An Economic Analysis of Acid vs. Basic Arc Melting

摘要

Perhaps the most discussed topic among North American foundry metallurgists is acid Vs basic melting. There have been several recent papers written on the subject however controversy still exists. The trend has switched from the United States being predominantly acid melting in the 1980's to the present, where most of the foundries are basic melting, yet the raw materials required to melt by the basic practice are more costly than the materials required for the acid practice. It is apparent that more factors other than material costs are considered when choosing the melting practice. There must be savings to be realized when using the basic melt practice either by improved efficiency, productivity or quality. And there must be advantages for using the acid practice since almost one third of foundries in the United States still melt with that practice. The benefits and limitations of each method are discussed in this paper and a cost analysis is given. Since it is increasingly becoming apparent that foundries must reduce costs to become profitable rather than increase selling prices, the information included in this paper should help the foundry decide if a change should be made in the melting operation.