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| Design and Construction of a Scrap Melting Furnace Fired by Waste Lubrication Oil
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Olisa Yemi, Ajoko Tolumonye and Amain Epidiperekumo
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Abstract:
The incessant power supply in Nigeria has made it difficult for thermal equipment such as an electric furnace to have a cost effective operation. This research paper focusses on the design and construction of a non-ferrous melting furnace fired by a waste lubrication oil (WLO). The purpose of this work is to construct a furnace that uses WLO as a source of energy. The material selection and heat balance were carried out; the fabrication of the furnace (with 0.3079m3 combustion chamber) was made of steel, lined with alumina refractory clay having thermal conductivity and refractoriness of 38.5W/m.oC and 1300oC respectively. This provides a high rate of heat transfer to the metal scraps and low heat conduction to the surrounding. WLO having calorific value and fire point of 38,000 kJ/kg and 143oC respectively, was used as source of heat energy. Test conducted on the fabricated furnace, shows that it has the capability of melting 5 kg of aluminium scraps in 30 minutes (melting rate of 0.167 kg/min). The overall thermal efficiency of the furnace was 23.2% on its performance assessment, which suggest a fairly good heating rate. With a useful heat input, the furnace was able to melt the 5 kg of aluminium at a pouring temperature of 660oC using 0.82 litres of WLO. Furthermore, the performance of the furnace shows that the furnace can operate at a heating rate of 25°C/min.
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