Design of Submerged Arc Furnace

The design of submerged arc furnace is mainly used for reducing and smelting ores, carbonaceous reducing agents, solvents, and other raw materials. It mainly produces ferrosilicon, ferromanganese, ferrochrome, ferrotungsten, silicomanganese, and other ferroalloys, which are important industrial raw materials in the metallurgical industry and chemical raw materials such as calcium carbide. Its working feature is to use carbon or magnesia refractory materials as furnace lining and self-training electrodes. The electrode is inserted into the furnace charge for submerged arc operation, and the energy generated by the energy and current of the arc through the resistance of the furnace charge is used to smelt the metal. It is an industrial electric furnace with continuous charging, intermittent tapping, and continuous operation.

1. Main Types and Uses of Submerged Arc Furnace

TypesMain MaterialsFinal ProductsReaction Temperature(℃)Power Consumption (KW * h/t)
Ferrosilicon furnaceFerrosilicon, scrap iron, cokeFerrosilicon1550-17702100-5500
Ferromanganese furnaceManganese ore, scrap iron, coke, limeFerromanganese1400-15002400-4000
Ferrochrome furnaceChrome ore, silica, cokeFerrochromium1600-17503200-6000
Ferrotungsten furnaceTungsten crystal ore, cokeFerrotungsten2400-29003000-5000
Silicon chrome furnaceFerrochromium, silica, cokeSilicon-chromium alloys1600-17503500-6500
Silicomanganese furnaceManganese ore, silica, scrap iron, cokeSilicon manganese alloy1350-14003500-4000
Electric steelmaking furnaceIron ore, cokePig iron1500-16001800-2500
Calcium carbide furnaceLimestone, cokeCalcium carbide1900-20002900-3200
Probe boron furnaceBoron oxide, cokeBoron carbide1800-2500About 20000

2. Structural Characteristics

The submerged arc furnace is a kind of industrial electric furnace with huge power consumption. It is mainly composed of a furnace shell, smoke hood, furnace lining, short net, water cooling system, smoke exhaust system, dust removal system, electrode shell, electrode pressure discharge and lifting system, feeding and unloading system, controller, burn through the device, hydraulic system, submerged arc furnace transformer and various electrical equipment.

The design of submerged arc furnace equipment is arranged in three layers.

The first layer is composed of the furnace body (including furnace bottom support, furnace shell, and furnace lining), tapping system (including ladle or pot and ladle car), burn-through device, etc.

The second layer:

(1) Smoke hood. At present, most submerged arc furnaces adopt closed or semi-closed low-hood structure, which is characterized by environmental protection, easy maintenance, and an improved operating environment. The closed structure can also collect and comprehensively utilize the waste gas (mainly carbon monoxide) generated in production, reduce the heat loss of the circuit, lower the temperature of the upper electrode, and improve the operating conditions.

(2) Electrode holder. Most submerged arc furnaces are powered by a three-phase power supply. The electrodes are arranged symmetrically in the middle of the furnace in the form of an equilateral triangle or inverted triangle. The large submerged arc furnaces generally use electrode materials composed of anthracite, coke, and coal tar pitch, which are self-sintered electrodes in the electric furnace smelting process.

(3) Short net.

(4) Copper tile.

(5) Electrode shell.

(6) Blanking system.

(7) Furnace changer.

(8) Smoke exhaust system.

(9) Water cooling system.

(10) Submerged arc furnace transformer.

(11) Operating system.

The third layer:

(1) Hydraulic system;

(2) Electrode pressure release device;

(3) Electrode lifting system;

(4) Steel platform;

(5) Hopper and circular distribution car;

Other accessories; Inclined bridge feeding system, electronic batching system, etc.

3. Main Design of Submerged Arc Furnace

6300KVA9000KVA12500KVA16500KVA25000KVA
TypesLow smoke hood semi airtightLow smoke hood semi airtightLow smoke hood semi airtightLow smoke hood semi airtightClosed furnace
ControllerPressure ring/Conical ringPressure ring/Conical ringPressure ring/Conical ringPressure ring/Conical ringPressure ring/Conical ring
Copper tileForgingForgingForgingForgingForging
Electrode liftingHydraulic / winchHydraulic / winchHydraulic / winch Winch Winch
Electrode dischargeAirbag/BlockAirbag/BlockAirbag/BlockBlock/BeltBlock/Belt
Short netTubular water-cooled cableTubular water-cooled cableTubular water-cooled cableTubular water-cooled cableTubular water-cooled cable