This project focused in the numerical simulation of the electrical behavior of arc furnaces for silicon production to avoid the wear that is produced in the tip of the electrodes in the central area of the tank after increasing the power in the furnaces, which affects the overall performance of the furnace.
 
To achieve this objective, it was necessary to know the relationship between the shape of the electrode tip and certain geometric and electrical parameters that are usually measured. It was also analyzed the thermodynamic behavior in the arc zone, in order to determine if the wear phenomenon is related to an increase of the temperature in that area. Since the temperature study requires as an initial step the calculation of the current distribution in the electrode, an electromagnetic model was studied first.
 
To address this problem, it has been necessary to build and adjust a mathematical model of the complete electrical circuit of the furnace, which allowed relating the aforementioned parameters with their values in other places of the circuit where the access is more difficult.

• Sector: Materials, Energy
• Principal Investigator: Alfredo Bermúdez de Castro López Varela
• Company: Ferroatlántica