Mixer - mixer

A furnace for storing, homogenizing, and insulating the molten iron tapped from a blast furnace. Its capacity is 500 to 2,500 tons, and it is usually cylindrical, with a high-alumina brick roof and a magnesia brick lining on the inside that comes into direct contact with the molten iron. It has a receiving hole, a tapping hole, and a slag discharge hole, and the furnace body can tilt forward and backward. Generally, the composition and temperature of the molten iron vary considerably with each tap, even from the same blast furnace. A mixed iron furnace homogenizes the molten iron, the main raw material, to allow the converter operation in the steelmaking process to be carried out rationally and stably, and to control the composition and quality of the steel. It also acts as a buffer for the flow of molten iron between the blast furnace and the converter, for example to store the molten iron when the converter equipment is being repaired. In recent years, with the dramatic increase in the amount of iron produced due to the enlargement of blast furnaces, torpedo cars have appeared, which function as both ladles and torpedo furnaces. As the name suggests, they are shaped like two cones connected side by side. Preliminary treatment of molten iron, such as desulfurization and dephosphorization, is also actively carried out in torpedo cars.

[Iguchi Yasutaka]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

高炉（溶鉱炉）から出銑された溶銑の貯蔵、均質化、保温を目的とした炉。容量は500～2500トン、通常円筒形で、天井部分を高アルミナ質、直接溶銑に接する部分をマグネシア質れんがで内張りする。受銑口、出銑口および排滓(はいさい)口を設け、炉体は前後に傾動できる。一般に同一高炉からでも出銑ごとに溶銑成分、温度はかなり変動する。混銑炉は、製鋼過程である転炉作業を合理的に安定して行わせ、鋼の成分、品質を制御するために主原料である溶銑を均一化させ、また転炉設備の補修時などにおける溶銑の貯蔵など高炉と転炉間の溶銑の流れの緩衝の役目をもする。近年、高炉の大型化による出銑量の飛躍的増加に伴い、取鍋(とりべ)と混銑炉の両機能をもつ混銑車トーピード・カーtorpedo carが出現した。名のごとく円錐(えんすい)を横に二つつないだ形である。混銑車における脱硫、脱リンなどの溶銑予備処理も活発に行われている。

［井口泰孝］

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