency increases, but the chamber design becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The nozzle system is positioned to create localized cooling zones directly at the sheet surface. By concentrating cooling action at specific locations (upper and lower surfaces) rather than relying on long-distance refrigerant travel, the system achieves high cooling efficiency without requiring complex chamber designs for short injection distances.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling system utilizes both upper and lower nozzle arrangements to cool the sheet from multiple dimensions simultaneously. This multi-dimensional approach allows for efficient cooling without requiring extremely short injection distances from a single direction, simplifying the overall chamber design while maintaining high cooling rates.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration significantly increases the cooling rate and reduces cooling time for thin metal sheets, ensuring efficient and uniform cooling without damaging the sheets, while also providing flexibility in selecting various cooling rates.
Implementation Method 1
the plurality of air injection nozzles and the plurality of mist spray nozzles, or the plurality of air injection nozzles and the plurality of water droplet injection nozzles are arranged along a pass line of the thin metal sheet in the thermal treatment chamber, on a lower side and an upper side of the pass line
Implementation Method 2
enabling injection of mist by a mist spray nozzle or injection of multiple water droplets by a water droplet injection nozzle, in addition to injection of air by an air injection nozzle
Implementation Method 3
injection of multiple water droplets by a water droplet injection nozzle, in addition to injection of air by an air injection nozzle
Data Source
AI summary
A thermal treatment furnace includes a thermal treatment chamber in which a thin metal sheet is continuously conveyed horizontally while being floated by air, in which the thermal treatment chamber includes a plurality of air injection nozzles and a plurality of mist spray nozzles that are arranged along a pass line of the thin metal sheet in the thermal treatment chamber, on a lower side and an upper side of the pass line and so as to be orthogonal to the pass line in a side view.