Yerofieieva A. Improving the Energy Efficiency of Chamber Heating Furnaces through the Use of Controlled Electric Fields

Thesis for a Candidate Degree in Technical Sciences in the specialty 05.14.06 - Technical Thermophysics and Industrial Heat Power Engineering - Zaporizhzhia National University, Specialized Academic Council D 08.084.05 at National Metallurgical Academy of Ukraine, Dnipro, 2021. The thesis is devoted to the development of measures to increase the energy efficiency of chamber heating furnaces by creating an electric field in their volumes, which leads to the redistribution of gas temperature fields in the working space of the power plant. The research presents the performed quantitative assessment of the energy efficiency of a chamber furnace with a bogie hearth. A mathematical model was developed for temperature distribution in its working space under the condition of creating an electric field in the latter. Numerical modeling of mass consumption of furnace gases in the chamber of a real industrial furnace was performed and measures were proposed to increase them in the area of the metal charge by creating a thermal barrier due to charged particles of combustion products moving in the electric field. An effective algorithm was developed for controlling the metal heating process, which can be used in chamber furnaces. The advantage of this algorithm is that the additional effect is created by a controlled electric field, the creation of which does not require significant investment. Herewith, a significant part of the heat previously lost with the exhaust gases remains in the working space and is used directly to heat the metal, which helps to increase the energy efficiency of the plant. Keywords: chamber furnace, power facility, heat-mass exchange, mathematical model, energy efficiency, electric field, energy saving modes, heat treatment of metal.