What is a Melting Furnace and How Does It Work?
Melting furnaces are heating systems that play an important role in industry. Used for melting solid materials such as metals, glass, ceramics and similar solid materials, these furnaces allow materials to be melted under high temperature and pressure. Melting furnaces are usually large-sized and highly efficient systems and are used in many different industries. But how do melting furnaces work? In this blog post, we will explore the working principles, types and industrial applications of melting furnaces.
What is a Melting Furnace?
In general auxiliary equipment melting furnaces are used to heat solid materials until they melt. Often, thermal processing equipment is required to change the surface or intrinsic properties of materials by gradually increasing the heat. In the case of metals, this usually increases malleability while reducing durability and strength. In order to melt materials at the desired temperature, an industrial furnace may be needed that can generate and maintain the required temperatures, not too high or too low.
In contrast, melting furnaces produce extremely high temperatures that exceed the melting points of metals, causing a collapse of their physical structure and melting. This phase change depends on temperature and pressure. Only a few elements, such as mercury (Hg) and well-known euthetics such as gallium (Ga-)-based alloys, can exist in the liquid state at ambient temperatures.
How Does a Melting Furnace Work?
Solid materials are superheated in melting furnaces or melting furnaces until they melt. Heat treatment machines are often used to change the temperature of materials by gradually increasing their surface or internal properties. In the case of metals, this often reduces hardness and durability, while increasing ductility. This requires the use of an industrial furnace capable of producing temperatures below the melting point of the material.
In contrast, a melting furnace produces superheated temperatures that are higher than the melting point of the metal, causing the physical structure of the metal to break down, leading to melting. Temperature and pressure are the only two factors that can influence this phase transition.
The only metals that can exist in liquid form at room temperature are the well-known eutectics such as mercury (Hg) and gallium (Ga) based alloys.
To produce a homogeneous liquid mixture, the melting furnace must be able to produce the required temperatures for a long period of time. There are various melting furnace architectures that can accomplish this. In this blog post, Erapress will talk about some of the most common types of melting furnaces currently available on the market.
3 Basic Melting Furnace Types
Induction Oven
These melting furnaces, as their name suggests, use induction technology in combination with alternating electric currents to apply the necessary heat to melt the element or alloy. Compared to other types of melting furnaces, the induction furnace for melting metals makes the process energy efficient. Cast iron or brass is melted by many international metal producers using an induction furnace instead of a cup. Melting many different metals such as steel, iron, aluminum and copper is also a major use of induction furnaces.
Open Hearth Furnace
Companies melt small quantities of non-ferrous metals using a furnace. Heat is generated by atomizing heavy oil or using natural gas, which facilitates the melting of metals. The open-hearth method is used to increase the internal temperature of metallurgical furnaces, utilizing waste heat or additional heat discharged from the furnace. The hearth furnace serves as an oxygen-based furnace or electric arc furnace in production applications.
Cube Oven
One of the largest melting furnaces for shaping is the cube furnace, which has a long and cylindrical structure. The inner structure of the cube is lined with clay, bricks or blocks to protect it from the more dangerous levels of radiation, corrosion and even oxidation inside the furnace. Metalworkers build up layers of ferroalloys, coke and limestone in the furnace to melt the metal. As a result of the reaction between the sedimentary rock used as sedimentary rock in the furnace and the metal, contaminants in the boiler move to the surface of the smelting metal.
