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PHYSICS OF
HIGH-CURRENTS ARCS
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OXYGEN USE
 B. Bowman
G.R. Jordan
F. Fitzgerald
British Steel Corp.

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 In recent years there has been a rapid
growth in electric steelmaking, and in the UK in
1968 some 4 m tons, or 15.9% of the total steel
production, is from arc furnaces. Some years ago
Steel, Peech and Tozer, a branch of the United
Steel Companies and now part of the Midland
Group of the British Steel Corporation,
completed the largest electric melting shop in the
world, known by the code name SPEAR1. The
rated output of the plant at that time was 1.35 m
tons of low-carbon steel per year from six
furnaces of 24 ft hearth diameter, each rated at
40 MVA and producing 120 tons in about 3½ h.
Experience during the construction and
early operation or the plant has been published2.
Most of the initial problems have been overcome
and the tapped capacity and electrical rating of
the furnaces has been increased. In order to
achieve a better understanding of the factors
controlling the design and efficient use of
electric arc furnaces, however, detailed
knowledge of high-current arcs in the
steelmaking environment is necessary. It was for
this reason and because of the almost complete
lack of information concerning arcs at the power
levels used in steelmaking, that the United Steel
Companies in 1965 constructed an Arc Research
Laboratory as part of their Central Research and
Development facilities. The investigations
carried out in this laboratory and on the works,
although to date concerned mainly with the
accumulation of basic data, have been directed
with several main interrelated practical aims
clearly in mind:
(i) improvement in the efficiency of melting
(ii) reduction of electrode consumption
(iii) reduction of refractory consumption
(iv) reduction of voltage flicker.
This paper briefly describes the
laboratory and presents the initial results of these
investigations.
EXPERIMENTAL EQUIPMENT
Arc laboratory
The main facilities in the laboratory are a
high-current chamber and a physics laboratory
containing a number of test rigs.
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The chamber, in which arcs carrying
currents of up to 10 kA can be struck, is shown
in Fig.1 and its detailed construction in Fig.2. It
is fitted with observation ports, is lined with
refractory, and sits on a square base containing
an 18in cube of steel mounted on a water-cooled
calorimeter, which acts as an electrical
connection and heat sink. Both the steel block
and calorimeter are insulated thermally with
carbon and refractory bricks.
A single 9in diameter graphite electrode,
to the end of which any desired diameter of
arcing tip can be attached, is held in a
hydraulically operated mast assembly and passes
through closely fitting insulating rings on the
chamber roof. Arcs are struck to the steel block
and fumes are extracted at the chamber roof and
ejected to atmosphere through a water scrubber.
Power is fed to the electrode from one
phase of a 3 MVA three-phase transformer (11
kV primary), which has an on-load tap changer
and can operate at various voltages between 400
V and 80 V. Series reactors in the primary
circuit can be varied off-load up to 18%. To
eliminate interactions single-phase arcs have
been examined, and a ballast resistance is used to
dissipate power from the other two phases to
allow balanced operation of the transformer.
Figure 3 shows the circuit. The ballast
3
resistance consists of a 400 ft tank containing a
Perspex assembly supporting three ¼ in thick
copper plate conductors, each of area 12 ft 2. A
5% solution of sodium carbonate flows between
the conductors and provides the resistance path,
which is varied by moving insulating plates
between the conductors so that different areas
for conduction result. Approximately 2.5 MW
are dissipated in this ballast resistance, which
with the aid of an evaporative cooler, can
operate for periods of up to 1h. The transformer
output can also be rectified for DC operation,
when the ballast resistance acts as a series
regulator and fine control is obtained from 500
A to 10 kA. For short periods, currents of up to
25 kA can be obtained.
A room adjoining the test bay houses the
controls and instruments. The latter monitor the
arc voltage, arc current, current in each of the
two balancing phases, arc power, total arc
energy consumed, the position of the electrode,
the arc voltage, current and power variations,
and the chamber temperatures.
Small-scale experiments are carried out
and techniques developed using a number of
experimental rigs in the physics laboratory,
which receive power from a battery producing
peak arc currents of 2 kA.
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Production furnaces
Observations have been made on 135 ton
capacity, 46 MVA SPEAR furnaces at Steel,
Peech and Tozer and on 80 ton capacity, 15
MVA furnaces at S. Fox & Co. Ltd. An 8 ton
capacity, 3 MVA production furnace at Steel,
Peech and Tozer has also recently been fully
instrumented to check some of the findings of
the laboratory under actual steelmaking
conditions.
NATURE AND APPEARANCE OF HIGH-
CURRENT ARCS
High-speed photographs heave been
