Modeling of thermal radiation in the internal sections of a Three-phase AC electrical arc furnace by means of a new temperature estimation method for AC arcs

Wear and corrosion has always had an adverse effect on the performance and service life of electrical arc furnaces. Every year, large amounts of money are spent on replacing the worn out parts of these furnaces which are no longer usable because of corrosion. One of the key causes of corrosion in electrical arc furnaces is the thermal radiation from the arcs. If the arcs are not properly covered by slag, they will emit large quantities of thermal radiation into various internal sections of the furnace, which will lead to significant corrosion in the wall and also the refractory panels. The goal of this article is to estimate the amount of thermal radiation which different parts of the furnace receive from the arcs. In order to calculate this heat, the temperature of the arcs should be known. In this paper, a new method has been presented for the estimation of the AC arc temperatures. The Bowman’s model has been employed for the simulation of the arc channel and the calculation of arc channel radius. The arc temperature has been estimated and used in a 3D thermal radiation model; and the noted radiation model has been analyzed by linear Finite Element methods. Also, a linear method has been used for the calculation of thermal power generated by the arcs. The biggest advantage of the proposed approach is the simplification and reduction of complex calculations of thermal and electromagnetic fields related to the arc region. The obtained results show very good correlation with the experimental observations at the Isfahan Mobarakeh Steel Mills Complex.