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    Cipola

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    nimish1991
    The cupola furnace was traditionally used in iron foundries for melting iron due to its ability to operate continuously with high melt rates and relatively low costs. It consists of a vertical steel shell lined with refractory brick, where layers of metal, coke fuel, and limestone flux are alternately charged from the top and melted from the bottom by hot gases produced by burning fuel with air injected through tuyeres. While cupolas are still used, electric induction furnaces that offer more control and lower emissions have become more common in recent times.

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    Cipola

    Uploaded by

    nimish1991
    19 views2 pages
    The cupola furnace was traditionally used in iron foundries for melting iron due to its ability to operate continuously with high melt rates and relatively low costs. It consists of a vertical steel shell lined with refractory brick, where layers of metal, coke fuel, and limestone flux are alternately charged from the top and melted from the bottom by hot gases produced by burning fuel with air injected through tuyeres. While cupolas are still used, electric induction furnaces that offer more control and lower emissions have become more common in recent times.

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    The cupola furnace was traditionally used in iron foundries for melting iron due to its ability to operate continuously with high melt rates and relatively low costs. It consists of a vertical steel shell lined with refractory brick, where layers of metal, coke fuel, and limestone flux are alternately charged from the top and melted from the bottom by hot gases produced by burning fuel with air injected through tuyeres. While cupolas are still used, electric induction furnaces that offer more control and lower emissions have become more common in recent times.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    19 views2 pages

    Cipola

    Uploaded by

    nimish1991
    The cupola furnace was traditionally used in iron foundries for melting iron due to its ability to operate continuously with high melt rates and relatively low costs. It consists of a vertical steel shell lined with refractory brick, where layers of metal, coke fuel, and limestone flux are alternately charged from the top and melted from the bottom by hot gases produced by burning fuel with air injected through tuyeres. While cupolas are still used, electric induction furnaces that offer more control and lower emissions have become more common in recent times.

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    The Cupola Furnace

    For many years, the cupola was the primary method of melting used in iron foundries. The
    cupola furnace has several unique characteristics which are responsible for its widespread use as
    a melting unit for cast iron.

    1. The cupolas is one of the only methods of melting which is continuous in its operation
    2. High melt rates
    3. Relatively low operating costs
    4. Ease of operation

    In more recent times, the use of the cupola has declined in favour of electric induction melting,
    which offers more precise control of melt chemistry and temperature, and much lower levels of
    emissions.

    The construction of a conventional cupola consists of a vertical steel shell which is lined with a
    refractory brick. The charge is introduced into the furnace body by means of an opening
    approximately half way up the vertical shaft. The charge consists of alternate layers of the metal
    to be melted, coke fuel and limestone flux. The fuel is burnt in air which is introduced through
    tuyeres positioned above the hearth. The hot gases generated in the lower part of the shaft
    ascend and preheat the descending charge.

    Most cupolas are of the drop bottom type with hinged doors under the hearth, which allows the
    bottom to drop away at the end of melting to aid cleaning and repairds. At the bottom front is a
    taphole for the molten iron at the rear, positioned above the taphole is a slaghole. The top of
    the stack is capped with a spark/fume arrester hood.

    Typical internal diameters of cupolas are 450 mm to 2000 mm diameter wich can be operated
    on different fuel to metal ratios, giving melt rates of approximately 1 to 30 tonnes per hour.

    A typical operation cycle for a cupola would consist of closing and propping the bottom hinged
    doors and preparing a hearth bottom. The bottom is usually made from low strength moulding
    sand and slopes towards a tapping hole. A fire is started in the hearth using light weight timber,
    coke is charged on top of the fire and is burnt by increasing the air draught from the tuyeres.
    Once the coke bed is ignited and of the required height, alternate layers of metal, flux and coke
    are added until the level reaches the charged doors. The metal charge would typically consist of
    pig iron, scrap steel and domestic returns.

    An air blast is introduced through the wind box and tuyeres located near the bottom of the
    cupola. The air reacts chemically with the carbonaceous fuel thus producing heat of combustion.
    Soon after the blast is turned on, molten metal collects on the hearth bottom where it is
    eventually tapped out into a waiting ladle or receiver. As the metal is melted and fuel consumed,
    additional charges are added to maintain a level at the charging door and provide a continuous
    supply of molten iron.
    At the end of the melting campaign, charging is stopped but the air blast is maintained until all
    of the metal is melted and tapped off. The air is then turned off and the bottom doors opened
    allowing the residual charge material to be dumped.

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