Design and Optimization of 0.5 Ton Hr Foundry Cupola Furnace Operations

The work in this research comprises of the design processes and the optimization of cupola furnace operation fundamentals. The cupola furnace actually comprises of the structural components and the different zones in the working of the system. The structural components are the shell, foundation, tuyere's, wind belt box, blower, tapping spout, charging door and chimney or stack. The zones of interest in cupola furnace are the stack zone, preheating zone, melting zone, reducing zone, combustion zone and the hearth or crucible zone. In these cupola zones are the optimization considerations. The design processes consider the appropriate shapes and dimensions of the cupola furnace premium effective furnace diameter, 300mm effective height in melting, 1000mm total height, 2100mm charge mass, 500kg. In optimizing the operation of the cupola, the blower capacity of 10 kW, 3 phase running at maximum speed at about 2900 rpm tends to produce sufficient air pressure of 0.00345N mm2 and volume of air, 96.8m2 min. to combust and suspend the charge for efficient heating and melting. It requires 112Kg of fuel charcoal to melt 500Kg of Cast Iron metal. The volume 5807 m3 of air per ton per hr and 12kg of air to 1kg of fuel charcoal are sufficient enough for complete combustion per heat of the cupola operation. Intensive air force in the system pulverizes the entire charge materials for complete combustion and a good furnace operation at tuyeres'. This enhances the melting rate and increase in tapping temperatures for cast iron metal it is in the range 1320oC to 1370oC. The optical pyrometer is used to measure the temperatures. The quantity of heat required to make a heat of 500kg is about362539.8 kJ hr or kW. The efficiency of the furnace is 92.3 . Moses C. Uzochukwukanma | Fredrick O. Okeagu | Richard U. Orji "Design and Optimization of 0.5-Ton /Hr Foundry Cupola Furnace Operations" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-7 | Issue-6 , December 2023, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd60113.pdf Paper Url: https://www.ijtsrd.com/engineering/mechanical-engineering/60113/design-and-optimization-of-05ton-hr-foundry-cupola-furnace-operations/moses-c-uzochukwukanma