Crucible furnaces are small capacity furnaces used for small melting applications or exclusively as holding furnaces. The metal is placed or poured into a ceramic crucible which is contained in a circular furnace that is fired by a gas burner or heated by electric elements. The heating fuel is typically coke, oil, gas or electricity. Gas-fired crucible style furnaces offer the advantage of a high-volume melt capacity per square foot of floor space required. They are perhaps the most flexible of all furnace styles. Less affected by frequent cycling, they offer faster start-ups and temperature recovery.

Silcarb has in excess of 1100 crucible furnaces currently operating in India and around the world.

Silcarb manufactures crucible furnaces with the primary heat source being electric, gas, heavy fuel. These crucible furnaces can be used for melting aluminium, copper, brass and in fact most nonferrous metals. In the electric range of crucible furnaces that silcarb manufactures the heat source usually is the silicon carbide heater which is manufactured in house. These heaters are highly energy-efficient and ensure energy consumption as low as 11 units of energy consumed to hold 500 kgs of molten metal.

The heaters in combination with silcarb’s refractory insulation of microporous insulation and low-density insulation make this furnace very low energy, low capital, low maintenance furnace. The average life expected out of this combination of refractory insulation and heaters is usually 5-7 years of continuous operation. The same combination of refractory insulation is also extended to our fuel-fired(gas, heavy fuel) systems. Combustion systems used in the silcarb furnace is completely tailor-made to suit nonferrous applications.

Recuperates, direct flame systems are used in order to increase efficiency. Flue paths inside the furnace are elongated to get maximum “time spent” in the furnace hot zone. Silcarb has a unique “crucible failure” alarm inbuilt in all its crucible furnaces as a safety feature.

All automated control systems with molten metal temperature measurement systems allow the aluminium temperature to be maintained in tight tolerances.