taken of arcs produced in a wide range of
conditions, from up to 10000 A in the laboratory
to 50000 A, in a SPEAR furnace. The
appearance and nature of the arcs have been
correlated with the electrical parameters and
furnace conditions.
The motion of the arcs necessitated high-
speed photography, and a Fastax camera capable
of operating at 5000 frames/s has been used with
colour film so as more easily to distinguish the
arc from its surroundings and to resolve its
structure. As the intensity of the light emitted by
the arc varies greatly along its length and across
its diameter there is no single correct exposure
time. Rather the exposure time is selected for the
particular part of the arc under observation, and
to produce a wide range of exposures on a single
length of film, a series of neutral density filters
have been rotated continuously in front of the
camera lens. In a search for any inner structure
or the arcs, various wavelength-graded filters
have occasionally been used. The camera and
filters are protected from the steel particles
ejected from the chamber by a shutter to the
observation port, which is opened electrically for
only 1 s.
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A stroboscope is used for direct and continuous
observation of the arcs. This consists
essentially of two disks 2 ft in diameter
mounted 1in apart and rotating at
synchronous speed (1500 rev/min) in front
of one of the observation ports of the
chamber. Two slots in each disk allow light
from the arc to pass for 1 ms/revolution,
but the slower moving particles ejected
from the furnace are prevented from
passing. Thus the arc light is sampled once
in every current cycle, and by means of a
lens system images of the arcs are
projected on to a screen. By rotating the
body of the synchronous motor the point of
the electrical phase corresponding to the
image is varied. The stroboscope is clearly
visible in Fig. 1.
Arcs in 'cold' surroundings
DC arcs were produced in cold
surroundings at currents up to 2 kA between
graphite electrodes, the anode being a flat plate
and the cathode a rod mounted above it. The arc
resembled a water jet extending from the
cathode and spreading towards the anode. This
stable form of arc was not, however generally
produced above 400A 3, but it is used in the
following descriptions of other types of arc, and
to illustrate the terminology it is shown in Fig.4.
AC arcs up to 10 kA in the laboratory
were filmed immediately after they had been
struck. Both parts of the cycle exhibited the jet-
like appearance of the stable DC arcs with
"streamers" or “filaments” visible in the core. At
current zero the arc disappeared leaving a wisp
of luminous gas in the electrode/steel gap. Thus
the arcs grow and disappear with successive half
cycles of the current. Arcs of this type have been
observed in the SPEAR furnaces under cold
conditions at currents up to 50 kA.
Arcs in 'warm' conditions
After arcing in the laboratory for about
5-min, and when the surface of the steel block
was molten and the ambient temperature about
600°C, two quite strikingly different forms of
arc occur in the AC cycle. Plate 1a and b shows
pictures of these arcs on a 4in diameter arcing
tip.
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When the electrode is cathode the arc has
a rigid form similar to that described above and
consistent with the presence of a strong cathode
jet (Plate 1a). As the arc current varies through
this part of the cycle, the intensity of the cathode
jet varies and the root of the jet (the cathode
spot) moves about the tip of the electrode at a
speed of about 100 ft/s . Thus although the jet
maintains its rigidity its direction is continually
changing.
When the electrode is anode the arc has a
highly complex form, which the Fastax camera
is too slow to resolve and photographs as a
diffuse shape (Plate 1b). Occasionally,
particularly when the arc root appears to be on
molten slag, the arc resembles two interacting
jets, one from the slag and one from the
electrode.
At current zero, the arc again disappears
and a wisp of luminous gas is left floating in the
arc gap.
These forms of arc have been observed in
the 8 ton 3 MVA furnace.
Arcs in 'hot' surroundings
In the final refining stages on both the 8
ton furnace at Steel, Peech and Tozer and on the
80 ton furnace at S. Fox & Co. Ltd, i.e. when the
surroundings are at a temperature above 1500°C,
a diffuse arc of the same form as the DC stable
arc but without a well-defined core and some
three times broader than those previously
observed has been seen on both the electrode,
anode, and cathode half cycles. The movement
of the arc root over the electrode is much slower
(~ 3 ft/s) than previously measured, and on
occasions the arcs fluctuated from the jet-like to
the diffuse forms in a few seconds. Attempts to
produce these arcs at will in the laboratory have
so far failed, except in cases where the ionizing
potential of the atmosphere in the immediate
vicinity of the arc has been lowered by the
addition of various salts.
ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF
HIGH-CURRENT ARCS
Measurements have been made of the arc
currents and voltages under the same conditions
as those in which the photographs described
above were taken, and these parameters have
been correlated with the arcs' appearance.

