Description:FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[001] The present disclosure relates to a melting furnace. Particularly, the present disclosure relates to a process for replacing one or more heating element of a melting furnace.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[002] Known melting furnaces/heater, such as aluminum melting furnaces are used for melting solid form of raw material into liquid in a crucible by use of heating elements, such as coils, which are positioned surrounding the crucible. Existing heating elements are double shank heaters. A number of double shank heaters are positioned surrounding the crucible. Figures 1 to 13 discloses a typical melting furnace (1a) defined with a base structure (1), a brick lining (2), a crucible stand (3), a ceramic fiber lining (4), a heating element (double shank heaters) (5) with respective heater connected plates (5a), a crucible (6), a terminal box (7), a lid (8) (shown in Figure 5) and a door assembly (9). All the above mentioned elements of the typical melting furnace (1) are known in the art and are also self-explanatory in the Figure 1. In event if one or more of the double shank heaters are fused or incapable to work, these double shank heaters needs to be replaced. The process for replacing known double heating elements is illustrated in Figures 1 to 13 and the steps and time taken for each step is tabulated below:
Step Number Process steps Duration for execution of the process step
1 Dismantling of the door assembly (9) 10 minutes
2 Dismantling top the lid (8) 05 minutes
3 Dismantling of the terminal box (7) 30 minutes
4 Allowing cooling of melting furnace (1) to reach room temperature 6-8 hours (forced cooling by exposing to a fan (9a))
10-12 hours (natural air cooling)
5 Dismantling the crucible (6) 30 minutes
6 Identifying the fused and removal of heat connector plate (5a) 10-15 minutes
7 Allowing the technician (X) to move within the melting furnace (1) for replacement of fused heating element (5) with new heating element (5) 1 hour
8 Inserting and assembling the crucible (6) 30 minutes
9 Assembling the terminal box (7) 30 minutes
10 Assembling top the lid (8) 05 minutes
11 Assembling of the door assembly (9) 10 minutes
TOTAL TIME 15 to 16 hours

[003] From the above table, there is a lot of time wasted for allowing cooling of melting furnace (1), removal of crucible (6), moving of the technician (X) within the melting furnace (1) and insertion of crucible (6). Further, as there is a need for cooling of melting furnace (1) because the technician (X) needs to move within the melting furnace (1), there is wastage of heat energy resulting in power losses. Furthermore, the removal and insertion of crucible (6) may damage the crucible (6) during handling (i.e. during lifting and lowering). Further, there is loss of production time owing more time to maintenance and downtime.

[004] Hence, there is a need for a process for replacing a heating element of a melting furnace and alleviates some of the above mentioned drawbacks.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
[005] Some of the objects of the arrangement of the present disclosure are aimed to ameliorate one or more problems of the prior art or to at least provide a useful alternative and are listed herein below.

A principle object of the present disclosure is to provide a process for replacing a heating element of a melting furnace that requires less time for replacement.

Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a process for replacing a heating element of a melting furnace that does not require removal of a crucible and hence does not cause damage in handling of crucible as in known art.

Yet another object of the present disclosure is to provide a process for replacing a heating element of a melting furnace that does not need cooling and hence there is no wastage of heat energy and power loss consumed for generating the heat energy.

Still another object of the present disclosure is to provide a process for replacing a heating element of a melting furnace that does not require technician to move in the crucible.

Other objects and advantages of the present disclosure will be more apparent from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying figures, which are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[006] The present disclosure discloses a method for replacing a heating element of a melting furnace. The method includes:
• dismantling a door of the melting furnace;
• detaching a lid from the melting furnace;
• detaching a terminal box from the melting furnace;
• identifying fused heating element by testing each heating element by a technician standing outside and in vicinity of the melting furnace;
• dismantling fused heating element by the technician standing outside and in vicinity of the melting furnace;
• replacing a heating element, capable the heat, by the technician standing outside and in vicinity of the melting furnace;
• assembling said terminal box with said melting furnace;
• assembling said lid with said melting furnace; and
• assembling said door with said melting furnace,
wherein, each heating element is defined with a shank with a bush.
In one embodiment, the step of dismantling and assembling of the terminal box are performed with a material handling equipment.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
[007] The present disclosure will now be described with the help of the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 illustrates a schematic perspective view of an existing melting furnace (01);

Figure 2 illustrates a schematic internal view of a melting furnace (01) of the Figure 1;

Figure 3 illustrates a schematic view of the known heating element (5) which is double shank;

Figure 4 illustrates a schematic view of a door assembly (9) which is dismantled which is the first step of known replacement process;

Figure 5 illustrates a schematic view of a lid (8) which is dismantled as the next step;

Figure 6 illustrates a schematic view of a terminal box (7) which is being dismantled as the next step;

Figure 7 illustrates a schematic view of a terminal box (7) which is dismantled as the next step;

Figure 8 illustrates a schematic view of the process for cooling the melting furnace (01) as the next step;

Figure 9 illustrates a schematic view of a crucible (6) which is dismantled as the next step;

Figure 10 illustrates a schematic view of a heater connected plates (5a) of the fused heating element;

Figure 11 illustrates a schematic view of a technician (X) within the known melting furnace (1);

Figure 12 illustrates a schematic view of a technician (X) dismantling and removing the fused heating element (5);

Figure 13 illustrates a schematic view of a technician (X) assembling the fused heating element (5);

