Abstract: A direct current arc furnace is described with a cathodic electrode held in the center of the melting vessel and an anodic bottom electrode arrangement in the vicinity of an electrically conductive lower vessel from the vessel wall to the melt. The current supply and removal takes place on one side via leads to a rectifier power supply set up in spaced manner alongside the furnace. The lower vessel is connected in several quadrants with leads and in the vicinity of each quadrant a connecting plate is provided on the furnace wall. Close below the arc the power supplies are led in a horizontal plane to the furnace wall. The current intensity for the quadrants of the lower vessel adjacent to the rectifier power supplies is lower than that of the power supplies to the remaining quadrants. The spacings of the connecting plates for the quadrant areas can be unequal.

Abstract: An anode for a direct current arc furnace is proposed, in which at least part of the area of the furnace receiving the melt is provided on the inside with an electrically conductive refractory lining, which is electrically connected to the conductor located on the outside and in which a cathode is positioned vertically above the melt. The electrically conductive lining (3, 4; 9) and/or the conductor (1, 8) have varying values with respect to their electrical characteristics in the circumferential direction relative to the vertical axis of the cathode (2; 11), so that there is a planned, asymmetrical current distribution on the furnace bottom.