Electric Arc Furnace-Arcing Between Electrodes

I have heard that a lot of dust can cause electrode to electrode arcing....or perhaps some on startup...

Electricity always takes the path of least resistance.

There several good papers written on arc furnaces and the control of same. If you do a google search you will come across these. One is by a gentleman by the name of Gary Baker. He has written several and co-authored others. You will gain much knowledge there when it comes to Arc Furnaces

Good Luck.

There are 2 places that arcing will occur;

1) In the roof electrode portholes (mostly due to metal dust)

-are your portholes water cooled?,This is important ,and cause problems with arcing!

2) Near the molten bath / scrap - please check the molten bath grounding !!

This is especially required when staring a new lined EAF ,but could happen later

but rarely (please approach your electricians-to see no damage is done to Trafo...)

3) On electrode arms - that's the worst scenario,and a lot of damage !!

Ofcourse you should check the St.St. bolts and their Micenite (?) insulators

-Every opportunity you have...

It seems to me that would occur when the scrap or molten metal is too far away from the electrodes (more distance than electrode spacing). Can the distance be adjusted to stop the improper arc?

The adgustment is limited acc. to portholes in the EAF Roof - very limited!

High moisture content inside the furnace.

Excessively high voltage.

Unwanted grounding of one of the electrodes to the furnace frame.