The present invention relates to high temperature insulating, particularly in connection with providing a metallurgical soaking to a cooling ingot of steel to slow down the rate of cooling, enabling self-heat induced thermal structural homogenization within the ingot so that upon subsequent mill processing (rolling, swaging, forging or the like), equipment breakage is thereby minimized. This is accomplished through the present invention through structure affording the additional advantage of avoiding the high volume and energy usage of conventional soaking pits used for such purposes.
The insulating apparatus is usable for furnaces generally operating in a similar range of temperatures.
During steel production, molten steel (at about 1500.degree. C.) is poured into iron molds and allowed to freeze on the outside surfaces. The mold is then stripped away and cooling is continued until the ingot is frozen. In order to permit hot rolling, the ingot is then put in a soaking pit which has burners therein (usually oil fired) and resides in such pit for half a day, exposed to flame or to air heated by the flame to come back up to appropriate temperature for rolling, in the range of 1000-1400.degree. C. The soaking pit structure is quite bulky and one or more ingots "soaked" therein generally occupy a small portion of the space. But the entire space has to be heated up and the energy consumption involved is substantial. The handling equipment associated with the soaking pit is also voluminous and expensive.
It is an important object of this invention to eliminate the energy consumption associated with such soaking process.
It is a further object of the invention to reduce the volume, mass and expense of the soaking equipment and associated handling equipment and process steps.
It is a further object of the invention to reduce scaling of soaked metals.
It is a further object of the invention to reduce initial freezing rate of the ingot with resultant improvement of ingot grain structure.
It is a further object of the invention to provide insulating method and apparatus which enables self-heat induced soaking of a poured ingot.
It is a further object of the invention to provide insulation apparatus and process usable broadly in connection with 900.degree. C. or above applications.
It is a further object of the invention to provide practical and effective high temperature insulation.
The foregoing objects also include the further ancillary object of achieving each such objects in combination with one or more of the others.