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ABSTRACT
Introduction: An Electric crucible furnace is equipment used in the foundry workshop or industry for melting metals for casting operations. They are the oldest type of melting furnaces used for melting and holding small batches of non-ferrous alloys for which a refractory crucible filled with metal is heated through the crucible wall. This paper focuses on the development of a 30-kilogram capacity diesel-fired crucible furnace used to melt aluminium metal. Drawings were produced to aid the fabrication of the furnace using a mild steel sheet while the other components needed for the fabrication were selected based on functionality, durability, availability of local materials, and cost. The test was carried out on the Electric furnace to evaluate the performance and the results obtained showed that it took the furnace to completely melt of aluminum scrap between using Electricity as the Primary Heat Source. The developed Electrical crucible furnace has a fast heating rate, efficient fuel economy as it is capable of consuming fuel less than , the heating rate is , melting rate of and heating efficiency of which is quite impressive when compared with the conventional crucible furnace of maximum efficiency. Thus, the overall efficiency of the developed furnace is 98.6%. The result above proved that the fabricated Electric crucible furnace was effective, reliable, economical, environmentally friendly, has no side effect to the operator, , useful in small scale, rural and urban foundry industries, can provide employment opportunities for Nigerian youth and useful in conducting practical in foundry workshop in any tertiary institution. The furnace can melt of aluminium scrap of automobiles, used cans, kitchen utensils, and other metals for which the melting point is above and below.
