Abstract
A novel direct-current electric arc furnace (DC-EAF) was designed and constructed in this study for experimentally investigating high-titanium slag smelting, with an emphasis on addressing the issues of incomplete separation of metal and slag as well as poor insulation effects. The mechanical components (crucible, electrode, furnace lining, etc.) were designed and developed, and an embedded crucible design was adopted to promote metal-slag separation. The lining and bottom thicknesses of the furnace were determined via calculation using the heat balance equations, which improved the thermal insulation. To monitor the DC-EAF electrical parameters, suitable software was developed. For evaluating the performance of the furnace, a series of tests were run to determine the optimal coke addition under the conditions of constant temperature (1607 °C) and melting time (90 min). The results demonstrated that for 12 kg of titanium-containing metallized pellets, 4% coke was the most effective for enrichment of TiO2 in the high-titanium slag, with the TiO2 content reaching 93.34%. Moreover, the DC-EAF met the design requirements pertaining to lining thickness and facilitated metal-slag separation, showing satisfactory performance during experiments.
Highlights
The basic ideas of the electrical design are described including the relevant electrical design specifications and safe operation characteristics, by referring to the mechanical and electrical properties of the products, which are used to design the hardware of the direct-current electric arc furnace (DC-Electric arc furnace (EAF)) [23]
DC-EAF, titanium-containing taining metallized pellets were used for melting test verification
The development of EAF over the years was reviewed and analyzed, whereby it was demonstrated that the existing EAFs should be improved via mitigation of their drawbacks and redesigned through experimentation in universities and research institutes
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Electric arc furnace (EAF) smelting generates an electric arc between the graphite electrode and the metal in the furnace, and it employs the thermal effect of the electric arc for heating and melting the metal to produce high-quality products [1,2]. In China, only large capacity industrial EAFs (over 30 t) have been retained to accelerate capacity replacement and reduce production costs since 2016 [3].
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