Oxygen (O) enrichment is a versatile tool that provides important benefits for cupola operation.

The benefits, reported for a wide range of foundries, are listed in Table 1 and have been recognized for more than 70 years. Not until the mid-mid-1960s, however, was the cost of O low enough to make its use cost effective. For the most part, foundries have pursued O benefits because of economic factors. The two major factors for O use are the replacement of costly charge materials with less expensive ones and the ability of low capital means to increase cupola output. Thus far, environmental factors, such as reduced greenhouse gasemissions via reduced coke consumption, have not figured as strong incentives for foundries to further increase the use of O. This situation might change in the future.

Oxygen Enrichment: All the benefits from O enrichment derive from the fact that adding O to the blast air is the same as increasing the blast air rate, without adding extra nitrogen. Because less nitrogen is in the gas phase, the heat produced from combustion combustion, rapid chemical reaction of two or more substances with a characteristic liberation of heat and light; it is commonly called burning. The burning of a fuel (e.g., wood, coal, oil, or natural gas) in air is a familiar example of combustion. of coke increases the temperature of the gas. In turn, that increase transfers heat to the iron drops as they pass through the melt zone. Higher iron temperatures create the conditions that permit improvements in a cupola operation. The methods used to introduce additional O into the cupola are classified into three categories: diffuser diffuser n. 1. One that diffuses, as: a. A light fixture, such as a frosted globe, that spreads light evenly. b. A medium that scatters light, used in photography to soften shadows. c. enrichment, tuyeretuyre n. The pipe, nozzle, or other opening through which air is forced into a blast furnace or forge to facilitate combustion.

[French, from Old French, from tuyau, pipe, ..... Click the link for more information. injection and well injection. In the diffuser method, O is introduced upstream From the consumer to the provider. See downstream. (networking) upstream - Fewer network hops away from a backbone or hub. For example, a small ISP that connects to the Internet through a larger ISP that has their own connection to the backbone is downstream from the larger of the tuyeres through a diffuser installed in the windbox. With tuyere injection, injector tubes direct pure O through each tuyere (or every other tuyere). The third and least accepted method is well injection in which O is injected injected adj. 1. Of or relating to a substance introduced into the body.

2. Of or relating to a blood vessel that is visibly distended with blood.

injected 1. introduced by injection. 2. congested. into the coke bed beneath the tuyeres using water-cooled injectors. Modes of Enrichment All the observed benefits of O enrichment cannot be realized simultaneously. Four basic modes of O enrichment define the nature of the benefits that are obtainable. These are: * add O; * add O and reduce coke; * add O and reduce blast air; * add O and reduce blast air and coke. Table 2 relates the benefits found in Table 1 with each of the modes listed above. The most important benefits are highlighted in red. Salient comments concerning the benefits and needed precautions precautions Infectious disease The constellation of activities intended to minimize exposure to an infectious agent; precautions imply that the isolation of an infected Pt is optional, but not mandatory. are given below. 1 Add O--This mode produces the highest iron temperatures and largest gains in carbon (C) and silicon (Si) content. It also is useful for melting at rates that exceed the capacity of the air blast system. 2 Add O and reduce coke--This mode produces maximum melt rates as it provides the highest O-tocoke ratio. The iron temperature and alloy alloy ( l`oi, loi`) [O. Fr.,=combine], substance with metallic properties that consists of a metal fused with one or more metals or nonmetals. recovery are lower than in the previous case. The amount of coke that can be removed from the charge in this mode is limited. Although O raises the temperature in the melt zone, the combustion of C supplies the energy for melting. In a perfect system, with complete combustion to carbon dioxide carbon dioxide, chemical compound, CO2, a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that is about one and one-half times as dense as air under ordinary conditions of temperature and pressure. and no energy losses, about 5% coke is needed. Realistic values are much higher. As the amount of charged coke is reduced, the cupola atmosphere becomes more oxidizing and increasingly larger amounts of the alloy are oxidizedoxidized having been modified by the process of oxidation. oxidized cellulose see absorbable cellulose. ..... Click the link for more information.. Eventually, the costs of the C and Si losses weigh heavily on the cost of increasing the melt rate. Add O and reduce blast air--This mode of operation is useful when holding a constant melt rate is necessary. A benefit of reduced air volumes is a reduction on the load placed on the hot blastHot blast` 1. See under Blast.

