Original Research Article
Year: 2018 | Month: February | Volume: 5 | Issue: 2 | Pages: 75-81
Thermal Design of an Oil Fired Crucible Furnace using CFD Technique
Beneth C. Chukwudi, Martins B. Ogunedo
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imo State University, Owerri
Corresponding Author: Martins B. Ogunedo
ABSTRACT
Thermal design of a furnace could be complex and time consuming as it requires iterative calculations to arrive at expected operating temperature values of the various parts or segments of the furnace. A more accurate and time saving approach to furnace thermal design is the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technique. Hence, this study, a thermal design of an oil fired crucible furnace is carried out using the CFD application in Solid Works flow simulation software. A CFD domain was set up, and simulation parameters such as mesh analysis, material settings and boundary conditions were applied. Result of the CFD reveal that temperatures of 1131.1 K, 776.8 K, 313.2 K, and 301.1 K will exist at the crucible pot, refractory wall, casing and cover of the crucible furnace respectively. The study also indicates that the average temperature of the refractory wall would be able to withstand the thermal stresses induced by the temperature. The temperatures of the casing and cover suggest that deformation arising from furnace operation will be quite negligible, and that no hazard is posed to both the foundry operator and the diesel fuel since the maximum external temperature of 313.2 K is less than the flash point of diesel fuel which ranges from 325 K to 369 K. The study recommends that the furnace would be suitable for melting aluminum since the temperature of the crucible pot is higher than the melting point of aluminum.
Key words: Heat flux, Temperature, Simulation, Computational, Domain.
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