Design and prototype development of a mini-electric arc furnace

Abstract

Electric arc furnaces (EAF) have the capabilities required for furnaces used for metallurgical research. An electric arc furnace was designed and constructed to melt approximately 5kg of steel/cast iron scraps, using locally produced Soderberg electrodes. Tests carried out showed that it required about 60 minutes to heat up the furnace to the melting temperature of cast Iron (1150C - 1400C). It took about 95 minutes to melt the first charge of 2kg resulting in a melting rate of 21.05g/minute. The average electrode consumption rate was 0.0467cm/minute. A transformer efficiency of about 83% was also achieved.