– Operation
– Chemistry determines the relationship between fuel and material in reverberatory furnaces
– Applications fall into metallurgical melting and lower temperature processing
– Efficiency is lower compared to blast furnaces due to separation of fuel and material
– Solid bituminous coal is the preferred fuel for reverberatory furnaces
– Control of fuel/air balance can alter exhaust gas chemistry to affect material processing
– History
– Reverberatory furnaces were first used in the medieval period for melting bronze
– Sir Clement Clerke and his son Talbot built reverberatory furnaces for smelting in the late 17th century
– Reverberatory furnaces were widely adopted for smelting metals like copper and tin
– Puddling furnace, a type of reverberatory furnace, was introduced by Henry Cort in the 1780s
– Foundry cupola furnace replaced reverberatory furnaces at the end of the 18th century
– Aluminium melting
– Reverberatory furnaces are commonly used to melt secondary aluminum scrap
– Simple reverberatory furnaces are lined with alumina refractory brick
– Oil or gas burners are used to heat the brick and melt the metal
– Molten metal is poured into a casting machine to produce ingots
– Reverberatory furnaces are essential for die-casting industries
– See also
– Open-hearth furnace is related to reverberatory furnaces
– Puddling furnace is another type of reverberatory furnace
– References
– W G Davenport discusses copper extraction in the 21st century
– J L Bill et al. provide an update on Isasmelt copper smelter progress
– D. Florez-Orrego et al. present a study on waste heat recovery in the aluminum industry
– Various articles and proceedings discuss advancements in metallurgical processes
– Research and studies contribute to the improvement of furnace technologies
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (July 2014) |
A reverberatory furnace is a metallurgical or process furnace that isolates the material being processed from contact with the fuel, but not from contact with combustion gases. The term reverberation is used here in a generic sense of rebounding or reflecting, not in the acoustic sense of echoing.
