Arc furnance with dc arc and ac joule heating
OwnerCharles H. Titusinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An arc furnace that utilizes a combined DC arc system and an AC joule heating system to melt the waste disposed therein and to keep the waste material in a molten condition. The DC arc system utilizes the AC joule heating electrodes as part of the DC current path, thereby eliminating the need for a counter DC electrode. Furthermore, the AC joule heating system provides for peripheral and radial AC current flow to neighboring AC joule heating electrodes, thereby creating a stirring effect in the molten waste. This design greatly simplifies the arc furnace control system while providing a more effective thermal control of the molten waste.
Claims41
An apparatus for waste conversion said apparatus comprising:
- a tank for receiving the waste;
- a single electrode for supporting a DC arc to melt the waste in the tank, said single electrode being coupled to a source of DC power;
- a plurality of AC joule heating electrodes, coupled to a source of AC power, submerged in the melted waste, that maintain the melted waste in a molten state while simultaneously acting as DC counter electrodes, said plurality of AC joule heating electrodes being coupled to said DC power source.
A method for converting waste, said method comprising the steps of:
- (a) disposing the waste in a tank for treatment;
- (b) applying a DC arc to melt the waste through a single electrode;
- (c) applying AC joule heating to maintain the waste in a molten condition through a plurality of AC joule heating electrodes submerged in the waste;
- and
- (d) utilizing said plurality of AC joule heating electrodes as DC counter electrodes of said DC arc.
The method of claim 41 wherein said plurality of waste charge ports corresponds to said plurality of AC joule heating electrodes, said plurality of AC joule heating electrodes comprising an odd number multiplied by two.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.