FURNACES

METAL CASTING PROCESS

THEORY

Types of processes and furnaces

Blast furnace
Manufacturing pig iron using blast furnace:Pig iron can be obtained by chemical reduction of iron ore in a
blast furnace. This process is called smelting.
Pig iron consists of: Iron (from iron ore hydrates/oxides/carbonates)
Coke (3-4% of carbon is present in pig iron)
Small amounts of sulphur
Principle of blast furnace:In a blast furnace, the ore is heated in the presence of
carbon (carbon in the form of carbon monoxide) which
combines with oxygen in the ore and reduces the ore to iron.
A typical blast furnace has:1. Internal volume 4670 m3
2. Blast volume 7400 m3/min
3. Blast temperature 1260C
4. Fuel ratio 565 kg/ton
5. Weight 9000 metric ton
Raw materials:Alternate layers of ore, coke and flux.

FURNACES

METAL CASTING PROCESS

THEORY

Main components of the blast furnace are:1. Hearth (Lower section): It is cylindrical and lined with refractory carbon
bricks.
Built on foundation and serves as collecting basin for
molten metal.
Average depth:- 3.5 m.

FURNACES

METAL CASTING PROCESS

THEORY

It has a tap-hole through which molten metal can be

removed and a notch (1.2-1.7 m above base) to
remove molten slag.

2. Bosh (Middle section): It is the smelting zone and the hottest part of the
furnace.
Extends below the tuyere level, with outward slope
of 20 up to a height of 3.6m.
(Tuyere:- inlets that admit hot air for combustion and
reactions and located at the periphery near the top of hearth.)

3. Charging mechanism (Upper section): Located at the top of the stack.

(Stack:- region above bosh)
Consists of double bell and hopper arrangement
(Double bell and hopper arrangement:- Ore is dumped in a
hopper and then the top bell (sort of valve) opens, permitting
the charge to fall to bottom. Then top bell closes and bottom
bell opens and charge enters stack.)
Working:-

FURNACES

METAL CASTING PROCESS

THEORY

The charge (ore, flux, coke) is introduced into the

throat of furnace by double bell and hopper
arrangement.
A hot blast of air is then forced into furnace through
tuyeres which are cooled by water circulated
between the pipe walls.
Air blast is heated to minimize the fuel consumption
by passing cold blast through heater checker work or
hot blast stoves.
Limestone (flux) combines with ore to form molten
slag which is tapped off from the furnace using a slag
hole.
At the same time, iron picks up 3-4% of carbon and
small amounts of sulphur from coke.
Other elements such as Si, Mn, P, etc are derived
from the ore.
High amount of carbon makes pig iron hard and
brittle and unsuitable for working with.
Hence, pig iron is casted to form cast iron or used in
steel making furnaces.

FURNACES

METAL CASTING PROCESS

THEORY

Cupola furnace
Making cast iron using pig iron in cupola furnace: Objective of cupola furnace is to produce iron of desired
composition, temperature and properties at desired rate
in most economical manner.
Cupolas are able to operate continuously, can have high
melting rate and are easy and economical to operate.
Zones in cupola:1. Crucible zone: This zone helps to collect the molten metal.
It extends from top of sand bed to bottom of
tuyeres.
2. Combustion zone: This zone involves actual combustion of ore and a lot
of heat is liberated.
Hence, the temperature is about 1500C to 1850C.
It is above tuyeres upto a height of 15-30 cm.
Chemical reactions involved:i) C + O2
CO2 + heat
ii) Si + O2
SiO2 + heat
iii) 2Mn + O2
2MnO + heat
3. Reduction zone: This zone involves reduction of CO2 to CO. this
prevents further oxidation to occur.
The temperature is around 1200C
Reaction at this zone is:-

FURNACES

METAL CASTING PROCESS

THEORY

i) CO2 + C (coke)
2CO heat
4. Melting zone: In this zone, solid iron is melted and this molten iron
trickles down to crucible zone which is then
collected from tap hole.
This zone starts from 1st layer of metal charge above
the coke bed and stands upto a height of 90 cm
above it.
This zone operates at temperature around 1600C.
Reaction at this zone is:i) 3Fe + 2CO
Fe3C + CO2
5. Pre-heating zone: This zone contains all layers of cupola i.e. alternating
layers of metal, coke and flux.
Here, the layers are pre heated around a
temperature of 1100C before entering the melting
zone.
This heating is done due to upcoming gases from
zones below pre heating zone.
This zone starts above melting zone and extends till
the bottom of cupolas charging door
6. Stack zone: It starts above pre heating zone and ends at top of
cupola.
It is used to provide a passage to hot gases from
cupola into atmosphere.

FURNACES

METAL CASTING PROCESS

THEORY

7. Spark arrestor: It is used to prevent spark from emerging outside

and cools the spark, thereby allowing only smoke to
escape from opening.

