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Contents

➢ Fuels:
Classification of fuels; Solid, Liquid and Gaseous, Natural and Synthetic liquid fuels, their
advantages and disadvantages, Principles of combustion, calorific value, speed and combustion,
requirements of air or oxygen, properties or flames, combustion problems. Non-conventional
energy.
➢ Furnaces:
Classification based on heating methods and Refractories used, Basic principles of fuel fired
resistance, induction and arc furnaces; furnaces lining. Furnace atmospheres, furnace efficiency,
typical examples in foundry and forge industries. Environmental pollution: air, water soil and
noise, effect of pollution on human, pollution control measures.
➢ Refractories:
Classification of Refractories, their manufacture, properties and uses in foundry and forge
industries.
Course Content
Furnace - Basic Features
Furnace - Basic Features
Methods of Furnace Classification

Energy source
Furnace temperature and operation
Furnace shape
Mode of heat transfer in the furnace
Location of heating system
Working pressure in the furnace
Methods of Furnace Classification
Energy source

(a) Coal-based furnaces : Boiler house furnace, cement kilns, sponge iron kilns, etc.

(b) Oil-based furnaces : Reheating furnaces, heat treatment furnaces, metal melting furnaces, calcination kilns, etc.

(c) Gas-based furnaces : Coke ovens, soaking pits, reheating furnaces, calcination plants, etc.

(d) Electricity-based furnaces : Resistance heat treatment furnaces, induction heating, induction melting furnace, electric
arc furnace, plasma arc furnace, etc.

(e) Chemical energy-based furnaces :

Pneumatic furnaces (Bessemer Converter, LD converter, etc.) – C, Si, Mg in Pig Iron reaction with Oxygen
Hearth roaster and Flash smelting furnaces.
Basic Components of Furnace

Furnace enclosure or chamber

Heat generating device

Gas movement system

Waste heat recovery

Factors Responsible for Selection of Furnace

(a)Environmental laws
(b)Energy availability and cost
(c)Furnace cost and maintenance cost
(d)Thermal efficiency
(e)Product quality and contamination
(f) Floor space requirement
(g)Cooling water requirement
(h)Furnace instrumentation and accessories
FURNACES FOR CASTING
Furnaces for casting
A cupola furnace

• A cupola or cupola furnace is a melting device

• used to melt scrap metals, pig iron and some bronzes. The cupola can be made
almost any practical size.

• (crude iron as first obtained from a furnace) for production of various cast irons
and malleable cast iron.

• Cupola furnace consists of a large shell of steel plate lined with refractory
material.
Construction of copula furnace

• Shell:
• Foundation:
• Tuyeres:
• Wind box:
• Blower:
• Slag Hole:
• Tap Hole (Molten Metal Hole):
• Charging Door:
• Chimney/stack
Operation of Cupola Furnace:

• (i) Preparation of Cupola:

• A newly built cupola should be thoroughly dried before firing.
• Any slag around the tuyeres from previous run are cleaned.
• Any broken bricks are repaired with a mixture of silica sand and
fire clay
• A slag hole opening of about 30 to 35 mm diameter and a tap
hole of about 25 mm diameter is provided
Operation of Cupola Furnace:

• (ii) Firing of Cupola:

• A fire of wood is ignited on the sand bottom.
• coke is dumped on the bed well from top. Make sure that the coke
begins to burn too.
• A bed of coke about 40 inches thick, slightly above the tuyeres.
• The air blast is turned on at a lower blowing rate than normal for
igniting the coke
Operation of Cupola Furnace:

• (iii) Charging the Cupola:

• Next, the charge is fed into the cupola through the charging door.
• Coke fuel, limestone flux, metal.
Operation of Cupola Furnace:

• (iv) Soaking of Iron:

• After charging the furnace fully, it is allowed to remain as such for
about 1—1.5 hr. During this stage charge slowly gets heated up
because the air blast is kept shut this time and due to this the iron
gets soaked.
Operation of Cupola Furnace:

• (v) Starting the Air Blast:

• The air blast is opened at the end of the soaking period. The top
opening is kept closed till the metal melts and sufficient metal is
collected. As melting proceeds, the contents of the charge move
gradually downwards. The rate of charging must be equal to the rate
of melting so that the furnace is kept full throughout the heat.
Operation of Cupola Furnace:

CHEMICAL REACTIONS
• Combustion
C(coke) + 02 (from air) -> C02 + Heat
Si+ o2 - sio2 +heat
2Mn + o2 - 2Mno
• Reducing zone
C02 + C2 -» CO – Heat
• Melting zone
3 Fe + 2 CO -» Fe3C + C02
Operation of Cupola Furnace:

