10/6/2022

Electric Arc Furnace

AND
Design Calculation

By
Prof. Hemant N Panchal
FTE, MSUB

CONTENT
• Basic Principle
• Types
• Furnace Construction
• Metallurgical Significance (advantages)
• Design calcultion

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Basic Principles
• Today, 32% (240×106 t/a) of the total world steel
is produced in electric arc furnaces, this is their
principal application (→Steel).
• An electric arc can be produced and sustained
between two electrodes or an electrode and a
liquid melt if the voltage is high enough. The
transformation of electric energy to heat takes
place through the current in the ionized plasma
of the arc, in which the temperatures may reach
6000 ⁰C.

TYPES
• Electric arc furnaces may be
classified according to whether
transfer of heat from the arc to the
furnace feed is indirect or direct.
In indirectly heated furnaces (Fig.
A), the arc burns between two
electrodes without contact with
the feed; heat is transferred solely
by radiation and convection.

• This technique was employed in

single-phase rotary furnaces,
which are, however, no longer in
use because they are not
economical. In directly heated
furnaces an arc burns between the
electrode and the melt.

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TYPES

Directly (A) and indirectly (B) heated arc furnaces

TYPES

One-electrode
furnaces

Three-electrode
furnaces

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Furnace Construction
• One-electrode furnaces usually operate in the
DC mode with the electrode forming the
cathode and the bottom of the furnace
forming the anode
• Three-electrode furnaces are mostly AC
furnaces. The electrodes (a) are switched into
a three-phase circuit and are usually placed on
the vertices of an equilateral triangle in a
round furnace.

Video

Typical three-electode arc

furnace with watercooled
walls and roof, and eccentric
bottom tapping for steel
production.

a) Electrodes;
b) Water-cooled walls and
roof;
c) Tiltable furnace;
d) Refractory lining;
e) Tilting mechanism;
f) Spout;
g) Eccentric tapping;
h) Ladle

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Furnace Construction
• Most furnaces are equipped with removable
roofs in order to charge via baskets from the
top. The charging of sponge iron, for example,
takes place batch wise in baskets or
continuously through tube feeding systems.
• The required atmosphere can be provided
inside the furnace which can be tilted during
tapping.

Furnace Construction
• Dolomite and magnesite are the refractories
mostly used for lining the lower walls and the
bottom of the steel shell of the arc furnaces.
• The upper walls and the roof of the furnaces are
water-cooled to provide good resistance against
high temperature and temperature changes. The
high temperature obtained in arc furnaces allows
high production capacities. When scrap is melted
down, crater-type holes are burnt into the scrap
which protect the furnace roof and walls from
overheating.

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Furnace Construction
• Modern furnaces may be tilted only 12
degree during slagging off operations, steel
tapping is done by eccentric bottom tapping.
• Sometimes the mixing in the furnace is
improved by an induction stirring coil
underneath the furnace or by bubbling gas
through a porous plug.

Metallurgical Significance
• The advantages of electric arc furnaces are listed below:
1. High temperatures can be reached within a short time
2. Continuous temperature adjustment is possible via computer
control systems which control the level of the arc
3. The atmosphere in the furnace can be tightly Controlled
4. In contrast to conventionally heated furnaces, impurities are not
brought into the steel by the energy input (e.g., sulfur by coke)
5. The furnace can easily be brought on- or offline with relatively
little energy and time, furnace operation may be controlled to
meet the production requirements of the cast shops and mills.
6. Oxidation, reduction, and alloying can be carried out in one charge
with little loss
7. Desulfurization is possible

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Design Calculation

Hr

H1

100 mm
d1 h2
H
h1

D
Dh

Dsh

Design Calculation
Calculate the dimension of the bath of ELECTRIC ARC
FURNACE which can accumulate 100 tonnes of the
molten low alloy steel.

1 T = 0.145 m3 = Vm

So, 100 T = 14.5 m3 = Vm

Minimum volume of the slag is 15% i.e. 2.175 m3.

So, TOTAL volume = metal + slag = 14.5 + 2.175 = 16.67 m3

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Design Calculation
h1 = 0.2 H and h2 = 0.8 H

TOTAL volume of the bath = volume of truncated segment

(Vb) + volume of spherical segment

Vb = 0.0968 m3
If, Vb = 17.4 m3, d should be 5643.6 mm
D = 5H So, H = 5643.6/5 = 1128 mm

h1 = 0.2 H = 228 mm
h2 = 0.8 H = 903 mm

Design Calculation
d = D – 2h2 = 5643.6 – 2(903) = 3837.24 mm

Db = D + 200 = 5643.6 + 200 = 5843.6 mm

H1 = 0.4 – 0.6Db = 2337.44 mm

Hr = 0.15 d1, where d1 = 1000 + Db = 6843.6 mm

So, Hr = 0.15(6843.6) = 1020.54 mm

TOTAL height of the roof above the bath level is,

H2 = 2337.44 + 1026.54 = 3363.98 mm

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Design Calculation
Roof thickness:
230 mm upto 20 T capacity
300 mm upto 20-40 T capacity
380 – 460 mm for >40 T capacity

Lining thickness:
48 – 500 mm for 10 – 50 T capacity
550 – 650 mm for 100 – 200 T capacity

Shell thickness:
5 mm to 10 mm.

References
• Metallurgical Furnaces, by V. Krivanchiv and B. Markov
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKxmB32qpqE&ab_channel=Behrouz
Paidar
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBicwBvQEC0&ab_channel=TheFines
tHoursCh.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL-
Orx3ZSE4&ab_channel=TheFinestHoursCh.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKQ2GaXFI3w&ab_channel=FluidMe
diaStudios

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Thank You

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