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Cupola Furnace

The document discusses a cupola furnace, which is used to melt ferrous metals and alloys through charging layers of metal, coke, and flux. It has a cylindrical shell construction with a charging door, cooling jackets, and a wind box for air blast. The furnace operates by igniting coke to melt raw materials through reduction and heat transfer as materials descend, producing molten metal collected at the sand bed bottom.

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Prince rex
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39 views11 pages

Cupola Furnace

The document discusses a cupola furnace, which is used to melt ferrous metals and alloys through charging layers of metal, coke, and flux. It has a cylindrical shell construction with a charging door, cooling jackets, and a wind box for air blast. The furnace operates by igniting coke to melt raw materials through reduction and heat transfer as materials descend, producing molten metal collected at the sand bed bottom.

Uploaded by

Prince rex
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Cupola

Furnace
Introduction
• Used to melt ferrous metals and
alloys(Mainly cast iron).
• Some non-ferrous metals are also melted.
• It provides the cheapest means for
converting pig iron or scrap metal into
gray cast iron.
• Typically size of the cupola (measured in
diameters) ranges from 1.5 to 13 feet.
Cupola Furnace
Tapping of molten metal
from Cupola
Construction
• Is in the form of a hollow cylindrical shell (can
be made of steel or refractory material).
• Charging door is provided at top.
• Lined inside from a refractory material.
• Clay and sand mixture is used in bottom lining.
• Cooling jackets are also provided.
• Alternating layers of metal, coke and flux are
charged.
• Wind Box for Air blast (blast of air is done by a
blower to burn the fuel).
Construction (Cont.)
• Top is shielded with screen and toped
with Spark Arrester.
• Well (tap hole) is provided at the bottom
for tapping out the molten metal.
• Slag hole is situated above the hearth.
• Coke bed of about 40 inches thick is
placed next to Sand bed which is
about 6 inches thick.
• Bed of wood is provided below the
coke bed for coke’s ignition.
Cupola Furnace
Construction
Operation(Working)
• Before operation, the furnace must be dried
and cleaned.
• The wood bed is burned which ignites the
coke.
• A low air blast is done to increase the ignition.
• The raw materials are charged.
• Air blast is stopped and the furnace is left for
about 1.5 hours known as Soaking time.
• The flux added is typically lime stone (is used
to remove the impurities like S & P forming
slag).
• Air blast produce CO2 which is reduced to CO
in reducing zone, hence decreasing the
temperature.
Operation(Working) (Cont.)
• This reduction protects the charge from
oxidation.
• The gases formed ascends and preheat the
charge above.
• The charge move downwards as it melts.
• The slag is removed in multiple stages to avoid
its reversion.
• The molten metal is collected at sand bed
and is tapped out from the well (tap hole).
Advantages
• It is simple in construction and operation.
• Low cost of construction, operation and
maintenance.
• It has a continuous and fast rate of
production.
• It does not require very skilled operators.
• It requires small floor area as compared to
other furnaces.
Limitations
• Temperature control is difficult to maintain.
• Carbon content increases in the iron product
due to the heating of coke together with
metal.
Why Cupola for cast iron?
The factors which make Cupola furnace ideal
for cast iron production are:
• Cupola furnace is the only method which is
continuous while operations.
• High melting rate.
• It is easy to operate. Operating cost of cupola
furnace is comparatively low.

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