Calculation of the friction force required to extract coke from open heart furnace for the design of pusher machine prototypes

Abstract

This article presents one of the results of the research co-financed by MINCIENCIAS through the call 851 of 2019 and supported by Tecnoparque SENA Ocaña node, which allowed the materialisation, applying the methodology I+P+D3 (Research+Planning+Definition of the product, Design and Development), of an innovative prototype of a pusher machine to extract coke from solera ovens. To achieve this, the friction force necessary to overcome to extract the coke was calculated through a design procedure based on the study by Badiuzzaman and Sadayoshi & Michikata; developed according to the characteristics of a vertical oven, whose geometry, characteristics and production capacity are totally different from a hearth oven, and therefore, the design variables are different. Thus, under a theoretical methodology, as a result of the engineering adaptation of a vertical furnace to a hearth furnace, and under an experimental methodology, a design procedure is presented to calculate the friction force necessary to overcome to extract 2.8 Tons of coke by the extraction machine in the baking process of a hearth furnace, commonly used in Norte de Santander and Colombia. Theoretically, a procedure is presented, based on parameters such as the weight of the coke cake and the friction coefficients, to find the friction and thrust force. An experimental validation was carried out, based on a proposed methodology, to calculate the force required by the motor in the extraction of the coke, based on variables such as voltage, amperage, efficiency and power factor. There is an 86.7% correspondence between the theoretical data of the maximum force to be exerted to overcome the sticky condition with respect to the data obtained experimentally; which allows us to conclude a satisfactory estimation of the coefficients used theoretically for the selection of the motor and components of the machine.