FURNACES

METAL CASTING PROCESS

THEORY

Working: In the beginning, the sand bottom is rammed properly

upon drop bottom. Coke is placed on sand bottom and
fire is lit.
Now, coke charges are introduced in cupola till the coke
bed level extends 0.75m above tuyere level.
Air from wind box passes through tuyeres to the
combustion zone.
Charges are fed through charging door in alternate layers
of pig iron and coke.(General metal fuel ratio is 10:1)
The heat due to burning of coke melts pig iron.
Also, small amount of flux is added with the charge which
removes impurities from the metal and forms slag, which
floats on metal and taken out from slag hole.
Molten metal is taken out from time to time from tap
hole.

FURNACES

METAL CASTING PROCESS

THEORY

Steel making processes:Commercial process:1. Bessemers process: This process involves production of steel from pig iron.
It is classified into 2 types depending upon type of
refractory lining:i. Acidic:- Lining is of silica brick. It does not
eliminate phosphorous or sulphur.
ii. Basic:- Lining is of dolomite. It removes
phosphorous and also sulphur to some extent.

Stages in Bessemers process:i. Stage 1:- This stage involves charging of pig iron
into the Bessemers converter and silicon and
manganese from ore separate as oxides and go
into slag due to heating.

FURNACES

METAL CASTING PROCESS

THEORY

ii. Stage 2:- This stage involves elimination of

carbon. It starts when iron, silicon and manganese
are oxidized and when metal reaches sufficient
high temperature. Carbon is removed by ferrous
oxide from slag, which oxidizes carbon. A gas is
evolved in this reaction which is rich in carbon
monoxide. This gas burns off and comes out as
dazzling white flame.
iii. Stage 3:- This stage involves emptying of the
converter. It begins when the flame drops which is
a sign that carbon has been practically removed
from the charge. Even some deoxidizers are added
to the charge to remove oxygen and to bring
manganese and silicon content of the steel to a
specific value.

10

FURNACES

METAL CASTING PROCESS

THEORY

2. L-D process (Linz & Donawitz):The converter is lined with refractory materials such as
dolomite and magnesite. In this process, a jet of pure oxygen
(99.5% pure) is blown at high pressure and supersonic speed
through water cooled lance on the surface of molten iron. The
tip of the lance is within about 1200 mm of the surface of the
bath. The blowing of oxygen at higher speed produces intense
heat (2500C - 3000C) and reduces blowing time (18-20% of
original). Oxygen is added to remove carbon from metal in
form of CO.

11

FURNACES

METAL CASTING PROCESS

THEORY

3. Open hearth process:This process involves 2 stages:i. Blowing molten pig iron in Bessemer converter.
ii. Further purification in open hearth furnace.
First some amount of steel scrap is charged and heated
and then partly purified molten iron (blown metal) from
Bessemers converter is added to it. Ferromanganese and
ferrosilicon are added to bring steel to correct composition. As
this process is slow, burning entire carbon is not preferred,
but process can be terminated when required carbon content
is achieved.

12

FURNACES

METAL CASTING PROCESS

THEORY

4. Electric furnace process:It is used to produce high grade alloy steels, stainless
steel and heat resistant steels.
Advantages:a. Generates high temperature (about 2000C) without
introducing oxygen or nitrogen or impurities from fuel in
melting chamber.
b. Temperature can be easily controlled.
c. Permits addition of costly alloying elements like Cr, Ni,
W, etc. without loss by oxidation.
Types of furnaces:1) Direct arc furnace:It consists of a steel tank lined with refractory bricks
and a removable roof through which graphite electrodes

13

FURNACES

METAL CASTING PROCESS

THEORY

pass. The electrodes are lowered into furnace and

current is switched on.
This current generates a spark between the
electrodes, which is used to heat the charge and melt it.
The charge usually consists of steel scrap and iron
oxide in the form of iron ore.
Pig iron is not used here directly as ore.

2) High frequency induction furnace: Principle:When an alternating current is passed through coil,
magnetic field induces eddy currents in the secondary
circuit, which generates heat and melts the charge.
Secondary circuit consists of crucible containing
metal charge.

14

FURNACES

METAL CASTING PROCESS

THEORY

Working:This furnace works on an alternating current with a

frequency of 500-2500 Hz. When the current is turned on,
AC current flows through copper coil (primary circuit).
According to the principle, eddy currents are
induced in secondary circuit. Due to electrical resistance
of bulk metal, the charge gets heated and melts (by Joule
heating). Cooling water circulates through tubes over
crucible, to maintain the temperature of the process
within a certain limit.

15

FURNACES

METAL CASTING PROCESS

THEORY

Effect of constituents on steel:-

Components
Carbon
Silicon
Manganese
Sulphur
Phosphorous
Nickel
Chromium
Molybdenum
Vanadium

Effect
Increases strength
Makes iron soft, removes oxides, improves strength
Increases ductility and bending qualities
Decreases tensile stress, yield point, causes fatigue
Increases brittleness
Increases toughness
Increases corrosion resistance
Increases hardenability
Increases electrical resistance

16