UTILIZATION OF

ELECTRIC POWER
MODULE 02 : ELECTRIC HEATING
LEC 03: ARC HEATING, ARC FURNACE, INDUCTION HEATING, INDUCTION
FURNACES
Arc heating- arc furnaces
• On the application of high voltage across an air gap, the air in the gap gets ionized under
the influence of electrostatic forces and becomes conducting medium.
• Current flow in the form of a continuous spark is called the arc
• When electrodes are made of carbon/graphite, the temperature obtained is in the range of
3000oC – 3500oC
• The high voltage required for striking an arc can be obtained by using a step-up transformer
fed from a variable A.C. supply
• An arc can also be obtained by using low voltage across two electrodes initially in contact
with each other. The low voltage required for this purpose can be obtained by using a step-
down transformer. Initially, the low voltage is applied, when the two electrodes are in
contact with each other. Further when the two electrodes are gradually separated from
each other, an arc is established between the two. The electric arc furnaces make use of
this principle.
• The arc furnaces are usually of two shapes-
• Cylindrical shape
• Conical shape
• The conical shape entails the following advantages:
• Large surface area per unit bath volume
• Consumes less power
• Reduced melting time
• Reduced radiation losses
Electrodes used in arc furnaces
• Carbon electrodes- used with small furnaces for manufacturing of
ferro-alloys, aluminium, calcium carbide, phosphorus etc.
• Graphite electrodes – obtained by heating carbon electrodes to a very
high temperature. Graphite has lower resistivity so its size is half for
the same current as compared to carbon electrodes
• Self-baking electrodes- these are used in ferro-alloys and electro-
chemical furnaces and in electrolytic production of aluminium
Types of arc furnaces
• Direct arc furnace
• Indirect arc furnace
• Submerged arc furnace
NOTE- Refer notes or book chapter for detailed analysis of these
furnaces
Power supply and control of arc
furnaces:
• Power supply of arc furnaces are low voltage, high current due to
following reasons-
• As the heating effect is proportional to the square of the current, therefor,
to achieve higher temperature heavy currents are essential
• From view point of insulation and safety considerations the maximum
secondary voltage is also limited to 275 V(line to line open circuit voltage)
• Owing to the use of low voltage and high current the electrodes are kept
very near to the charge as the arc is of small length. Thus arc remains
away from the roof and , therefore , life of the roof refractory is increased
• Note – solve examples 2.4, 2.5, 2.6 in the book chapter provided
Induction heating
• Makes use of currents induced by the electro-magnetic action in the
charge to be heated.
• The primary winding which is supplied from an A.C. source is
magnetically coupled to the charge which act as a short-circuited
secondary of a single turn.
• If V is the voltage induced in the charge and R is the resistance of the
charge, then heat produced = V2/R
Types of induction furnaces:
• Core type or low frequency induction furnace- i) direct core type ii)
vertical core type iii) indirect core type
• Coreless type or high frequency induction furnace
NOTE- REFER BOOK CHAPTER FOR DETAILED ANALYSIS OF ABOVE
MENTIONED FURNACES