Furnaces FAQ's

Q 1. What is a Blast Furnace?

Q 2. What is difference between rotary hearth furnace and rotary kiln furnace?

Q 3. What is brazing?

Q 4. Is there any difference between electric arc furnace and induction furnace?

Q 5. What is crucible?

Q 6. Which Furnace is better. Electric or Fuel Fired?



Q 1. What is a Blast Furnace?
Ans. The blast furnace is a large structure lined with firebricks which can withstand temperatures of 2000 degrees centigrade. The furnace is basically used for reducing iron into liquid metal which can be tapped off and separated from the resulting slag. Blast furnaces are heated by blasting pre-heated air to the base of the furnace through nozzles.

Q 2. What is difference between rotary hearth furnace and rotary kiln furnace?
Ans. For incineration of combustible industrial wastes the rotary kiln furnace are used. They mainly treat wastes which contains high percentage of plastic wastes, on a stable basis, reducing the volume of wastes and rendering them harmless. Rotary kiln furnaces can be used for multiple jobs.

Rotary hearth furnace on the other hand are used for heat treating, bloom reheating in seamless pipe mills, calcining, carbon based DRI production and metal reclamation.

Q 3. What is brazing?
Ans. Brazing is a process in which the metals are joined by fusing nonferrous alloys that have melting points above 800°F but lower than those of the metals being joined. Brazing can be accomplished by means of a torch (torch brazing), in a furnace (furnace brazing) or by dipping in a molten flux bath (dip or flux brazing).

Q 4. Is there any difference between electric arc furnace and induction furnace?
Ans. Yes, both the furnace are not same. An electric arc furnaces are mainly applied for making steel and consist of devices like refractory-lined vessel and electrodes. Electrodes are normally round in section and comes in segments with threaded couplings. The arc forms between the charged material and the electrode. The formed charge is heated both by current passing through the charge and by the radiant energy evolved by the arc.

In induction furnace heating is accomplished through induction. It is used in various industries like steel industry, iron industry, foundries etc.

Q 5. What is crucible?
Ans. A crucible is a cup-shaped piece of laboratory equipment used to contain chemical compounds when heating them to very high temperatures. The receptacle is usually made of porcelain or an inert metal. One of the earliest uses of platinum was to make crucibles. More recently, metals such as nickel and zirconium have been used.

Q 6. Which Furnace is better. Electric or Fuel Fired?
Ans. Both has their own advantages and disadvantages. No doubt fuel fired furnace is more cheap but it causes lot of pollution and also require lot of maintenance. Whereas electric fired furnaces are expensive but they are more effective and easy to maintain. However the heating element in electric furnace needs regular maintenance.