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Morita, A. and Kano, T.

Development Report:

Melting Automation Using a Medium-Frequency


Induction Furnace
Arimichi Morita and Toshiyuki Kano
Fuji Electric Thermo Systems Co., Ltd.
5520 Minami Tamagaki, Suzuka, Mie 513-8633, Japan
E-mail: morita-arimichi@fujielectric.co.jp
[Received March 28, 2008; accepted May 30, 2008]

Automating the melting process is critical to the


economical production of metal castings with stable
quality. We discuss manufacturing process monitoring, safety devices, automatic melting operation, and
labor-saving furnace refractory construction and dismantling.
Keywords: induction furnace, monitoring, automation,
relining of refractory materials

1. Foreword
Conventional metal melting involved largely manual
execution of required processes that made operating productivity dependent on the skills of individual craftspersons compelled to work under adverse conditions characterized by high temperature and dirty air.
Automating metal melting operations is indispensable
to a market supply of economic products with stable quality. Improving the working environment and introducing
labor-saving features are also expected to help solve labor
shortages plaguing the industry.
We review topics related to energy-saving and laborsaving automation involving medium-frequency induction furnaces.

2. Characteristics of Medium-Frequency Induction Furnaces


Medium-frequency induction furnace operations are a
key casting industry process used for melting metals,
maintaining molten metals at prescribed temperatures,
and warming and adjustment of components (Fig. 1).
Induction furnaces feature the following;
1 High thermal efficiency in which substances being
processed generates heat through electromagnetic induction leading to energy saving.
2 Improved working environments because the heat
source is electricity, which reduces heat, noise, dust,
and carbon dioxide emission.
3 Thanks to quick heating, mental surface oxidation is
reduced and the introduction of foreign matter limited, improving product quality and productivity.
4 Electrical heating control facilitates temperature
control, stabilizing product quality and saving energy.

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Fig. 1. Medium frequency induction furnace.

These features have caused induction furnaces to be


used for melting and melting cast iron and steel products
and products involving nonferrous metals such as copper
and aluminum.

3. Monitoring and Automation of Melting Processes


3.1. Induction Furnace Operation Monitoring Systems
Simplified induction furnace operation monitoring with
touch-panel features introduced for localized furnace control (Fig. 2). Are widely in localized control, but are
also capable of tasks such as simplified control of induction furnace operations for melting or streamlining maintenance.
Melting process control involves operation programs
covering multiple processes such as warming up of the
furnace and then the working piece, and dissolution of
molten metal residue and sintering programming.
Using these systems has the advantages of:
1 Reducing wasted energy through improved operations guidance.
2 Improving operation safety and product quality by
preventing overheating.
3 Improving overall work efficiency and melting operations.
4 Simplifying safety procedures.

Int. J. of Automation Technology Vol.2 No.4, 2008

Melting Automation Using a Medium-Frequency Induction Furnace

3.2. Temperature Control in the Melting Process


Automation
Melting processes involve the handling of hightemperature molten metals, making precise temperature
measurement the most effective factor in ensuring highquality cast products, conserving energy, preserving refractory material life, and improving operation safety.
Immersed thermocouples are most widely used for temperature measurement. Continuous temperature monitoring is particularly needed in high-frequency induction furnaces that raise temperature quickly. This requires the following:

Continuous temperature measurement via radiation


thermometer.
Initial temperature measurement by immersed ther1

mocouple when charged materials are completely


molten, followed by predictive calculation for estimated temperatures.

Continuous temperature measurement using a sheath


3

thermocouple and control by predicted actual temperature.

Fig. 2. Monitoring system.

Reduction of the running cost which is due to de5

mand control.

Induction furnace operation monitoring with improved


functionality enables control capabilities such as operation and/or maintenance logging to be added to the simplified induction furnace operation monitoring. This in
turn enables trends in operation data to be displayed on
operations panels.
Ongoing automated monitoring may be applied to electrical furnace features, cooling water temperature, flow
rate, and electricity fluctuations due to molten metal leakage. Warnings are issued as abnormalities arise and
guidance for required remedial measures is displayed.
Records on melting operations are automatically and
comprehensively logged and information preserved for
use in managing whole-plant production, streamlining,
and maintenance measures.
Moreover in such systems are structured for charging the furnace with raw materials and analyzing chemical components of molten metal indispensably associated
with main operation establishing links for improving coordination among them. Linking different systems and
information such as material mix, automatic sub material
calculation, automatic transfer status, and the storage of
data needed for simplifying production and security operations enables optimizing furnace operation including
molten metal temperature control, melting and/or melting operation automation, and coordination with casting
processes leading to total scheduling of all production operations.
Int. J. of Automation Technology Vol.2 No.4, 2008

Temperature accuracy measured by a radiation thermometer deteriorates with increasing fumes and slag covering molten metals. The life of the sheath of thermocouples is less than 100 charges. Technical problems exist for
different methods, and technological developments solving these problems are eagerly awaited.
Simpler methods more widely used include temperature prediction through measurement of electricity consumed, starting with the preparation of estimates of reference total power required by multiplying the weight of
processed raw material by reference melting power unit
requirements (ton/kWh). When reference total power has
been consumed after furnace operation starts, operation
is switched to temperature retention mode to prevent excessively high temperatures from arising (Fig. 3). This is
used in monitoring introduced earlier and is currently the
most widely used automatic melting.

4. Automation and Adoption of Labor-Saving


Techniques in the Erection and Dismantling
of Refractory Linings
4.1. Automation of Refractory Lining Dismantling
Quick lining removal System (QLR) (Fig. 4) is being
introduced in which the furnace is tilted 90 and pusher
rams preset on the bottom of the furnace shell is preset
with hydraulic cylinders. Conventionally, all refractory
materials in a furnace were removed by breaking up and
dismantling them inside the furnace manually using jack
hammers, etc. QLR enables the refractory lining to be
completely removed in one piece a process most effective in larger furnaces whose capacity exceeds 1 ton. QLR
achieved the following:

Frees personnel from heavy labor under hazardous


1

working conditions such as filthy air.

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