Hiscox item 701 shows an oil-burning melting furnace with a cylindrical casing, firebrick lining and removable feed hopper. Explore the component arrangement and calculate the clear diameter left by an entered lining thickness.
Furnace-Section Geometry Calculator
Enter declared casing diameter, radial lining thickness and hopper-lift position. The worksheet reports section geometry only; it does not size a burner, calculate combustion air, predict temperature or melt metal.
Equation Used
- The casing is represented as an ideal circular cylinder of declared outer diameter D.
- The firebrick lining has uniform declared radial thickness t in the section.
- The internal clear diameter is clipped at zero if 2t exceeds D.
- The oil-burner flame is a qualitative animation confined to the chamber; fuel, atomization, airflow, combustion, draft, exhaust, temperature and heat transfer are not calculated.
- Materials, crucible capacity, charge, pour procedure, refractory design, structural strength, emissions, ventilation, controls, PPE, fire safety and operation are excluded.
The section identifies the casing, lining, burner and removable hopper. The calculator relates casing diameter to clear internal diameter; it does not model combustion or melting performance.
A firebrick-lined cylindrical casing with a removable hopper
Hiscox item 701 describes a cylindrical casing lined with firebrick and fitted with an oil burner. Its feed hopper is removed to pour the metal, a condition shown in the source's right-hand section.
The section illustrates those components using entered dimensions. Drawing widths are adjusted for readability, so use the numeric results for clear diameter rather than measuring the schematic.
A historical melting-furnace arrangement
The historical arrangement combines an oil burner with a lined melting chamber and a removable hopper. Hiscox does not specify its metal charge or operating conditions. The section model explains the components and space occupied by the lining, without sizing or operating a furnace.
Declared section geometry only
These identities describe the declared circular section. They do not calculate refractory performance, burner output, airflow, temperature, heat loss, melt time or capacity.
Declared geometry example
For D=500 mm and t=60 mm, the declared clear diameter is 380 mm, clear radius is 190 mm and the lining occupies 24.0% of the outer diameter. A hopper-lift setting of 0% shows the hopper seated; it is not an operating instruction.
Section dimensions and thermal performance
Subtracting twice the lining thickness from the casing diameter gives the ideal clear diameter. It does not establish refractory suitability, heat loss, burner output or melt time. The animated flame is illustrative and does not represent a combustion calculation.
Hiscox furnace questions
Does this calculator size combustion air or fuel flow?
No.
Does the source identify a Babington burner?
No. Hiscox says only oil burner.
Can this page be used to build or operate a furnace?
No. It is a historical component-and-section explanation only.
Oil-burning melting-furnace source
- Gardner D. Hiscox, Mechanical Movements, Powers, Devices and Appliances, page 188, item 701: primary public-domain plate and caption identifying the cylindrical casing, firebrick lining, oil burner and removable feed hopper.
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