MOLTEN METAL FILTRATION BOX HEATING APPARATUS

Abstract

A molten metal filtration apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes a filter chamber having a floor, a metal inlet, a metal outlet, and a wall surface adapted to be partitioned by at least one filter element having an open cell structure characterized by a plurality of interconnected voids. The filter element partitions the filter chamber. At least one heater device is provided at an elevation within the filtration chamber that is equal to or below the filter element.

Claims

1. A molten metal filtration apparatus comprising a filter chamber having a floor, a metal inlet, a metal outlet, and a wall surface adapted to be partitioned by at least one filter element, said filter element having an open cell structure characterized by a plurality of interconnected voids, wherein the filter element partitions the filter chamber; and wherein at least one heater device is provided at an elevation within the filtration chamber that is equal to or below the filter element.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising at least two heater devices at elevation equal to or below the filter element.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 further comprising a heater device located above the filter element.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the further heater device is located in a lid.

5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the heater devices have a longitudinal axis and wherein the longitudinal axes of the two heater devices are perpendicular.

6. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein at least two heater devices are positioned at different elevations.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein one heater device is positioned below an elevation of the filter element and at least one heater device is positioned in at least substantially the same elevation plane as a portion of the filter element.

8. The apparatus of claim 2 being comprised of at least three heater devices.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the filter element comprises a cartridge filter.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least one heater device is located in an outlet channel of the apparatus.

11. A process for filtering molten metal which comprises providing the apparatus of claim 1 and introducing molten metal to the filter medium.

12. A method of preheating and operating a molten metal filtration box comprising providing a molten metal filtration apparatus comprising a filter chamber having a floor, a metal inlet, a metal outlet, a wall surface, and a cartridge filter that partitions the wall surface; wherein at least one first heater device is provided at an elevation within the filtration chamber that is equal to or below the cartridge filter and at least one second heater device is provided in a lid of the box; and wherein both heater elements are active for at least a portion of a preheating step and said at least one first heater device is active during at least a portion of a casting cycle.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the first heater device and the second heater device are separated simultaneously but at different temperatures.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the second heater device is active during the pre-heating step and during a hold step but operating at a lower temperature during a casting step.

15. A molten metal filtration apparatus comprising a filter chamber having a floor, a metal inlet, a metal outlet, and a wall surface adapted to be partitioned by a plurality of filter elements, said filter elements comprising filter tubes dispersed between end plates, said filter tubes having an open cell structure characterized by a plurality of interconnected voids, wherein the filter elements are oriented parallel and partition the filter chamber, said filter tubes being disposed in at least two rows and at least two columns, said rows and columns defining an open space, and wherein at least one heater device is positioned within said open space.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein said open space extends from a lid of the apparatus to said floor.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein said heater device comprises an elongated body oriented substantially parallel to a longitudinal axes of the filter elements.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, comprising at least two heater devices positioned within said open space.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein said heater devices are parallel and horizontally aligned.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein said heater devices are parallel and vertically aligned.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] The following description and drawings set forth certain illustrative implementations of the disclosure in detail. The illustrated examples, however, are not exhaustive of the many possible embodiments of the disclosure.

[0017] FIG. 1 is a cross-sectioned view of a prior art filter box;

[0018] FIG. 2 is perspective view of a prior art cartridge filter;

[0019] FIG. 3 is a top plan view (partially in phantom) of a filtration apparatus in accord with the present disclosure;

[0020] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 3 taken along line A-A;

[0021] FIG. 5 is a top plan view (partially in phantom) of an alternative filtration apparatus embodiment in accord with the present disclosure;

[0022] FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 5 taken along line A-A;

[0023] FIG. 7 is a top plan view (partially in phantom) of a further alternative filtration apparatus embodiment in accord with the present disclosure; and

[0024] FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 2 taken along line A-A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] A more complete understanding of the components, processes and apparatuses disclosed herein can be obtained by reference to the accompanying drawings. These figures are merely schematic representations based on convenience and the ease of demonstrating the present disclosure, and are, therefore, not intended to indicate relative size and dimensions of the devices or components thereof and/or to define or limit the scope of the exemplary embodiments.

[0026] Although specific terms are used in the following description for the sake of clarity, these terms are intended to refer only to the particular structure of the embodiments selected for illustration in the drawings, and are not intended to define or limit the scope of the disclosure. In the drawings and the following description below, it is to be understood that like numeric designations refer to components of like function.

[0027] The singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[0028] As used herein, the terms about, generally and substantially are intended to encompass structural or numerical modifications which do not significantly affect the purpose of the element or number modified by such term.

[0029] As used in the specification and in the claims, the term “comprising” may include the embodiments “consisting of” and “consisting essentially of.” The terms “comprise(s),” “include(s),” “having,” “has,” “can,” “contain(s),” and variants thereof, as used herein, are intended to be open-ended transitional phrases, terms, or words that require the presence of the named ingredients/steps and permit the presence of other ingredients/steps. However, such description should be construed as also describing compositions or processes as “consisting of” and “consisting essentially of” the enumerated ingredients/steps, which allows the presence of only the named ingredients/steps, along with any impurities that might result therefrom, and excludes other ingredients/steps.