..... Click the link for more information. and emission systems. Through its studies, the British Cast Iron Research Assn. (BCIRA BCIRA British Cast Iron Research Association ) established that, at a given coke level, the total O mainly determines the melt rate. Thus, replacing free air with costly O must be accompanied by an application that provides sufficient savings to make the replacement attractive. If considerable air is removed, attention needs to be given to the consequence of poorer blast penetration and reduced energy production due to the generation of greater amounts of CO. Add O and reduce blast air and coke-Coke rates can be reduced as O is added to maintain a constant iron temperature, which is possible because of the higher combustion zone gas temperatures when the blast is enriched with O. Depending on the relative amount of blast air and coke removed, the melt rate can either increase or decrease. Early Oxygen Delivery Early in the application of continuous O enrichment, gas generally was introduced to the blast main. The BCIRA conducted extensive studies in the 1960s and 1970s that indicated the benefits were small compared to the introduction of the same amount of O through each tuyere (tuyere injection). This manner of introduction had the benefit of eliminating O losses due to leaks in the blast main and tuyere plumbing plumbing, piping systems inside buildings for water supply and sewage. The Romans had a highly developed plumbing system; water was brought to Rome by aqueducts and distributed to homes in lead pipeshence the name plumbing from the Latin word plumbum . More importantly, a highvelocity, injected-O stream was able to penetrate deeper into the cupola than the blast air, keeping combustion away from the cupola wall and reducing energy losses. In keeping with this philosophy, O producers developed supersonic supersonic adj. 1. Having, caused by, or relating to a speed greater than the speed of sound in a given medium, especially air. 2. Of or relating to sound waves beyond human audibility. O injectors in the 1980s as a way to further accomplish blast penetration. In the 1960s and 1970s, when tuyere injection became popular, many cupolas used large diameter tuyeres with unheated blast air, so the velocity of the blast entering the cupola was low. In addition, the tuyeres were flush To empty the contents of a memory buffer. See buffer. Flush Elizabeth Barrett Brownings spaniel, subject of a biography. [Br. Lit.: Woolf Flush in Barnhart, 446] See : Dogs

(data) flush with the cupola walls, which allowed for the low-velocity gases to easily burn close to the wall, resulting in high heat losses and poor combustion efficiency. Under these conditions, high-velocity injection of O was effective in assisting to make the improvements outlined in Table 1 because a highvelocity stream can penetrate deeper into a cupola than the low-velocity blast. Recent Improvements Today, many foundries have taken steps to prevent such losses. Tuyere diameters have been reduced to increase the gas velocity entering the cupola, and water-cooled protrudingprotrude v. protruded, protruding, protrudes v.tr.

