A side-type powder top blown furnace and method for treating the furnace is disclosed. The furnace includes a cylindrical furnace body, powder material inlet nozzles, a furnace top sample rod, a top blown furnace spray gun, a belt feeding inlet, a branch conveying pipe, a quantitative pneumatic conveying device, a powder material collecting bin, a powder collecting bin feeding inlet and a furnace top cover; the powder material inlet nozzles are symmetrically arranged around a furnace wall of the cylindrical furnace body on the same horizontal plane. The disclosure can solve the problems of large transportation flying loss, large return amount, poor operating environment, harm to the health of operators and the like in the tin smelting process.

Crucible compositions and methods of using the crucible compositions to melt titanium and titanium alloys. More specifically, crucible compositions having extrinsic facecoats comprising a rare earth oxide that are effective for melting titanium and titanium alloys for use in casting titanium-containing articles. Further embodiments are titanium-containing articles made from the titanium and titanium alloys melted in the crucible compositions. Another embodiment is a crucible curing device and methods of use thereof.

An integrated apparatus of industrial furnace and biomass gasification system and a process of operating said system are disclosed. Hot flue gas containing high concentration of CO.sub.2 and water issued from an industrial furnace such as a glass furnace or a melting furnace for non-ferrous metals is introduced into a biomass gasification system as a heat source to promote the pyrolysis of biomass and/or as a gasification agent to generate syngas. The generated syngas is blended with solid-fuel such as petcoke before being introduced into the industrial furnace to facilitate ignition and combustion of petcoke. Overall CO.sub.2, NO.sub.x and SO.sub.x emission from the industrial furnace are reduced, and the lifetime of the industrial furnace is increased.

A process for removing sulphur dioxide from the gaseous effluent of a smelter furnace comprising the steps of: providing the gaseous effluent from a smelter; separating the sulphur dioxide from the gaseous effluent to provide concentrated sulphur dioxide and effluent for discharge into the atmosphere; mixing the concentrated sulphur dioxide with a fuel gas; heating the mixture such that the concentrated sulphur dioxide and fuel gas react to form a gaseous product mixture comprising sulphur and hydrogen sulphide; and removing the majority of preferably substantially all of the sulphur and hydrogen sulphide from the gaseous product mixture; wherein the remaining gaseous product mixture is incinerated before being vented into the atmosphere or is recycled into the smelter furnace.

A process and a device are provided that avoid the problems expressed earlier in order to produce a current of alloy particles at temperatures above 400 C. that will ultimately be used to alloy or chemically treat liquid metal streams. The invention that is presented is composed of a chamber heated by one or more gas burners, where a current of alloy particles with the pre-established massic or volumetric flow is input either manually or via the use of a gravimetric or volumetric dosing device that operates at room temperature located in an area above the chamber. These particles are heated by radiation from the walls of the chamber and by the radiation and convection of the flames of the burners that sweep them along during their flight inside the device for the time that they remain inside the chamber. As result of the use of the proposed device and the process, during which a great amount of energy is received during their passage through the device, the alloy particles reach the required temperature prior to their incorporation into a metallic current.