Metallurgical Industrial Furnaces 2

Metallurgical Industrial Furnaces 2
Furnace classification by fuel – In fuel-fired furnaces, the nature of the

fuel can make a difference in the furnace design, but this is not much
of a problem with modern industrial furnaces and burners, except if
solid fuels are involved. Similar bases for classification are air furnaces,
oxygen (O2) furnaces, and atmosphere furnaces. Related bases for
classification can be the position in the furnace where combustion
begins, and the means for directing the POC. Examples are internal fan
furnaces, high velocity furnaces, and baffled furnaces.
Electric furnaces for industrial process heating can use resistance or

induction heating. Theoretically, if there is no gas or air exhaust, electric
heating has no flue gas loss.
Resistance heating usually involves the high electricity costs, and can
require circulating fans to assure the temperature uniformity
achievable by the flow motion of the POC in a fuel-fired furnace. Silicon
(Si) control rectifiers have made input modulation more economical
with resistance heating. Various materials are used for electric furnace
resistors. Most are of a nickel–chromium (Ni-Cr) alloy, in the form of
rolled strip or wire, or of cast zigzag grids (mostly for convection). Other
resistor materials are molten glass, granular carbon (C), solid C,
graphite, or silicon carbide (SiC) (glow bars, mostly for radiation). It is
sometimes possible to use the charge which is being heated as a
resistor.
In induction heating, a current passes through a coil that surrounds the

piece to be heated. The electric current frequency to be used depends
on the mass of the piece being heated. The induction coil (or induction
heads for specific charge shapes) is to be water cooled to protect them
from overheating themselves. Although induction heating generally
uses less electricity than resistance heating, some of that gain can be
lost due to the cost of the cooling water and the heat which it carries
down the drain. Induction heating is easily adapted to heating only
localized areas of each piece and to mass production methods.
Many recent developments and suggested new methods of electric or

electronic heating offer ways to accomplish industrial heat processing,
using plasma arcs, lasers, radio frequency, microwave, and
electromagnetic heating, and combinations of these with fuel firing.
Furnace classification by recirculation – For medium or low

temperature furnaces/ovens/dryers operating below 750 deg C, a
forced recirculation furnace or recirculating oven delivers better
temperature uniformity and better fuel economy. The recirculation can
be by a fan and duct arrangement, by ceiling plug fans, or by the jet
momentum of burners (especially high-velocity low swirl flame
burners). In these furnaces, the requirement is thoughtful circulation
design and careful positioning relative to the furnace charges.
Furnace classification by direct-fired or indirect-fired – If the flame is

developed in the heating chamber proper, or if the POC are circulated
over the surface of the workload, then the furnace is said to be direct-
fired. In most of the furnaces, ovens, and dryers, the charge is not
harmed by contact with the POC. Indirect-fired furnaces are used for
heating materials and products for which the quality of the finished
products can be inferior if they have come in contact with flame or POC.
In such cases, the charge can be (a) heated in an enclosing muffle

(conducting container) which is heated either from the outside by the
POC from burners or heated by radiant tubes which enclose the flame
and POC. In case of a double muffle arrangement, not only the charge
is enclosed in a muffle but the POC are confined inside muffles called
radiant tubes. This use of radiant tubes is to protect the inner cover
from uneven heating is being replaced by direct-fired with flat (very high
swirl) or high velocity (low swirl) flames to heat the inner cover, thereby
improving thermal conversion efficiency and reducing heating time.
The radiant tube furnace is for charges which require a special
atmosphere for protection of the material from oxidation,
decarburization, or for other purposes. The indirect-fired furnace is built
with a gas-tight outer casing surrounding the refractory lining so that
the whole furnace can be filled with a prepared atmosphere. Heat is
supplied by fuel-fired radiant tubes or electric resistance elements.
Classification by furnace Use (including the shape of the material to

be heated) – These are soaking pit or ingot-heating furnace, usually in
a vertical position. There is forge furnace for heating whole pieces or
for heating ends of bars for forging or welding. Slot forge furnace has
a horizontal slot instead of a door for inserting the many bars which are
to be heated at one time. The slot also often serves as the
flue. Furnaces named for the material being heated include bolt
heading furnaces, plate furnaces, wire furnaces, rivet furnaces, and
sheet furnaces. Some furnaces are also classified by the process of
which they are a part, such as hardening, tempering, annealing, melting,
and polymerizing. In carburizing furnaces, the charge to be case-
hardened is packed in a C-rich powder and heated in pots/boxes, or
heated in rotating drums in a carburizing atmosphere.
Classification by type of heat recovery (if any) – Most heat recovery

efforts are aimed at utilizing the ‘waste heat’ leaving through the flues.
Some forms of heat recovery are air preheating, fuel preheating, charge
preheating, recuperative, regenerative, and waste heat boilers.
Preheating combustion air is accomplished by recuperators or
regenerators. Recuperators are steady-state heat exchangers which
exchange heat from hot flue gases to cold combustion air.
Regenerators are non-steady state devices which temporarily store
heat from the flue gas in many small masses of refractory or metal,
each having considerable heat-absorbing surface. Then, the heat
absorbing masses are moved into an incoming cold combustion air
stream to give it their stored heat. Furnaces equipped with these
devices are sometimes termed recuperative furnaces or regenerative
furnaces.
Regenerative furnaces in the past have been very large, integrated

refractory structures incorporating both a furnace and a checker work
refractory regenerator, the latter often much larger than the furnace
portion. However, most regeneration is now accomplished with integral
regenerator/burner packages which are used in pairs.
Both preheating the charge and preheating combustion air are used
together in steam generators, rotary drum calciners, metal heating
furnaces, and tunnel kilns.
Other furnace type classifications – There are stationary furnaces,

portable furnaces, and furnaces which are slowly rolled over a long row
of loads. Many kinds of continuous ‘conveyor furnaces’ have the charge
carried through the heating chamber by a conveying mechanism. Some
forms of conveyors are wire ropes, rollers, rocker bars, and self-
conveying catenary strips or strands.
Oxygen furnace is the furnace which uses O2 enriched air or near-pure

O2. In many high-temperature furnaces, productivity can be increased
with minimum capital investment by using O2 enrichment or 100 % O2
(oxy-fuel firing). Either method reduces the nitrogen (N2) concentration,
lowering the percentage of diatomic molecules and increasing the
percentage of triatomic molecules. This raises the heat transfer rate
(for the same average gas blanket temperature and thickness) and
thereby lowers the stack loss. O2 use reduces the concentration of N2
in a furnace atmosphere (by reducing the volume of combustion air
needed), so it can reduce NOx emissions.

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Metallurgical Industrial Furnaces 2

Furnace classification by fuel – In fuel-fired furnaces, the nature of the

Electric furnaces for industrial process heating can use resistance or

In induction heating, a current passes through a coil that surrounds the

Many recent developments and suggested new methods of electric or

Furnace classification by recirculation – For medium or low

Furnace classification by direct-fired or indirect-fired – If the flame is

In such cases, the charge can be (a) heated in an enclosing muffle

Classification by furnace Use (including the shape of the material to

Classification by type of heat recovery (if any) – Most heat recovery

Regenerative furnaces in the past have been very large, integrated

Other furnace type classifications – There are stationary furnaces,

Oxygen furnace is the furnace which uses O2 enriched air or near-pure

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