In the laboratory AC experiments, long-

term variations in the electrical parameters are
obtained from a recorder and an oscilloscope is
used to obtain finer detail. The arc voltage is
obtained from a tapping at the base of the 9in
electrode, at the point at which the arcing tip is
attached. This is close enough to obtain the true
arc voltage (about 1 V correction is required) yet
sufficiently distant from the arc to prevent
damage by melting.
The arc current is measured either by a
water-cooled, low-inductance coaxial shunt of
10-4 ohm resistance which carries the arc current
or a small non-inductive shunt of 0.25 ohm
placed in the secondary of the current
transformer circuit.
The oscilloscope signals are
photographed, and this film and that from the
Fastax are correlated by an electronic timing
signal. Typical oscilloscope signals
corresponding to the 'cold', 'warm', and 'hot'
surroundings described above are shown in
Fig.5.
The large oscillations and open circuits,
exhibited by the oscillograms indicate the
instability of AC arcs in ‘cold’ surroundings.
The electrical characteristics of the AC
arcs produced in 'warm' conditions in the
laboratory reflect the stability of the electrode
cathode half cycles in that the arc voltage and
current are relatively free from oscillations and
generally sinusoidal in form. The instability of
the electrode anode half cycles is clearly shown,
with large oscillations on both the voltage and
current records, particularly the former.
Both the jet-like and diffuse form of arcs
occurring in this condition produce similar
electrical characteristics, with the voltage and
current waveforms almost sinusoidal.
CORRELATION OF THE APPEARANCE
AND THE ELECTRICAL PARAMETERS
From the photographs of the arcs and
their electrical parameters, the arc length, arc or
jet angle with the electrode axis, the diameter of
the electrode spots and the diameter of the
central core of the arc were determined as a
function of the geometry of the arcing system
and the electrical parameters. Only typical
results illustrating the correlation of the
appearance and electrical parameters arc
presented here. Figure 6 shows the changes in
arc diameter along the length of the arc, as the
current builds up in the cathode half cycle of a
5½-kA arc in ‘warm’ surroundings. In the widest
part of the column the current density is about 6
kA/in2 and at the electrode it is 25 kA/in 2. Figure
7 illustrates the electrode spot diameter, during a
cathode half cycle for a number of arcs. The
diameter is constantly changing in an attempt to
maintain a constant current density at the spot of
25 kA/in2. There is an observable time lag
resulting in the hysteresis effect clearly shown in
Fig.7.

To provide a link with the production

furnace, electrical measurements have been
taken in the 'hot' conditions of refining on the 8
ton Steel, Peech and Tozer furnace, the 80 ton
'A' furnace at S. Fox & Co. Ltd. and a SPEAR
Furnace.

