Segmented Ironworks Tuyere Cooling Circuit Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional tuyeres for iron making furnaces have a shortened lifespan due to erosion and damage from hot melts, leading to reduced cooling efficiency and operational downtime, as the cooling water supply is interrupted when the tip part is damaged, limiting the overall efficiency of the iron making process.
Innovation Solution
A tuyere design featuring a frusto-conical body unit with a protruding part, a cover unit, and an outer unit with multiple cooling passages, including spiral or ribbed channels, allows continuous operation even when partially damaged, ensuring even water distribution and extended usage by maintaining cooling efficiency through the body and remaining outer unit.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the tuyere is made with a tip part that protrudes into the furnace, then the airtight structure is improved, but the tip part is eroded or damaged by hot melts
Solution Approach 1:
The tuyere is divided into a body unit and a separate tip part that can be replaced independently. When the tip part is eroded or damaged, only the tip part needs to be replaced rather than the entire tuyere, maintaining airtight structure while addressing the erosion problem.
Solution Approach 2:
The tip part is designed with specific local properties to withstand erosion, and when damaged, only this localized component is replaced. The cooling water supply is also localized to the tip part through separate inlet and outlet, allowing targeted maintenance.
2Temperature
If cooling water is supplied to the tip part, then the cooling efficiency is improved, but when the tip part is damaged, the cooling water supply stops and reduces the cooled area
Solution Approach 1:
The tip part is pre-equipped with independent cooling water inlet and outlet passages, allowing it to be cooled separately from the body unit. This preliminary arrangement ensures that when the tip part is damaged, the cooling function can be maintained in the body unit while the tip part is being replaced.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling water supply system is segmented into separate circuits for the tip part and body unit. The tip part has its own cooling water inlet and outlet, allowing independent cooling control and maintenance without affecting the overall cooling function of the tuyere.
3Strength
If the tuyere uses a frusto-conical shape with combined body unit and tip part, then the structural integrity is improved, but the lifespan is shortened due to tip part erosion
Solution Approach 1:
The tuyere is segmented into a durable body unit and a replaceable tip part. The body unit maintains structural integrity while the tip part, which is subject to erosion, can be independently replaced, thereby extending the overall lifespan of the tuyere system.
Solution Approach 2:
The eroded tip part is discarded and replaced with a new one, while the intact body unit is retained and reused. This selective replacement strategy extends the overall lifespan of the tuyere by recovering the durable body unit while replacing only the worn tip component.
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
The design extends the lifespan of the tuyere, maintains cooling efficiency, and increases operational efficiency of the iron making furnace by allowing continuous function and even cooling water distribution, even when the outer unit is partially damaged.
Implementation Method 1
cooling water is introduced into the tuyere through an inlet and circulates through a cooling passage while cooling the tuyere prior to being discharged from the tuyere through an outlet
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3A~3C
Figure 4A~4C
AI summary
A tuyere for an iron making furnace, including a body unit having a blast passage passing through a central axis thereof, wherein the body unit includes: a frusto-conical body having a main body cooling passage; and a protruding part protruding from the body, wherein the tuyere further includes: a cover unit combined with the protruding part and defining a tip body cooling passage between the cover unit and the outer circumferential surface of the protruding part; and an outer unit combined with the cover unit while surrounding the cover unit and defining an outer cooling passage therein. When the outer unit is partially damaged, although the cooling water supply to the damaged part is cut off, the function of the tuyere can be continuously performed both by the remaining part of the outer unit and by the body unit, thereby providing a tuyere having a lengthened life span.