Analysis of Power Consumption in a Submerged Arc Furnace for MgO Single Crystal Production

Arc fusion method in a submerged arc furnace has been successfully employed to grow high quality magnesium oxide (MgO) single crystals. In present study, a 3D thermal model based on finite element method was used to quantify the power consumption in the smelting process. The Joule heating power and the voltage of the bath was predicted by the model, and then according to energy conservation, the arc efficiency and its voltage were calculated. Moreover, the bath boundary was also depicted by the model, and it was found that the location of high qualified MgO single crystals were mainly around the arc-shape bottom of solidified MgO.