Smelting Equipment

the equipment that is used in the smelting sections of foundries. Smelting equipment comprises furnaces for smelting metals, loading devices, purification equipment for waste gases, and preheaters for the air that is passed through the furnaces. Also included are measuring instruments and devices for automatic control of smelting processes.

Steel, cast iron, and alloys that are based on aluminum, magnesium, and copper are usually smelted in induction and arc furnaces. Cast iron can also be smelted in a cupola furnace or by a duplex process, which combines the use of cupola and induction furnaces. Steel is smelted in open-hearth furnaces and in side-blowing converters. Refractory metals and some special steels and alloys are smelted in plasma-jet and electron-beam furnaces.

Skip hoists, monorail cranes, and bridge conveyors are used to load furnaces. Carbon monoxide is burned off as a waste gas. Dust is removed prior to the discharge of gases into the atmosphere by first being passed through dry, lined cyclones and then through wet scrubbers or foam-equipped dust collectors.