Facts It Is Advisable To Be Informed About Graphite Electrode And How Is It Related To The Steel Making Method?

Most of us have to know steel. We use it in your everyday routine. But ever wondered how you can produce it? And what does it take to produce it? Fundamentally the steel is made in a big factory and it is cooked in the giant stove called furnace. And the cooking itself takes numerous ingredients in it.

The Blast Furnace and Electric Arc Furnace methods include the two major approaches for producing iron and steel products. Scrap melting will be the major process utilizing Electric Arc Furnaces. Recently, industry competition has grown to be increasingly intense, elevating the requirement of a more efficient melting process. Capacities of the transformers are becoming larger and electric furnaces are growing larger worldwide. In this manufacturing environment, graphite materials which have durability for larger-power operation are needed considerably more for the use as Graphite Electrode (GE).

GE are made of carbon. Carbon is really a nonmetal element with an atomic number of 6 as well as the atomic symbol “C”. Carbon will be the base of organic chemistry, closely associated with organic matter and life activity. Manufacturing excellent graphite electrodes requires quality materials which might be strictly selected.

Graphite includes a higher heat transfer rating, effectiveness against higher temperatures, and it has more strength against thermal shock than other materials. Moreover, it excels in machinability to meet the needs for a broader array of dimensions. Thus, graphite could be the optimum material for scrap-melting electrodes.

GE are often consumed at high temperatures due to the reaction with oxygen to get CO, CO2. The oxidation of electrodes starts at 500oC and accelerates its speed at 800oC (within the furnace). Consumption of graphite electrodes by sublimation occurs at 3400o. The rate of sublimation is proportional towards the increase of current density.

Meanwhile, using quality GE brings about contributions to saving energy and environmental conservation. Electric arc furnaces, with all the main aim of recycling steel scraps, market reuse of steel products.

Production organization of graphite electrodes may be divided as 10 stages the following:

Raw material transporting
Kneading
Extruding
Baking
Pitch Impregnation
Re-Baking
Graphitization
Machining
Inspection
Shipment
The standard sizes for graphite electrodes originate from diameter 10″ (inch) to 30″(inch) and from amount of 60″(inch) to 110″(inch). The weights are starting from 123 Kgs (10″ x 60″) to 2060 Kgs (30″ x 110″).

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