An apparatus to move and preheat metal material (M) to be fed to a container comprises a containing structure, having an internal compartment and provided with a support wall, a conveyor for the material (M), a fume transit section whose volume reduces as it is distanced from said container along the longitudinal development of said containing structure, and a collector for hot fumes (F) whose volume increases in a manner correlated to said reduction in the fume transit section. The collector is located below said conveyor inside the internal compartment essentially along the entire longitudinal development of said containing structure. Moreover, one or more through apertures are made in said support wall to put the conveyor and the collector into fluidic connection.

Apparatus to heat and transfer mainly metal materials to a melting furnace (12), the apparatus comprising a transporter device (13) configured to move the materials continuously to the melting furnace (12), and at least an induction heating unit (28) associated with the transporter device (13) and configured to heat by electromagnetic induction the materials moved in the transporter device (13), keeping them in a solid state.

A sealed feeder device utilized in an electric arc furnace (1), and a flue gas and temperature control method. The sealed feeder device comprises a sealed feeding chute (5) having an outlet sealedly communicating with a side wall of the electric arc furnace (1), and a material blocking sealed arc-shaped door (3) disposed in the sealed feeding chute (5). The material blocking sealed arc-shaped door (3) separates the sealed feeding chute (5) into a cold steel scrap storage chamber (18) and a material feeding and dedusting chamber (2), and is operated by a driving mechanism (34) to separate or connect the cold steel scrap storage chamber (18) and the material feeding and dedusting chamber (2). The method comprises: adopting the feeder device to divide the flue gas of the electric arc furnace (1) into two paths, and controlling, by a flue gas adjustment device (16), a ratio of a flue gas flow from a flow-splitting dust removal pipe (11) to that from a dust removal pipe (4) to obtain a required flue gas mixture temperature.

An electric furnace with energy utilization efficiency at a low cost. In an electric furnace, a preheating chamber 2 with a melting chamber 1 is used to preheat iron scrap x, an exhaust gas generated in melting chamber 1 is passed through preheating chamber 2 filled with the iron scrap x to preheat the iron scrap x, the iron scrap x descends in the preheating chamber 2 to be supplied into melting chamber 1, and the iron scrap x is melted to obtain molten iron m. The iron scrap x is charged into preheating chamber 2 so that bulk density is not less than 0.50 t/m.sup.3 and less than 1.00 t/m.sup.3 and an iron scrap filling ratio H.sub.SC/H.sub.SF in the preheating chamber 2 is 0.5 to 0.8. A carbonaceous material is used for melting the iron scrap x, and oxygen and the carbonaceous material are blown into the melting chamber.

The present application relates to a process for the purification of waste materials or industrial by-products, the process comprising the steps of: a) Preparing a composition (C) by blending or mixing waste materials or industrial by-products comprising chlorine (B) with one or more materials comprising heavy metals (HM) b) Reacting (B) and (HM) by thermal treatment of (C) c) Separating evaporated heavy metal chloride compounds (HMCC) d) Obtaining a solid material after the thermal treatment step.

To reduce production costs by increasing molten iron heating efficiency, a production method using an electric furnace is provided with a preheating chamber, a melting chamber, a cold iron source supporter operable to partition the preheating chamber into a first and a second preheating chamber, an extruder, and a video device operable to observe the second preheating chamber is used, the method including a melting process, a heating process, a preheating process, and a tapping process are performed. In the heating process, heating of the molten iron is started after the cold iron source supporter is closed, and based on the visual information obtained via the video device of the second preheating chamber.

To ensure stable supply of a cold iron source to a melting chamber, a method of producing molten iron uses an electric furnace that includes: a preheating chamber; a melting chamber; an extruder located in the preheating chamber; and a video device configured to observe an inside of the melting chamber, and comprises: an extrusion process of supplying a cold iron source preheated in the preheating chamber to the melting chamber by the extruder; and a melting process of melting the cold iron source supplied to the melting chamber by arc heat to obtain molten iron, wherein in the extrusion process, a moving amount of the extruder and/or a time interval for moving the extruder is controlled based on visual information obtained from the video device.

A method and system for recovering a high yield of low carbon ferrochrome from chromite and low carbon ferrochrome produced by the method. A stoichiometric mixture of feed materials including scrap aluminum granules, lime, silica sand, and chromite ore are provided into a plasma arc furnace. The scrap aluminum granules are produced from used aluminum beverage containers. The feed materials are heated, whereupon the aluminum in the aluminum granules produces an exothermic reaction reducing the chromium oxide and iron oxide in the chromite to produce molten low carbon ferrochrome with molten slag floating thereon. The molten low carbon ferrochrome is extracted, solidified and granulated into granules of low carbon ferrochrome. The molten slag is extracted, solidified and granulated into granules of slag.

A method of reduction of a metal oxide material and a metal material production configuration adapted for manufacture of reduced metal material, a metal oxide material production unit produces a metal oxide material holding thermal energy, a direct reduction facility is configured for introduction of a reducing agent adapted to react with the metal oxide material. The method includes the steps of; charging the metal oxide material, holding thermal energy; introducing the reducing agent; reducing the metal oxide material to reduced metal material by utilizing the thermal energy of the metal oxide material to heat or further heat the introduced reducing agent for achieving a chemical reaction; and discharging the reduced metal material from the direct reduction facility.

A direct reduction facility and a data program configured to execute an automatic or semi-automatic manufacture of reduced metal material ready to be transported to a metal production site.

To directly and clearly observe the state inside a melting chamber in an electric furnace, a video-device-equipped electric furnace comprises: a melting chamber; a preheating chamber; and a video device to observe an inside of the melting chamber. The video device includes: a relay lens; an inner tube containing the relay lens and having an outer diameter of 100 mm or less; an outer tube containing the inner tube; and an imaging device located at an axial end of the relay lens on a furnace outside. The video device is provided through a hole in a furnace wall or lid so that the relay lens is located 300 mm to 3500 mm away from a highest molten iron interface in a vertically upward direction and the imaging device is located 300 mm or more away from an inner wall of the furnace wall or lid in a furnace outward direction.