electric furnace: see furnace furnace, enclosed space for the burning of fuel. There are many kinds of furnaces, the type depending upon the fuel and the use to which the heat produced within it is put. Most familiar are the furnaces used in the heating of buildings.
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electric furnace

Chamber heated with electricity to very high temperatures, for melting and alloying metals and refractories. Modern electric furnaces generally are either arc furnaces or induction furnaces. Arc furnaces produce roughly two-fifths of the steel made in the U.S. In the induction furnace, a coil carrying alternating electric current surrounds the container or chamber of metal; circulating eddy currents induced in the metal produce extremely high temperatures.

electric furnace [i¦lek·trik ′fər·nəs]

(engineering)

A furnace which uses electricity as a source of heat.

Electric furnace

An enclosed space heated by electric power. The furnace may be in such forms as a refractory crucible, a large tiltable refractory basin with a capacity of 100 tons (91 metric tons) and a removable roof, or a long insulated chamber equipped with a continuous conveyor. Heat is provided by an arc to the charge or melt (direct-arc furnace), by an arc between electrodes (indirect-arc furnace), or by an arc confined for concentrated heating by an electromagnetic field (plasma-arc furnace). Heat may also be produced by current flowing in the melt. See Electrometallurgy, Pyrometallurgy

Because the source of heat is nonchemical, electric furnaces are especially desirable in melting alloys of controlled composition. Temperature is also readily controlled. The arc furnace may be used to smelt ores or to refine metals or alloys. Induction furnaces are widely used to melt alloys for castings. Because electric furnaces can be enclosed, they are used for operations that require controlled or inert atmospheres, such as growing crystals or annealing. When sealed and evacuated, they are used in degassing metals. Furnaces with hearth resistors are used for operations below melting temperatures, such as annealing, and with infrared heat lamps, for drying paints or setting glues. See Arc heating, Electric heating, Heat treatment (metallurgy), Kiln, Refractory