LF furnace and LF furnace process have a wide range of applications in industrial production. It is mainly used in smelting of stainless steel, tool steels, nickel-base alloys and cobalt-base alloys. The advantages of LF furnace and LF furnace process are:
(1) Versatility. A typical LF furnace is designed to provide both melting and heat-treatment operations, but can be adapted to a wide range of applications such as remelting, refining and special alloy preparation. It is a flexible system that has great potential in new applications.
(2) High melting efficiency. The metal is heated by using high-powered electric arcs that generate temperatures up to 3000°C. As two parallel arcs are created on either side of the electron beam, energy is efficiently transferred to the metal, thus ensuring high melting efficiency.
(3) Low metal losses. With the active stirring effect of the LF furnace, metal losses during melting are minimized. Moreover, the gas cover of the furnace to some extent reduces metal oxidation.
(4) High productivity. Melting in an LF furnace occurs in less than 1 minute, and the time required for heat treatment is typically 4 to 5 minutes. This results in high production rates and minimized waiting time.
(5) Improves product quality. The homogeneous low oxygen content of the molten metal ensures a high quality final product, thus eliminating costly downstream processes such as deoxidation or alloying.
(6) Low running cost. The inductor of the LF furnace is powered by a wire feeder and thus enables low operating cost.
In summary, LF furnaces and LF furnace processes provide an efficient and cost-effective solution for melting metals and heat-treatments operations. They can be easily tailored and adapted in order to respond to a wide range of needs, and the high production rate and low metal losses ensure a high quality final product.