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 to remove the peculiar whining or rotating
instability of DC arcs at currents above 400 A. It
From graphs of arc voltage v. true arc was found that although both hollow and cone-
length, Fig.8 was deduced for the cathode half ended electrodes had an aligning action on the
cycle of arcs in various conditions. The full lines rotation, only a particular geometry resembling a
show results from the laboratory and the dotted
line with the indicated spread results from the 3
MVA furnace for the hot condition. The
measurements relate to a position in the arc
about 1in from the electrode. Results for the
anode half cycle are somewhat different, but the
voltage gradients for all these cathode half cycle
arcs are similar except in cold conditions, when
the arc has more difficulty in re-establishing
itself after current zero.

Over the major part of the current cycle

the gradient is of the order of 25-30 V/in, which
leads to an equation useful in estimating the arc
gap

Vrms =50 V + 27 V/in

STABILITY AND MOVEMENT OF HIGH-

CURRENT ARCS
During the course of the experiments
described above, the importance of the geometry
of the electrode tip in determining the behaviour
of the arc became apparent. Accordingly the
effects of electrode geometry on arc movement
and instability have been studied.

Stability of DC arcs
Attempts were made with hollow and cone-
shaped electrodes

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 Stability of AC arcs
The conclusion from the DC experiments was
tested at high currents on AC, including
measurements on a SPEAR Furnace. Various
geometries were found, some of which are
shown in Fig.9, which have the effect of either
forcing the arc into the molten steel surface or in
the direction of the furnace wall.

Further tests showed that during melt-

down the size and geometry of the steel scrap
was a significant factor in the stability of the arc,
and

chamfered cone-end removed the instability

completely 3. A similar influence was found
during experiments to stabilize the arcs by
imposing gas flows. In this case, provided the
depression on the electrode tip was of a certain
critical dimension, dependent on the arc current
level, the arc could be stabilized 3. Both these
investigations indicated that it was the
distribution of the current in the electrode tip,
controlling the magnetic field in the region of
the arc, which was the main factor affecting
stability.

the more homogeneous and evenly distributed

the scrap, the more stable the arc.

Plate 1 c shows the result of arcing to the

end of a 10-ton ingot lying on a SPEAR furnace
hearth. The arc current was taken along the ingot
to a second electrode resting on the other edge.
The third electrode was an open circuit. The
current path was turned through 90° at the ingot
edge, and the arc was blown outwards towards
the furnace wall. On a flat bath the geometry of
the electrode predominantly influences the arc
behavior.

WEAR RATE OF GRAPHITE ELECTRODES

Electrode wear in DC arcs
Preliminary measurements of the wear
rate of a graphite electrode under DC anode and
cathode conditions showed that at currents up to
2000 A the ratio of the cathode to anode wear
rate was about 1:4, and this was substantiated by
a theoretical analysis of the energy balance at the
electrodes. It has also been shown that in DC
arcs the current density at the cathode spot was

