The arc voltage gradient as a multifactorial basic electrical characteristic of an arc steelmaking furnace

Abstract

The structure of the complex process of heating with an electric arc in an arc steelmaking furnace (ASF) due to radiation and convection depends primarily on the length of the arc. Identification of arc length required in process of melting control in ASF is impossible without knowledge of arc voltage gradient values. The arc voltage gradient is highly dependent on the temperature of the furnace and thereby on the heat exchange conditions of the arc in the melting space of the furnace during melting. Using the example of ASF, an engineering technique for determining the arc voltage gradient as a multifactorial basic electrical characteristic is proposed. Using the methods of the electric arc heat exchange model allows performing a basic two-factor version of the analytical calculation of the average voltage gradient of the arc column as a function of two parameters - the reactance of the furnace and the secondary voltage of the furnace transformer. Correction of the basic function is shown taking into account the value of the resistance of the equivalent ASF circuit and the electrode thermal mode index. The proposed method allows, already at the stage of development of the detailed design specification, to calculate analytically the most important energy physical characteristics of the ASF and, as a result, to choose a rational electrical mode of the ASF in order to improve energy and dynamic smelting indicators.