Electric arc Furnace [Detailed Review]

The first and possibly the most essential decision you will need to make when purchasing a new furnace is choosing what type of fuel source your new furnace will use.

For most people, this will determine to choose between gas furnaces and electric furnaces. While there are also many other alternatives from which you can choose. 

But more than 90% of all residential furnaces will make use of one of these two fuel sources. Arc furnace is best for you to use.

An arc furnace is a furnace that charges heat by using an electric arc that’s why they are also called electric arc furnace. Arc furnaces slightly differ from induction furnaces in that the charge material is directly exposed to an electric arc and the current in the furnace terminals passes through the charged material.

An arc furnace is heated up to 1800°C by the electricity that is produced through electrodes. An electric arc furnace is used for high-melting-point metals such as iron and steel. This technique is mainly used in a mini-mill where trash steel obtained from used automobiles and other products is recycled.

Arc furnaces are further divided into two types:

Direct Arc furnace:

Direct arc furnaces also are known as DC arc furnaces are very common for the melting of alloy steels. The furnace usually consists of a cylindrical steel case that is lined with acid or basic refractories. The roof which can normally swing away to facilitate charging commonly contains three carbon electrodes operating on a high tension three-phase power supply. 

Indirect arc furnaces

An indirect arc furnace is usually known as an AC arc furnace.

Generally, consist of a horizontal barrel shape steel shell lined with refractories. Melting is caused by the arcing between two horizontally opposed carbon electrodes. 

Heating is via radiation from the arc to the charge. The barrel-shaped shell is designed to rotate and reverse through approximately 180°C in order to withdraw unnecessary heating of the refractories above the melt level and to increase the melting efficiency of the unit.

These pros and cons will help find out that arc furnace is best to buy in 2020.

The Advantages of Buying an Electric arc Furnace:

Arc furnaces provide a large number of advantages to the people who are using it let’s have a look at some of its important advantages.

Require less maintenance:

Electric furnaces require far less maintenance as compared to other furnaces. This makes them the ideal choice for the people because they simply do not have much time to maintain their heating systems regularly. 

This will also reduce the rate of furnace repairs in the event that the required maintenance does go neglected for any period of time.

Doesn’t contain any dangerous emissions:

An electric furnace does not contain any dangerous emissions that could possibly very harmful to you or your close ones. This is because most dangerous emitting energies such as carbon monoxide which are mostly produced by the home heating process are the result of a leak in the fuel combustion chamber.

Since arc furnaces do not need this type of chamber in order to heat your home, the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning due to a leak is absolutely nonexistent with this type of furnace. Which would be good for your health.

Process control improvements:

Less expensive furnace:

Electric furnaces are one of the least expensive furnaces to acquire. Additionally, since these furnaces do not make use of fuel combustion, these furnaces are also one of the least expensive furnaces to place

This makes them the ideal choice for people who are looking to replace their old furnace but must do so on a very fixed budget.

Can be used in Steelmaking industries:

In industry, electric arc furnaces are utilized in steelmaking from thrash metal. The energy used is much less than from primary steelmaking from ores. While blast furnaces must remain in operation for up to years at a time, electric arc furnaces can be turned on and off according to demand. That’s great!

Less polluting:

Electric arc furnaces are pollution-free and have exceptional metallurgical control. Because it doesn’t have any dangerous gas to emit and also very safe for human health. So they are very less polluting as compared to other furnaces.

These are some of the benefits of arc furnace but with these huge benefits there also some disadvantages of this furnace lets’ see.

Disadvantages of arc furnace:

Repairing is more expensive:

An electric furnace may be more expensive to repair than a gas furnace. While these furnaces do not require repairs as often as other furnace models when repairs are necessary they are often quite expensive. This is because the repair contractor who performs those repairs will need to have an electrician’s license in addition to their HVAC certification. This is the only way in which repairs can be safely performed on these appliances.

Not efficient for large areas:

 Electric furnaces are not very energy efficient at heating large spaces. This means that this option may not be available to you if you own a large home or office. In fact, people who try and utilize this appliance in a large space often find that they are unable to achieve a reasonable temperature in many areas of their house due to low air pressure in their vents.

 In order to achieve the desired temperature, people often have to set the thermostat much higher than the temperature they would actually like to achieve. In most cases, this simply means that you will be paying twice as much in order to achieve the same temperature as you would with a more powerful heating system.

Low heating speed:

In the arc furnace, the heat of the arc after the material is cleared must be transferred to the molten steel through the slag, which is indirect heating. Thermal efficiency is poor. 

The furnace is in the shape of a basin, and plenty of the heat of the arc is lost through the furnace cover and the furnace wall.

Slag production:

The electric arc furnace produces slag.

Now have a look at what is actually slag is?

Slag is the glass-like by-product left over after a desired metal has been separated (i.e., smelted) from its raw ore. 

Slag is usually a mixture of metal oxides and silicon dioxide. However, slags can contain metal sulfides and elemental metals. 

While slags are generally used to eliminate waste in metal smelting, they can also serve other purposes, such as helping in the temperature control of the smelting, and minimizing any re-oxidation of the final liquid metal product before the molten metal is removed from the furnace and used to make solid metal. 

In some smelting processes, such as ilmenite smelting to produce titanium dioxide, the slag is a valuable product instead of the metal.

So, When we use arc furnaces for steel making process it’s leftover more amount of slag as compared to other furnaces.

Arc furnaces are a great choice to be your next furnace it has lots of advatages but with benefits, there are always some disadvantages by which we have to precaution our selves.

So, i guess its a better choice for you because it has lots of features and advantages compared to other furnaces.