Cowper stoves

Cowper Stove. See hot-blast stove. CPDA. Clay Pipe Development Association. 

Modern blast furnaces (Figure 6.5.10) have a volume of 5000 and produce 10 000 tonnes of Fe per day. A fixed-matrix regenerator system with periodic flow -a so-called Cowper stove, named after Edward A. Cowper (see box) - is used to preheat the blast air up to 1300 °C. The furnace is supplied with a constant flow of hot... 

Figure 3.4. Schematic of a blast iron. Shown are 1 - incoming pre-heated air from the Cowper stove 2 - melting zone 3 - reduction zone of FeO 4 - reduction zone of Fe203 5 - pre-heating zone 6 - feed of iron ore, limestone, and coke 7 - exhaust gases 8 - column of ore, coke, and limestone 9 - removal of slag 10 - tapping of molten pig iron 11 - collection of waste gases. Image courtesy of Robert Blazek.

Another important use of silica bricks is in the making of the roof and upper checkerwork of Cowper stoves. These stoves send preheated air blasts to blast furnaces. They work as heat exchangers. Hence, the checkerwork material should have high thermal conductivity and heat capacity. In order to increase the productivity of blast furnaces, one of the techniques used is to increase the blast temperature. These stoves are now made to operate at temperatures of 1500°C. This high temperature exists at the upper checkerwork... 

In iron-making industries, firebricks are found in the blast furnace stack, bosh, hearth, and ladles. Cowper stoves are also made of firebricks. The blast duct connecting Cowper stoves and the blast furnace is also constructed of firebricks. 

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