• (vi) Closing the Cupola:

• When no more melting is required, the feeding of charge and air blast
is stopped.
Zones of Cupola
Furnace
Zones of Cupola Furnace
• The cupola furnace is divided in a number of zones where a
number of chemical reactions take place.
• The following are the six important zones
Zones of Cupola Furnace

(i) Well or Crucible Zone

• It is the zone between sand bed and the tuyers. Molten metal
collected in this zone.
Zones of Cupola Furnace

(ii) Combustion Zone

• It is the zone between the tuyers and a theoretical level above it.
• Here, the combustion actually done, consuming all the oxygen
from the air blast and generates huge amount of heat. The
temperature range for this zone is about 1500°C to 1850°C.
Zones of Cupola Furnace`

(iii) Reducing Zone

• It is the zone between the top of the combustion zone and the top
level of the coke bed.
• The Co2 flowing upward through this zone reacts with hot coke and
Co, is reduced to Co. Due to this reaction, the temperature gets
reduced to about 1200°C.
Zones of Cupola Furnace

(iv) Melting Zone

• It is the zone between the first layer of metal charge and above the
reducing zone. The solid metal charge changes to molten state picks
up sufficient carbon in this zone. The temperature attainable in this
zone is in the range of 1600°C to 1700°C.
Zones of Cupola Furnace

(v) Preheating Zone

• It is the zone from above the melting zone to the bottom level of the
charging door. Charging materials are fed in this zone. It is also known
as charging zone.
Zones of Cupola Furnace

(vi) Stack Zone

• It is the empty portion of this furnace, which extends from above the
charging zone to the top of the furnace. It carries the hot gases
generated within the furnace to the atmosphere.
Advantages of Cupola Furnace

• It is simple in construction and operation.

• Low cast of construction, operation and maintenance.
• It does not require very skilled operators.
• It requires small floor area as compared to other furnaces.
• Composition of melt can be controlled.
Limitations of Cupola Furnace

• Temperature control is difficult to maintain.

• Carbon content increases in the iron product due to the
heating of coke together with metal.
Uses
• A cupola or cupola furnace is a melting device used in foundries that
can be used to melt cast iron and some bronzes. The cupola can be
made almost any practical size
Direct Fuel Fired Furnace
Construction:

The Hot Air Generator is solid fuel fired medium air temperature hot
air generator, which is very compact in construction of VERTICAL
design, with External bottom furnace.

The main body of the Generator is of sturdy Construction made out

of heavy gauge steel and Structure. The body is painted with epoxy
paint to combat corrosive industrial atmosphere.
Salient Features:

1. Clean, Uncontaminated Hot Air available Economically.

2. Hot Air available at temperature up to 1700 C.
3. Multiple passes on air side ensure high thermal efficiency.
4. Lowest operating costs, compared to Electricity, Steam & thermic
oil heating.
5. Vertical design, requires very low floor space.
6. Low motive power requirements.
Direct fired heaters

• Direct fired heaters are similar to a gas barbecue grill or your gas
stove top. With propane or natural gas heating, units force air
directly through the flame to heat the air.
Benefits to using direct fired heaters include:

1. Efficiency – Direct fired heaters convert 100% of the fuel being

used to direct heat which lowers fuel consumption and operating
Costs
2. Easy to Transport – Direct fired heaters are fairly simple pieces of
equipment that can be moved to where heat is needed
3. Some units do not require electricity
4. Lower rental costs – Direct Fired Heaters are less expensive
5. Lower Maintenance Costs – Easier to maintain
Some drawbacks to using direct fired heaters are:

1. Adds moisture and carbon monoxide into the air.

2. Low Operation Cost
3. The rising prices of the fuel oil have made the use of oil as a
heating medium prohibitively costly. In these times of highly
competitive markets, it has become necessary to look at the other
fuel options available.
Trouble free Operation:

The Unit is of Sturdy construction and also there are very few
moving parts; this ensures long life & trouble free operation of
the unit.
Induction furnace
What is induction furnace?

