I've been casting for a while off a friend's blacksmiths forge using
coke as the fuel. It's a fairly easy process, and we haven't had any
trouble so far getting up to melts of about 12lbs. of bronze. Takes
15-20 minutes to do a melt from cold metal.

I also got out an old foundry text book, which has some useful tables
on the energy per pound from burning coke, air consumption etc. No
units given - this is a fairly old book.

My question is: does anyone know where I can find a table for the
energy required to melt different alloys and metals? Not the
temperature required, but the total energy required to get the melt.
I'm looking at building a coke furnace, and I'd like to be able to do
some ballpark estimates on how much metal could reasonably be poured.

regards,

Matt Turner
Turner Racing Shells Ltd.

Matthew Turner wrote:
....
I'm looking at building a coke furnace, and I'd like to be able to do
some ballpark estimates on how much metal could reasonably be poured.


I'd say that the chances of your doing this (estimating) are really,
really small. Because I don't think that you'll be able to get any kind
of handle on your efficiency. When you burn a pound of coke, most of
the energy goes up the flue. Most(?) of what's used heats the furnace
itself. The rest heats/melts the charge. The numbers are so dependent
upon your design (size, geometry, material, air flow, etc) that you'll
never get a reliable estimate, even a ballpark one. IMVHO, of course.

Bob

"Matthew Turner" wrote in message
om...
I've been casting for a while off a friend's blacksmiths forge using
coke as the fuel. It's a fairly easy process, and we haven't had any
trouble so far getting up to melts of about 12lbs. of bronze. Takes
15-20 minutes to do a melt from cold metal.

I also got out an old foundry text book, which has some useful tables
on the energy per pound from burning coke, air consumption etc. No
units given - this is a fairly old book.

My question is: does anyone know where I can find a table for the
energy required to melt different alloys and metals? Not the
temperature required, but the total energy required to get the melt.
I'm looking at building a coke furnace, and I'd like to be able to do
some ballpark estimates on how much metal could reasonably be poured.

regards,

Matt Turner
Turner Racing Shells Ltd.

Hey Matt. Haven't seen messages from you on oldtools for a while.

Take a look at "Gas Burners for Forges, Furnaces, and Kilns" by Michael
Porter.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...books&n=507846

Pete

Bob Engelhardt writes:

I'd say that the chances of your doing this (estimating) are really,
really small. Because I don't think that you'll be able to get any kind
of handle on your efficiency.

More complicated still than mere static efficiency. There are differential
equations that govern based on rates. You can add arbitrary amounts of
heat and not melt anything, if the addition is too slow.

Don't know if this is what you are looking for, but for several years I
have operated a coke-fired crucible furnace that pre-heats its air
blast. On the average it can melt about 2 1/2 lb. brass to 1 lb. coke,
so with a coke cost of $95.00/ton this comes to about $0.047 worth of
fuel per pound of brass, or approximately $1.00 worth to melt a 50 lb.
pot. I haven't checked the price of coke recently so the cost may be a
bit higher now.
Mike

replying to Bob Engelhardt, Mastermelter wrote:
bobengelhardt wrote:

...
I'd say that the chances of your doing this (estimating) are really,
really small. Because I don't think that you'll be able to get any kind
of handle on your efficiency. When you burn a pound of coke, most of
the energy goes up the flue. Most(?) of what's used heats the furnace
itself. The rest heats/melts the charge. The numbers are so dependent
upon your design (size, geometry, material, air flow, etc) that you'll
never get a reliable estimate, even a ballpark one. IMVHO, of course.
Bob


AFS Cupola Handbook says 1 pound of Coke will melt 6 pounds of Cast Iron.

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