PENAMBAHAN TUTUP PADA TUNGKU PELEBURAN LOGAM DENGAN BAHAN BAKAR GAS LPG SEBAGAI PENUNJANG PRAKTIKUM MAHASISWA

The foundry industry is indispensable in the development of metal products, both machinery, and household products. A metal smelting kitchen is an important tool in producing a product. The availability of smelting furnaces is currently still limited and the price is relatively expensive. As is known, it plays a strategic role, especially in industry and education as a medium for metal casting practice. The smelting of 1 kg of aluminum in the smelter without and using a bulkhead, with LPG fuel assisted by air from a blower that was carried out at the USU Mechanical Engineering Foundry Laboratory, consumed 0.42 kg of fuel with a smelting time of 18 minutes. The purpose of this research is to make a metal smelting furnace with the addition of a furnace cover so that it will reduce smelting time and save fuel. This research was conducted by testing a furnace with 500 g of material, with a temperature reaching 812⁰ C with a time of 4.19 minutes. The metal material used is a used motorcycle brake canvas. Furnaces with lids turned out to be able to accelerate the heating of the furnace space, so that the melting time was shorter, compared to smelting furnaces that did not use lids. In this study the manufacture of a crucible furnace with walls or blankets of refractory cement, and fuel using LPG. This research was conducted at the Metal and Automotive Laboratory of the Lampung State Polytechnic