Direct current arc furnaces have been in use in the metallurgical industry since the late 1800s in the field of steel scrap processing. More recently, they have started gaining acceptance in the area of smelting of ores of many varieties, for example, the smelting of chromite to produce ferrochromium, ilmenite smelting to produce titania slag and pig iron, recovery of cobalt from non-ferrous smelter slags, treatment of stainless-steel plant dusts, smelting of nickel laterite ore to produce ferronickels, and production of platinum group metals i. With these new process applications come new challenges to the designer of the DC furnace-one such is the understanding of the electrical behaviour of the furnace in response to process and operational changes, which can allow the process engineer to specify appropriate ranges of voltage and current for the power supply.
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