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15.6 kA/in2 and independent of current. The
mean temperature of the cathode spot was
estimated to be 3950°C.
Electrode wear in AC arcs
Electrode wear has been measured in AC
arcs in the laboratory as a function of current,
voltage, and electrode diameter. Some of the
results are shown in Fig.10, from which it is
apparent that electrode tip losses increase as the
current is increased and as the tip diameter is
decreased. There is also a dependence on arc
voltage. A theoretical explanation of the results
in terms of energy pick-up at the electrode tip
predicts a critical dependence, on electrode
diameter.
Figure 10 also shows the relationships
between tip loss and current for DC arcs, which
indicate that when the electrode is cathode the
electrode wear rate is about half that when the
electrode is supporting an equivalent AC arc. In
terms of these results a DC power supply to an
arc furnace appears attractive.
In an attempt to eliminate electrode wear
a water-cooled metallic electrode, housing a
magnetic coil for driving the arc round the
electrode tip to prevent burn-out, has been built
and operated. This work is at present in
abeyance, however, as the system has serious
limitations at the power levels required in
practice.
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HEAT TRANSFER FROM AN ARC
A technique of measuring the radiation
emitted by an arc has just been developed in the
laboratory using 2 kA DC arcs in the electrode
system shown in Fig.4. So far total radiation
measurements from the arc have been made as a
function of the arc current and voltage. It has
been found that the radiation emitted by the arc
varies greatly along its length. Near the cathode
rod only about 10% of the power per unit length
of the arc is emitted as radiation, but in the broad
fully developed column this figure has risen to
35%. A 2in long 2-kA arc dissipating 200 kW
radiates about 18% of its power. Measurements
on arcs up to 10 kA are just beginning.
Experiments to determine the amount of
heat transferred directly from the arc to the steel
surface have been attempted. The method used is
illustrated in Fig.11. The steel billet was
weighed before and after arcing and the mass
lost in a given time interval determined. It was
found that the results were very dependent on the
geometry of the system. With a small billet the
arc tended to play over the surface, while with a
large steel billet the same arc bored into it. In the
first case about 25% of the arc power was
transferred directly to the steel, in the second
about 60% was transferred directly, the rest
being used to heat the electrode and the gases
ejected from the arc. Further experiments in a
system designed to eliminate the critical
geometry effects are in hand.
DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR
FURNACE DESIGN AND OPERATION
Obviously most of the work presented
has been carried out in order to accumulate
fundamental information concerning high-
current arcs and to provide a sound basis for
future research. It is, however, illuminating to
examine some of the conclusions in terms of the
mechanism occurring within the furnace.
Although the information obtained
regarding the nature and behavior of arcs under
different conditions and power levels will be
invaluable in future assessments of arc
performance, it is not of immediate practical
value. Of more direct importance is the
occurrence of two different types of arcs.
Although these have similar electrical
characteristics, their heat transfer characteristics
may be quite different. Until the conditions
necessary for the production of each type are
determined, it is not possible to assess these
differences or decide which is to be preferred in
practice. Obviously this is an important area of
study, towards which considerable effort is being
directed.
The electrical characteristics of an arc are
a measure of its properties, the bulk of which are
at present unknown, although they are required
to assess the efficiency of an arc in a furnace.
The form of the electrical records on an
individual cycle indicates the nature of the arc.
Such an indication is possible during meltdown,
where the shape of the oscillations on the arc
voltage gives a measure of the repeated short-
circuiting and extension of the arcs. If the
heating efficiency of the arcs could be accurately
measured then a direct correlation between the
electrical parameters and the heating efficiency
might be obtained and this would be of
assistance in furnace control. During refining,
where the diffuse and jet-like arcs produce
similar electrical characteristics with the voltage
and current waveforms almost sinusoidal, it does
not seem likely that such a correlation would be
possible.
If the normal value of 27 V/in for the arc
voltage gradient could be altered, for example,
by affecting slag basicity4 or by introducing
other materials or gases into the arc the heat
transfer characteristics of the arc or the
proportion of direct energy transfer to the steel
could be altered, presumably with improvement
in furnace performance.
It has been shown conclusively that the
movement and stability of high-current arcs are
determined by the direction in which the current
is conducted in the electrode and in the scrap if it
is present. This suggests that in refining the
lining life might be extended if the arc could be
made to burn on the inside of the electrode away
from the furnace walls. It is conceivable that the
current distribution in the electrode could be
controlled to produce this effect, for example, by
the use of hollow electrodes or electrodes with
multiple holes off the principal axis.
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On melt-down, scrap of as small
dimensions as possible, arranged uniformly in
the furnace, would produce the most stable
arcing conditions, and in this context
continuously fed directly reduced iron could
have a distinct advantage.
The measurements of relative wear rates
of the anode and cathode suggests that a DC
furnace with the electrode cathode could be a
useful alternative to an AC furnace. The main
results so far, however, are for relatively low
power arcs up to 10000 A. Much more
information is required on all aspects of arc
behaviour, particularly at higher power, before
any definite recommendations regarding this
feature of a DC power supply can be made.
The energy balance measurements and
analyses have shown that at 2000A the processes
occurring in a graphite electrode may be
described by conventional methods. This
suggests that the electrode wear rate may be
reduced by reducing the electrode fall voltage by
such means as the introduction of low ionization
materials into the electrode, changing the
atmospheric environment of the electrode, or by
slag control. The most recent experiments
suggest that the electrode wear rate is largely
determined by the energy pick-tip from the arc,
so that the task becomes one of reducing this
component, although any such reduction would
be reflected in the electrode fall voltage.
All these factors are probably interrelated
with the production of diffuse arcs, and a key to
the problem may be found in the understanding
of the production of these arcs.
The determination of the radiative
component in arc furnace heat transfer is of
overriding importance. Until it is measured
accurately as a function of arc voltage, current,
gap and arc form, it is not possible to define the
most suitable operating conditions for the
furnace. In the refining stages the conditions
necessary for minimum radiation seem to be
best, whereas in melt-down the opposite is true.
Whether such variations in arc properties can be
achieved by control parameters alone or whether
some fundamental change in arc form is
necessary must be determined.

