Classification of Electric Arc Furnace

The electric arc furnace is a kind of electric furnace which uses electric arc energy to smelt metal.

There are three types of EAFs used in the industry:

The first type is the direct heating type. The electric arc occurs between the special electrode rod and the melted charge, and the charge is directly heated by the electric arc. It is mainly used for steelmaking, followed by smelting iron, copper, refractories, refined steel, etc.

The second type is an indirect heating type. The arc occurs between two special electrodes. The furnace charge is radiated by the arc, which is used for smelting copper, copper alloy, etc. This kind of furnace has high noise and poor melting quality
Gradually replaced by other furnaces.

The third type is called ore furnace, which takes high resistivity ore as raw material, and the lower part of the electrode is usually buried in the furnace charge during the working process. The heating principle is not only the heat generated by the charge resistance when the current passes through the charge but also the heat generated by the arc between the electrode and the charge. So it is also called an arc resistance furnace.