• Induction Furnace
• An induction furnace is an electrical furnace in which
the heat is applied by induction heating of metal.
• Induction furnace capacities range from less than one
kilogram to one hundred tonnes capacity and are used to
melt iron and steel, copper, aluminium and precious metals.
Construction

• An induction furnace consists of a nonconductive crucible holding

the charge of metal to be melted, surrounded by a coil of copper
wire.
• A powerful alternating current flows through the wire. The coil
creates a rapidly reversing magnetic field that penetrates the metal.
The magnetic field induces eddy currents, circular electric currents,
inside the metal, by electromagnetic induction. The eddy currents,
flowing through the electrical resistance of the bulk metal, heat it
by Joule heating.
Principle
• The principle of induction heating is based on the following two
laws:
• 1. Electromagnetic induction
• 2. The joule effect (the heating that occurs when an electric
current flows through a resistance.)
• The principle of induction melting is that a high voltage electrical
source from a primary coil induces a low voltage, high current in
the metal or secondary coil. Induction heating is simply a method
of transferring heat energy.
Important points

• The inductor is usually made of copper in order to limit the electric losses.
• In this furnace type, the charge is melted by heat generated from an
electric arc.
• The coil carries the high frequency current of 500 to 2000 Hz.
Advantages

• · Induction furnace does not need electrodes like electric arc furnace.
• · Better control of temperature
• · Better control of composition of the melt
Disadvantages

• Disadvantages:
• · An induction installation usually implies a big investment that must be
considered and compared to alternative heating techniques.
• · Induction heating is preferably used for heating relatively simple shapes.
Types of induction furnaces

• Coreless induction furnaces

• The heart of the coreless induction furnace is the coil, which
consists of a hollow section of heavy duty, high conductivity
copper tubing which is wound into a helical coil.
• To protect it from overheating, the coil is water-cooled, the water
bing recirculated and cooled in a cooling tower.
Types of induction furnaces

• Channel induction furnaces

• The channel induction furnace consists of a refractory
lined steel shell which contains the molten metal.
Attached to the steel shell and connected by a throat is
an induction unit which forms the melting component of
the furnace. The induction unit consists of an iron core in
the form of a ring around which a primary induction coil
is wound.
Foundry Pot Furnace

• coke based small scale furnace

• for melting non-ferrous metals and alloys which melt below
600–700 °C .
• Aluminium, aluminium base alloys, tin, lead, cadmium and low
melting alloys
• melted on small scale in cast iron pot heated by burning coke
• melt is poured out by using spoon or pot tilting arrangement.
Resistance heating furnaces

main components of the furnace include

(i) a refractory lined chamber encased in steel box fitted with
door,
(ii) heating elements
(iii) Power control system and
(iv) Power supply system.

Oven v/s Resistance

Furnace
Electric Arc
Furnace
Introduction:

• Electric Arc Furnace is a furnace that heats the charged

material by mean of an electric arc.
• Arc Furnace range in size from small units of approximately
one ton capacity up to 400 tons.
• Industrial arc furnace can be heat up to 1800°C, while
laboratory units can exceed 3,000 °C
Construction:

• The furnace consists of a spherical hearth (bottom),

cylindrical shell and a swinging water-cooled dome-
shaped roof.
• The roof has three holes for consumable graphite
electrodes held by a clamping mechanism.
• This mechanism provides independent lifting and
lowering of each electrode
Operation:
The electric arc furnace operates as a batch melting process.

• Furnace Charging
• Melting
• Tapping
• Furnace turn-around
Melting:
• The melting period is a heart of Electric arc furnace. The EAF
has evolved into a highly efficient melting apparatus and
modern design are focused on maximizing is accomplished
by supplying energy to the furnace interior. This energy can
be electrical or chemical.

• Electrical energy is supplied via graphite electrodes and is

usually the largest contributor in melting operations. Initially,
an intermediate voltage tap is selected until the electrodes
bore into the scrap. usually light scrap is placed on top of the
charge to accelerate bore-in. approximately 15% of scrap is
melted during the initial bore-in period.
• Heat is transferred to charge material by flame radiation
and convection by the hot products of combustion. Heat
is transferred within the charged material by conduction.

• Large pieces of scrap take longer time to melt into the

bath than smaller pieces. In some operations oxygen is
injected via a consumable pipe lance to “cut” the charged
material and burns iron to produce intense heat.
• This oxygen will react with several components in the
bath including, aluminum , silicon , manganese ,
phosphorous , carbon , and iron all these reactions are
exothermic.
Advantage:
• Electric arc furnace can be used as heat treatment furnace.
• It can be used for melting.
• EAF is used for production of steel making by pig iron
• Electric arc furnace provides flexibility, EAFs can be rapidly
started and stopped.
• This greatly reduces the energy required to make steel when
compared with primary steelmaking from ores
• Another benefit is flexibility: while blast furnaces cannot vary
their production by much and can remain in operation for
years at a time
Disadvantages:
• A lot of electricity consumption.
• Slag production
• Cooling water demand
• Heavy truck traffic for scrap, materials handling, and product
• Environmental effects of electricity generation