CONCLUSIONS
From the work of the Arc Research
Laboratory to date the following general
conclusions may be drawn.
1. The general nature and behaviour of AC
arcs up to 40 MVA are now known, and the
general arcing conditions occurring in a
production furnace are reasonably well
understood.
2. The electrical character of the arcs
produced in the laboratory up to 1 MVA has
been determined and similar measurements made
on an 8 ton 3 MVA production furnace.
3. Preliminary measurements have been
made of the heat transfer rate to steel billets,
electrode wear rates, and arc radiation as a
function of arc parameters, and indications are
being obtained of the most efficient arcing
condition, although it is clear that much remains
to be done.
4. The movement of an arc across the face
of the graphite electrode is known to be
determined by the current distribution in the
electrode, which itself depends upon the
electrode geometry. An arc can, therefore, be
influenced by the electrode geometry or by the
distribution and size of the scrap, and, in turn,
this may influence refractory wear during melt-
down in production furnaces.
5. Two different forms of arc are present in
production furnaces operating at high power,
depending upon the conditions present. The most
efficient form has not yet been determined, nor
has means of producing the different forms at
will.
6. The importance of arc radiation as the
mechanism of heat transfer from an arc has been
emphasised. It is possible, however, that the heat
content of the flame produced around the arc and
ejected in the direction of the arc are of equal
importance, particularly with regard to refractory
wear.
7. The electrode wear rate has been
tentatively correlated with the intensity of the
energy incident on the electrode tip. The wear
rate of a graphite electrode when operating as a
cathode in the DC arc is about 50% of that in an
AC arc and stability is greatly improved. This
suggests that in these respects a DC production
furnace would have attractions over AC.
However, a great deal more information is
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required on the properties of DC arcs before any
definite conclusions of practical value can be
reached.
8. More knowledge and correlation of
production furnace practice with arc properties is
required. In the immediate future a number of
trials on a specially instrumented 8 ton 3 MVA
Steel, Peech and Tozer arc furnace are to be
made to achieve this aim.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors wish to thank Dr F. H.
Saniter, O.B.E., Director of Research, Midland
Group, British Steel Corporation, for permission
to publish this paper. H. Darnell, General
Manager, Planning and Development, Midland
Group, and Professor H. Edels, Department of
Electrical Engineering and Electronics of the
University of Liverpool, are thanked for their
enthusiastic help and technical advice. Some of
the work presented has been carried out by R.
W. Montgomery, C. M. H. Sharp, and D.
Wakelam and is to be reported separately in
greater detail. Finally, the authors wish to thank
the many members of the Fuel and Furnace
Research Section at Swinden laboratories for
their help in the design and constitution of the
equipment.
REFERENCES
1. H. DARNELL, and G. D. JORDAN in
'Steelmaking in the basic furnace, ISI
Spec.Rep.87,12.1964.
2. R.S.. HOWES: JISI, 1968,206,205-218,
3. R. W. MONTGOMERY and C.M.H.
SHARP: To be published
4. V. E. PIROZHINKOV: Stal in English.
1967, March, 222-224.