Construction and Performance analysis of Pit furnace by using Biodiesel

From the past years coal is used as major fuel source for melting nonferrous metal in many foundry industries which is hazardous. The coal should be replaced by environmental friendly or reduced pollutant fuels. Biodiesel is derived from non-edible oil seeds, contains calorific value is almost equal to 90% diesel. Biodiesel emits low carbon, sulfur emissions during its combustion. This research concentrates on utilization of biodiesel as a fuel in pit furnace to melt aluminum scrap. An attempt is made to study the performance of Karanja biodiesel on pit furnace. The developed furnace melts 20 kg of aluminum in 40 minutes and attains a maximum temperature of 10000C. The thermal efficiency of furnace is found to be 18.71%. Normal thermal efficiency of pit furnace lies between 4-19 %. The furnace is fitted with medium exhaust pipe for easy escape of combustion gases. The blower is used to supply air and to atomize the fuel into the furnace chamber. The top surface of furnace is closed to avoid conventional and radiation losses. An air gap is provided as insulation of furnace. This furnace can effectively be used in academic laboratories to melting of nonferrous metal.