New furnace to support improvements in steel production
The Materials Processing Institute has recently invested in a high temperature vertical tube furnace supplied by Carbolite Gero Ltd. This furnace adds to our extensive range of furnaces to support clients with high temperature research and development.
Capable of operating at up to 1800°C this vertical tube furnace broadens the Institute’s capabilities with the furnace primarily being used for non-metallic inclusion removal, electrolytic metal recovery, and melting of samples.
• Testing of non-metallic inclusion removal using the electro-pulsing technique
The steel industry has invested significantly into developing treatments to remove inclusions during steelmaking. Whilst these techniques have been successful for inclusions greater than 50 microns they are less so at smaller inclusion sizes less than 10 microns and with the ever-increasing demand for high performance products and more stringent requirements on inclusion content, this furnace will be used to develop novel, innovative techniques to reduce the total amount and average size of non-metallic inclusions in liquid steel.
• Testing of electrolytical metal recovery using the electro-pulsing technique
This furnace will allow electro-pulsing to be used to reduce iron oxide to metallic iron and also to enable assessment of the energy efficiency achieved using this process.
• Melting applications
With a furnace operating temperature of up to 1800°C, most applications involving melting of metals can be carried out.
The furnace has been commissioned and is now operational following comprehensive testing. During commissioning, the furnace was tested to its maximum operating temperature of 1800°C, with a heating and cooling rate of 120°C an hour. Data was logged on the touchscreen and downloaded.
This investment has been made as part of the EconoMISER project, a £19.5m funded programme to support the scale-up of sustainable technologies for the foundation industries, with funding provided through Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation.
The EconoMISER programme is being run by the Foundation Industries Sustainability Consortium (FISC), a partnership between leading research and technology centres working in the foundation industry sectors. These centres are collaborating and combining their expertise and R&D capability to solve industry innovation challenges to achieve sustainability and net zero objectives.
Clients interested in accessing this equipment should contact us at enquiries@mpiuk.com
EconoMISER Project - https://www.mpiuk.com/research-project-economiser.htm
14 February 2024
