Analysis of Energy and Technological Parameters of Carbothermic Ferroalloy Smelting with Increased Power of Electric Furnaces

Energy and technological parameters of ferroalloy smelting under increasing furnace power are analyzed in order to improve their efficiency. When increasing the power of furnace transformers and using relatively low-grade ore materials, energy and technological parameters of slag and slag-free smelting deteriorate. It is noted that increasing the power of furnace transformers does not lead to a similar increase in the productivity of the furnace unit, because there is no expected increase in the active power in the furnace bath for the technological process. The electrode current to operating voltage ratio increases and the active resistance of the electric furnace bath decreases. As a result, the gap between the power of transformers and active power in the bath of the ferroalloy furnace increases, which adversely affects productivity. Additionally, a number of technical solutions to improve the efficiency of ferroalloy electric furnaces are considered.