CONTINUOUS FURNACE FOR FERROCHROMIUM PRODUCTION

INTEREST HAS DEVELOPED IN THE REDUCTION OF MINERALS BY A 150KW LABORATORY MODEL OF THE ROTARY PLASMA ARC FURNACE (RPAF) PARTICULARLY FOR CONTINUOUS PREPARATION OF FERROCHROMIUM FROM DOMESTIC CHROMITE FINES. ALL SUPPORT, TO DATE IS IN PROCESS DEVELOPMENT BUT A LARGER IMPROVED PROTOTYPE IS NEEDED FOR IMPROVED FURNACE COMPARISON DATA. THIS IS A DIFFICULT DESIGN PROBLEM BECAUSE OF THE HIGH SENSITIVITY TO FLUCTUATIONS IN THE MATERIALS HANDLING SYSTEM AND BECAUSE OF THE HIGH NUMBER OF SYSTEM INTERACTIONS WHICH INFLUENCE THE DESIGN, OPERATION, AND EFFECTIVENESS OF THE FURNACE. AN APPROACH IS PROPOSED WHICH WILL DETERMINE THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF THE SYSTEM INTERACTIONS WITH THE MATERIAL HANDLING SYSTEM AND IDENTIFY THE PRINCIPAL PROBLEMS IN THE SCALE-UP OF THE RPAF. VENDER AND LITERATURE CONTRIBUTIONS WILL BE SURVEYED. THE TECHNICAL MERIT AND FEASIBILITY OF THE MATERIALS HANDLING APPROACH WILL BE ESTABLISHED BY THE ANALYSIS. THE UNIQUE COLLECTION OF ATTRACTIVE FEATURES FOUND ONLY IN THE RPAF MAKE AN IMPROVED PROTOTYPE SIGNIFICANT NOT ONLY TO CHROMITE REDUCTION BUT ALSO TO AN IMPROVED CONTINUOUS STEEL PROCESS AND TO PROCESSING IMPROVEMENTS IN ABRASIVES AND REFRACTORIES. COMPUTER CONTROL SHOULD MAKE POSSIBLE A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN THE TRAINING NEEDED BY FURNACE OPERATORS.