Abstract: Equipment for the treatment of loads or residues of non-ferrous metals and their alloys include a rotary furnace having a vessel with a sealed door. An electrode is introduced into the rotary furnace and is used to establish a free burning convective electric arc with the load introduced into the furnace or with the furnaces bottom wall. The equipment is assembled over a hinged base which allows elevating or lowering its rotation axis with respect to a horizontal plane.

Abstract: The electrode arrangement uses vertically oriented electrodes with side wall contacts for an electrothermic smelting furnace for aluminum production. The side wall contacts are radially moveable into the furnace to compensate for wear on the contacts. The side wall contacts can be hollow to allow a slag forming charge to be fed to the furnace.

Abstract: An AC arc furnace has a plurality of electrodes arranged inside a furnace chamber enclosed by a shell. Each electrode is electrically connected to an electrode power source in series through corresponding auxiliary electromagnetic coils. The electromagnetic coils are arranged around the furnace shell in a pre-defined geometric pattern proximate the corresponding electrodes so that when each of the electrodes receives power from the power source and generates an arc inside the furnace, external magnetic fields are generated by the corresponding series connectedelectromagnetic coils. The external magnetic fields penetrate the shell to control deflection of the arcs caused by internal magnetic fields.

Abstract: The invention provides a direct current electric arc furnace which is composed of a feeding system of direct current to the furnace, a movable electrode at the roof of the furnace, and a bottom electrode attached to the bottom of the furnace at the position deviated from the center of the bottom of the furnace, the deviated distance from the center being determined by a magnetic field, generated by a current in the steel bath of the furnace, from under an arc generated by the movable electrode to the bottom electrode, which can cancel a second magnetic field generated by the current of the feeding system.

Abstract: The invention provides a direct current electric arc furnace which is composed of a feeding system of direct current to the furnace, a movable electrode at the roof of the furnace, and a bottom electrode attached to the bottom of the furnace at the position deviated from the center of the bottom of the furnace, the deviated distance from the center being determined by a magnetic field, generated by a current in the steel bath of the furnace, from under an arc generated by the movable electrode to the bottom electrode, which can cancel a second magnetic field generated by the current of the feeding system.

Abstract: A high-purity method of forming a silicon melt utilizes a solid silicon body which is drilled to provide bores into which electrodes are inserted. The electrodes preferably are also of silicon and an electric arc-current is passed through the electrodes to generate an arc which melts out the body to define a cavity therein containing the melt. The melt may be used for the drawing of a silicon bar or for the deposition of silicon in vapor form from the melt upon a substrate in a vacuum chamber.