Figure 14 illustrates a schematic view of dismantling a door (11) of the melting furnace (100) which is the first step, in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figure 15 illustrates a schematic view of dismantling a lid (12) from the melting furnace (100) which is the next step;

Figure 16 illustrates a schematic view of detaching bolts (13a) of a terminal box (13) from the melting furnace (100);

Figure 17 illustrates a schematic view of detaching the terminal box (13) from the melting furnace (100);

Figure 18 illustrates a schematic view of dismantling fused heating element (10) by the technician standing outside and in vicinity of the melting furnace (100);

Figure 19 illustrates a schematic view of replacing a heating element (10), capable the heat, by the technician standing outside and in vicinity of the melting furnace (100);

Figure 20 illustrates an exploded enlarged view of heating elements (10) removed outside the melting furnace (100); and

Figure 21 illustrates the heating element (10) which is a single shank defined with a single shank (10a) and bush (10b).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure also discloses a method for replacing a heating element (10) of a melting furnace (100). Figures 14 to 21 depict various method steps and components of the melting furnace (100). Typically, in a non-limiting embodiment, the melting furnace (100) is an aluminum melting furnace (100). The melting furnace (100) includes a heating element (10), a door (11), a lid (12) and a terminal box (13). To execute the best method which initiates by dismantling the door (11) of the melting furnace (100) as illustrated in Figure 14. The next step is detaching the lid (12) from the melting furnace (100) as illustrated in Figure 15. The next step is detaching a terminal box (13) from the melting furnace (100) as illustrated in Figure 16. In one embodiment, the step of dismantling of the terminal box (13) is performed with a material handling equipment like a crane.
[008] The next step is identifying fused heating element (10) by testing, by ohmmeter, each heating element (10) by a technician (X) standing outside and in vicinity of the melting furnace (100) as illustrated in Figure 17. The next step is dismantling fused heating element (10) by the technician standing outside and in vicinity of the melting furnace (100) as illustrated in Figure 18. The next step is replacing a new heating element (10), capable to heat, by the technician standing outside and in vicinity of the melting furnace (100) as illustrated in Figure 19.

[009] Further, the next step is assembling the terminal box (13) with the melting furnace (100). In one embodiment, the step of assembling of the terminal box (13) is performed with a material handling equipment like a crane. The next step is assembling the lid (12) with the melting furnace (100). The next step is assembling the door (11) with the melting furnace (100). Each heating element (10) is defined with a shank (10a) with a bush (10b). The shank (10a) is a single shank and the bush (10b) is fitted on one side of the shank (10a).

[010] The time required to perform the process is tabulated below:

Step Number Process steps Duration for execution of the process step
1 Dismantling of the door (11) 10 minutes
2 Dismantling the lid (12) 05 minutes
3 Dismantling of the terminal box (13) 30 minutes
4 Identifying fused heating element (10) by testing, by ohmmeter, each heating element (10) by a technician (X) standing outside and in vicinity of the melting furnace (100) 05 minutes
5 Dismantling fused heating element (10) by the technician standing outside and in vicinity of the melting furnace (100) 15 minutes
6 Replacing a new heating element (10), capable the heat, by the technician standing outside and in vicinity of the melting furnace (100) 15 minutes
7 assembling the terminal box (13) 30 minutes
8 assembling the lid (12) with the melting furnace (100) 05 minutes
9 assembling the door (11) with the melting furnace (100) 10 minutes
TOTAL TIME 125 minutes i.e. approximately around 2-3 hours

[011] Thus, the process for replacing the heating element (10) of the melting furnace (100) requires less time for replacement i.e. 2-3 hours instead of 15-16 hours. The process for replacing the heating element (10) of the melting furnace (100) does not require removal of the crucible as known in the art and hence does not cause damage in handling of crucible as in known art. The process for replacing the heating element (10) of the melting furnace (100) does not need cooling as there is no need to remove crucible and also there is no need for technician to move in the melting furnace (100) and hence there is no wastage of heat energy and power loss consumed for generating the heat energy. The process for replacing a heating element (10) of the melting furnace (100) does not require technician to move in the crucible.

[012] The foregoing description conveys the best understanding of the objectives and advantages of the present invention. Different embodiments, steps or alternatives may be made of the inventive concept of this invention. It is to be understood that all matter disclosed herein is to be interpreted merely as illustrative, and not in a limiting sense.
, Claims:We Claim:

1) A process for replacing a heating element (10) of a melting furnace (100), said process comprising:
• dismantling a door (11) of the melting furnace (100);
• detaching a lid (12) from the melting furnace (100);
• detaching a terminal box (13) from the melting furnace (100);
characterized in that:
• identifying fused heating element (10) by testing each heating element (10) by a technician standing outside and in vicinity of the melting furnace (100);
• dismantling fused heating element (10) by the technician standing outside and in vicinity of the melting furnace (100);
• replacing a heating element (10), capable the heat, by the technician standing outside and in vicinity of the melting furnace (100);
• assembling said terminal box (13) with said melting furnace (100);
• assembling said lid (12) with said melting furnace (100); and
• assembling said door (11) with said melting furnace (100),
wherein, each heating element (10) is defined with a shank with a bush.

2) The process for replacing a heating element (10) of a melting furnace (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of dismantling and assembling of said terminal box (13) are performed with a material handling equipment.