[0030] Referring now to FIG. 2, a representative cartridge filter 12 is depicted. Plates 14 and 16 receive a plurality of filter tubes 18. A first end of the tubes can be open and mate with passages in plate 16 while a second end of the tubes can be closed and housed in plate 14 (see FIG. 1 illustration). Molten metal flows through the filter tubes and the passages in plate 16 to an outlet of the filter box. The cartridge filter 12 can be lifted by a forklift or hydraulic positioning equipment, for example, and inserted or removed from a filter box of the types illustrated in FIGS. 3-8.

[0031] At least portions of the outward facing surface of the open plate 16 can be covered by a expandable gasket material, for example, Vermiculite available from 3M, which is used to securely seal open plate 16 to the filter box wall and prevent leakage of molten metal.

[0032] The porous, ceramic material of the filter tubes 18 can be refractory bonded silicon carbide available from the Metaullics Systems Division of Pyrotek, Inc. and the material of the plates 14 and 16 can be refractory bonded silicon carbide available from Pyrotek, Inc.

[0033] Cartridge filter equipped filtration boxes are most typically used in a continuous casting process. An exemplary cast operation would process about 50 metric tons of molten metal at a rate of 1600 lbs/min. Due to the requirement to reset the casting pit, there can be 60 or more holds during a cast operating process (i.e., before the furnace is depleted and recycled to a new molten metal batch).

[0034] The filter tubes and the molten metal within the box during a casting cycle hold must be maintained at elevated temperatures. As demonstrated by FIG. 1, heating elements have historically been placed in the lid of the filtration box to achieve this result.

[0035] The present inventors have discovered this to be problematic with respect to processing magnesium containing alloys such as 3,000 and 5,000 series alloys (particularly 5,000 series). Moreover, the higher the temperature and the longer the hold time the more MgO.sub.(x) is formed. These oxides serve to shorten the life of the filter tubes. For example, when processing 5,000 series alloys, the life of a cartridge filter may be shortened to 17 metric tons. The present inventors have discovered that this problem is exacerbated when the atmosphere above the molten metal in the filter box is the hottest zone in the unit as a result of using lid heaters exclusively.

[0036] Another shortcoming of existing filtration soy designs is associated with the requirement preheat the filter tubes to effectively process the molten metal. Moreover, the tubes should be at 800° C. or higher to function properly. The preheating process can take in excess of 15 hours. However, the present inventors have learned that heating of the entire depth of filter tubes using box lid can lead to uneven temperature exposure. Moreover, filter tubes closer to the lid heating elements will be exposed to a higher temperature than 800° C. (for example) to allow the lower rows of tubes to achieve 800° C. Exposing the top rows of tubes to higher heating temperatures can damage the exposed filter tubes. Moreover, overheating can cause binder failure and/or tube defects.

[0037] Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, a first embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated. Filter box 100 includes cartridge filter 112 having end plates 114 and 116 with a plurality of filter tubes 118 disposed therebetween in rows and columns. Immersion heaters 120, 122 and 124 are provided below cartridge filter 112. Glowbar immersion heaters suitable for use in molten metal are available from Tounetsu Co., Ltd. Additional heaters can be located in the filter box lid in the same manner as illustrated in FIG. 1.

[0038] The addition of the immerson heaters below the intended melt line advantageously avoids over-heating certain filter tubes during pre-heating, allows preheating to be performed at a faster pace, provides a more consistent temperature throughout the box when metal filled, avoids overheating the atmosphere above the molten metal where unwanted oxides are most likely to form, and saves energy by introducing heat into highly thermally conductive metal rather than a gas atmosphere.

[0039] The present design further allows greater flexibility in heating profiles. For example, if present, the lid heaters can be used in combination with the heaters below the intended melt line during preheat and/or during a casting cycle hold, but otherwise shut-off. Similarly, it is contemplated that the lid heaters and the heaters below the melt liner will be operated at any point in time of the casting process, but below the melt liner heaters can be operated at a higher temperature.

[0040] Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 6, a second embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated. Filter box 200 includes cartridge filter 212 having end plates 214 and 216 with a plurality of filter tubes 218 disposed therebetween in rows and columns. Immersion heaters 220, 222, 224 and 226 are provided at the same elevation as cartridge filter 212. Moreover, in this embodiment, the cartridge filter 212 is provided with a tube gap 230 to receive heaters 222 and 224. Heaters 220 and 226 are vertically aligned and positioned perpendicular to heaters 220 and 224 in the filter box outlet channel 240. This configuration maximizes available space and places the heaters in an effective zone adjacent the cartridge filter and submerged in the molten metal during the casting cycle. Additional heaters can be located in the filter box lid in the same manner as illustrated in FIG. 1.

[0041] Referring now to FIGS. 7 and 8, a third embodiment of the disclosure is illustrated. This configuration is similar to the second embodiment but in this instance the gap 330 between the filter tubes 318 has been narrowed and immersion heaters 322 and 324 are vertically stacked. This demonstrates that a number of configurations are available to best position the heater devices in effective locations in and around the cartridge filter tubes.

[0042] While the present disclosure illustrates a filter box including a cartridge filter, it is contemplated that the positioning of the heater elements adjacent and below the filter body may also have advantageous use with other filter designs such as plate or rectangular prism filters.

[0043] To aid the Patent Office and any readers of this application and any resulting patent in interpreting the claims appended hereto, applicants do not intend any of the appended claims or claim elements to invoke 35 U.S.C. 112(f) unless the words “means for” or “step for” are explicitly used in the particular claim.

[0044] The exemplary embodiment has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments. Obviously, modifications and alterations will occur to others upon reading and understanding the preceding detailed description. It is intended that the exemplary embodiment be construed as including all such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.