Direct Current Arc Furnace and Method for Its Operation

摘要

A description is given of a DC (direct current) arc furnace having a cathodic (negative) electrode held in the centre of the melting container and an anodic (positive) bottom electrode arrangement in the region of a lower container which is electrically conductive in the direction from the container wall to the melt, the current flowing in and out on one side via leads to a rectifier current supply set up at a distance beside the furnace. The lower container is divided into a plurality of quadrants which are connected to current supply leads, a connecting plate being provided in the region of each quadrant on the furnace wall. The current supply leads are guided in a horizontal plane to the container wall just below the arc. The current for the quadrants of the lower container which are adjacent to the rectifier current supplies is smaller than that of the current supply leads of the remaining quadrants. The distances between the connecting plates for the quadrant regions can be different.