NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF AN ARC PLASMA IN A DC ELECTRIC FURNACE

In order to analyze the heat transfer phenomena in the plasma flames, a mathematical model describing heat and fluid How in an electric arc has been developed and used to predict heat transfer from the arc to the steel bath in a DC Electric Arc Furnace. The arc model takes the separate contributions to the heat transfer from each involved mechanism into account, i.e. radiation, convection and energy transported by electrons. The finite volume method and a SIMPLE algorithm are used for solving the governing MHD equations, i.e., conservation equations of mass, momentum, and energy together with the equations describing a standard $k-\varepsilon$ model for turbulence. The model predicts heat transfer for different currents and arc lengths. Finally these calculation results can be used as a useful insight into plasma phenomena of the industrial-scale electric arc furnace. from these results, it can be concluded that higher arc current and longer arc length give high heat transfer.