Submerged Arc Furnace VS Electric Arc Furnace

Submerged Arc Furnace VS Electric Arc Furnace

Submerged Arc Furnace VS Electric Arc Furnace. What is the difference between SAF and EAF?

Electric arc furnace is a power frequency electric furnace that uses arc energy to smelt metal.
Electric arc furnaces used in industry can be divided into three categories:

First type : direct heating

The arc occurs between the special electrode rod and the smelted charge, and the charge is directly heated by the arc. Mainly used for steelmaking, and secondly for smelting iron, copper, refractory materials, refining molten steel, etc.

Second type: indirect heating

The arc occurs between two special electrode rods, and the charge is subjected to the radiant heat of the arc, which is used to smelt copper, copper alloys, etc.

Third category: submerged arc furnace

It is made of ore with high resistivity as raw material, and the lower part of the electrode is generally buried in the charge during the working process.

The heating principle is: not only use the heat generated by the resistance of the charge when the current passes through the charge, but also use the heat generated by the arc between the electrode and the charge.

A submerged arc furnace is a type of electric arc furnace.

The Difference

Submerged Arc Furnace VS Electric Arc Furnace

Properties:

Electric Arc Furnace:

It is an electric furnace that uses the high temperature generated by the electrode arc to smelt ores and metals.

Electric arc furnaces Industrial furnaces that generate arc heating through metal electrodes or non-metal electrodes are called electric arc furnaces.

Electric arc furnaces can be divided into three-phase electric arc furnaces, consumable electric arc furnaces, single-phase electric arc furnaces and resistance electric arc furnaces according to the arc form.

The furnace body of electric arc steelmaking furnace consists of furnace cover, furnace door, tapping groove and furnace body. The bottom and walls of the furnace shall be built with basic refractories or acid refractories.

Electric arc steelmaking furnaces are divided into ordinary power electric arc furnaces, high power electric arc furnaces and ultra-high power electric arc furnaces according to the capacity of transformers per ton of furnace capacity.

Electric arc furnace steelmaking is to input electrical energy into the electric arc steelmaking furnace through graphite electrodes, and use the arc generated between the electrode end and the charge as a heat source to make steel.

The EAF uses electric energy as the heat source, and the atmosphere in the furnace can be adjusted, which is extremely beneficial to the smelting of steels containing many easily oxidizable elements.
With the improvement of electric arc furnace equipment and the improvement of smelting technology, the development of electric power industry, the cost of electric arc furnace steelmaking continues to decline.

Now EAF steelmaking is not only used to produce alloy steel, but also used to produce ordinary carbon steel in large quantities. The proportion of steel production in the total steel output of major industrial countries has been rising.

Submerged Arc Furnace:

Also known as electric arc furnace or electric resistance furnace. It is an industrial electric furnace with huge power consumption.

According to the structural characteristics and working characteristics of the submerged arc furnace, 70% of the system reactance of the submerged arc furnace is generated by the short grid system, and the short grid is a system with high current operation, and the maximum current can reach tens of thousands of amperes, so the short grid The performance determines the performance of the SAF.

It is for this reason that the natural power factor of the submerged arc furnace is difficult to reach above 0.85. The natural power factor of most furnaces is between 0.7 and 0.8. The lower power factor not only reduces the efficiency of the transformer and consumes a lot of useless power, but also imposes extra power fines by the power department. control and stockpiling

This process leads to an increase in the power unbalance between the three phases, and the highest unbalance can reach more than 20%, which leads to a low smelting efficiency and an increase in electricity costs. Therefore, improving the power factor of the short grid and reducing the grid unbalance becomes a reduction in energy consumption. , an effective means to improve smelting efficiency. If appropriate measures are taken to improve the power factor of the short network, the following effects can be achieved:
Reduce production power consumption by 3%~6%;
Increase product output by 5%~15%

Features:

Electric Arc Furnace:

The electric arc furnace is more flexible than other steelmaking furnaces, and can effectively remove impurities such as sulfur and phosphorus. The furnace temperature is easy to control, and the equipment occupies a small area. It is suitable for the melting of high-quality alloy steel.

Submerged Arc Furnace:

Its working characteristics are that it uses carbon or magnesia refractory material as the furnace lining and uses self-cultivation electrodes. The electrode is inserted into the charge for submerged arc operation, using the energy and current of the arc to pass through the charge, and generating energy due to the resistance of the charge to smelt metal.

The above is the knowledge about submerged arc furnace VS electric arc furnace. As star equipment in the smelting industry, they have their own characteristics and advantages.

For more professional information about smelting furnace equipment, please pay more attention to the news on our website.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact our Hani Metallurgy.

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