To push or thrust outward. v.intr. To jut out; project. See Synonyms at bulge. ..... Click the link for more information. tuyeres have been installed so the blast air is not deposited at the cupola wall. Currently, cupola manufacturers are recommending tuyere velocities about equal to those provided by subsonicsubsonic adj. 1. Of less than audible frequency. 2. Having a speed less than that of sound in a designated medium. subsonic Adjective ..... Click the link for more information. tuyere injection. In these cases, the necessity for separate injection of 0 and air remains unclear. As a case in point, identical cupola performance, except for small differences in iron temperature, was obtained in a General Motors' (GM) study in which the same 0 rate was delivered as unenriched-air blast, 0 enriched-air and lance-injected 0 to a 60-in. (152 cm) hot-blast cupola with protruding tuyeres (Table 3). These results do not conform toVerb 1. conform to - satisfy a condition or restriction; "Does this paper meet the requirements for the degree?" fit, meet coordinate - be co-ordinated; "These activities coordinate well" ..... Click the link for more information. the benefits described in Table 1. The failure to substantially increase iron temperature, C and Si may be due to the use of much higher air blast velocities in the GM test than were used in the 1960s and 1970s cupolas (whose performance with 0 form the basis for the benefits described in Table 1). To illustrate the differences in cupola operations (then and now) Table 4 provides velocity data from the GM study and a BCIRA study in 1977. The latter is the most authoritative study on O enrichment available. As recorded, the air blast velocity in the GM study was seven times higher than that employed in the BCIRA study. In addition, the low velocity condition was exacerbated by the use of flush tuyeres. By contrast, the velocities of the injected o in the two studies were almost the same. Logically, the low velocity operation could benefit greatly from the higher velocity 0 injection, while the higher velocity operation did not require it. The comparison suggests that the benefits attributed to improved penetration of 0 by injection for today's cupolas that operate with high air velocities and protruding tuyeres need to be re-evaluated. The 1990s saw the introduction of still another blast air innovation, metered air to each tuyere. The devices maintain the same airflow to each tuyere, despite obstructions such as partial blocking of the tuyere by coke or slag. The concept is to create conditions for uniform combustion by providing a uniform flow of 0. No reports have been issued describing any benefits obtained. Oxygen enrichment is a versatile tool with the potential to benefit cupola operations through its effects on melt rates and the ability to reduce nitrogen in the blast. However, some of the benefits frequently attributed to 0 enrichment may already have been achieved in modern cupolas using small-diameter, water-cooled protruding tuyeres. Further studies will be required to separate the benefits that each provides. Table 2. Operational Benefits for the Four Modes of Oxygen (O) Enrichmen Mode Benefits (listed in Table 1) Add O 1,2,3,4,6,10,11 Add O and reduce coke 1,5

Add O and reduce blast air 2,3,4,6,7,8,9,10 Add O and reduce blast air and coke 5,7,8,9 Table 3. Experimental Data from GM Tests on Oxygen (O) Enrichment of Cupolas Property Unenriched Enriched air Enriched air air blast (tuyere injection) (blast main) Blast air (cu-ft/min/cu-m/hr) 3078/5226 2557/4342 2608/4428 O (cu-ft/min/cu-m/hr) 0 117/199 113/192 O enrichment (%) 0 3.5 3.3 Melt rate (tons/hr/tonnes/hr) 9.23/8.37 9.10/8.25 9.07/8.23 Iron temperature (F/C) 2766/1519 2770/1521 2790/1532 Carbon (%) 2.14 2.13 2.14 Silicon (%) 3.01 2.96 3.02 Table 4. A Comparison of Gas (Air and Oxygen) Velocities in Oxygen (O) Enrichment Experiments Type of O addition GM data Velocity (ft/sec/ m/sec) Uneriched air 255/77.7 Blast main enriched air 216/65.8 Tuyere-injected O 400/122 Type of O addition BCIRA data Velocity (ft/sec/ m/sec) Uneriched air 38.6/11.7 Blast main enriched air 30.8/9.3 Tuyere-injected O 394/120 Table 1. Benefits of Using Oxygen Enrichment in a Cupola Operation * 1. Increased melt rate. * 2. Increased iron temperature. * 3. Increased alloy recovery. * 4. Increased carbon pickup Pickup A gain in yield made by selling one bond and buying another. Also referred to as "yield pickup." Notes: When the present yield is relatively low compared to the longer-term yields, pickups will be done by investors trying to increase the yield and duration of their . * 5. Decreased coke usage. * 6. Increased use of difficult-to-melt scrap (steel, borings, bundles, etc.). * 7. Reduced hot blast needs (lower use of natural gas). * 8. Reduced blast volume. * 9. Reduced heat losses.

* 10. More rapid cupola start-up Start-up The earliest stage of a new business venture. . * 11. Intermittent intermittent /intermittent/ (-mitent) marked by alternating periods of activity and inactivity. intermittent adj. 1. Stopping and starting at intervals. 2. use for steady cupola control (rapid response to rectify rectify v. 1. To set right; correct. 2. To refine or purify, especially by distillation. chemistry and temperature problems).