The Rocking Electric Furnace a Silver Anniversary

Abstract

The investigation leading to the "rocking furnace" was started in 1911 and continued for several years. An historical record is 9resented of the difficulties encountered and how these were mastered.The urge to develop some type of electric brass melting furnace came from Dr. C. L. Parsons, then Chief Mineral Technologist of the U. S. Bureau of Mines, who in 1911 published a bulletin 4 entitled, "Notes on Mineral Wastes." He reasoned that in the fuel-fired furnaces then standard in the brass industry, much zinc was volatilized and swept out by the gases of combustion, whereas in a closed system, most of this loss could be prevented. He hired H. W. Gillett and J. M. Lohr for experimental work on the problem. Lohr later went into industrial work and his place was taken by E. L. Mack. The work was located at the Bureau of Mines field office that was set up for this purpose at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, where suitable electrical equipment was available.To find out the magnitude of the metal losses in fuel-fired furnaces, an extensive surve 9 was made of commercial practice which indicated the correctness of Parsons' appraisal that metal losses were large. This was true not only of yellow brasses, but was almost equally true for red brasses and bronzes, on account of oxidation in open-flame furnaces and spilling in crucible melting. Most of the non-volatile metal content of the spills was recoverable, but in a degraded form.Experimental work covered crucible furnaces, hearth types heated by radiation, direct and indirect arc. Materially reduced metal losses were obtained in electric-crucible and electric-hearth types, while the arc types were unusable on alloys containing much zinc, because of local overheating of the surface. The direct arc got into difficulties at 5% Zn, the x Manuscript 207 unless CC License in place (see abstract). ) ecsdl.org/site/terms_use address. Redistribution subject to ECS terms of use (see 128.255.6.125 Downloaded on 2015-05-31 to IP 208 H. W. GILLETT AND A. E. RHOADS C. A. Weeks, United States Pat. 9,495,111. ~C. A. Hansen, "Electric Melting of Copper and Brass," Trans. Am. Inst. Metals 6, 110-129 (1912). unless CC License in place (see abstract). ) ecsdl.org/site/terms_use address. Redistribution subject to ECS terms of use (see 128.255.6.125 Downloaded on 2015-05-31 to IP unless CC License in place (see abstract). ) ecsdl.org/site/terms_use address. Redistribution subject to ECS terms of use (see 128.255.6.125 Downloaded on 2015-05-31 to IP