Fabrication and performance evaluation of oil –fired crucible furnace using locally sourced materials

The technological advancement of any nation have been influenced and uplifted by the extent to which it can\ud usefully harness and convert its mineral resources.The production of metal in foundries and in all human lives\ud have become a general practice.This paper deals with the design, fabrication and performance evaluation of an\ud oil-fired crucible furnace using locally sourced materials . The components of oil fired crucible furnace were\ud furnace casing, crucible,furnace cover,burner housing,furnace cover stand,base stand and burner, Design\ud drawings were produced and mild steel sheet was used for the fabrication of the furnace, while the other\ud components needed for the design were selected based on functionality, durability, cost and local availability..\ud Experimental tests were performed to evaluate the performance of the furnace. The results showed that the\ud furnace has a heating rate of 43.9°C/min and attained a temperature as high as 1386 °C . The furnace also had\ud a melting rate of 333.3g/min for Aluminum and 115.8 g/min for Copper. The efficiency of the furnace was\ud determined to be 10.34%.The low value was as result of the large energy wastage due to the open nature of the\ud furnace