Long Length Electrodes

Abstract

An embodiment disclosed herein includes a monolithic graphite electrode. The electrode has a main body having a length of more than 3050 mm. Another embodiment disclosed herein includes an electrode column comprising a plurality of monolithic graphite electrodes. The column has a length of more than 3050 mm of electrode per joint. A further embodiment discussed herein is the practice of increasing the length of the electrode to minimize the occurrence of an electrode joint in the electrode column for a given length. This practice will improve efficiencies for both electrode manufacturers as well as electric arc furnace operators.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A monolithic graphite electrode comprising a main body having a length of at least 3175 mm and a pair of end faces, wherein each end face located at an opposed end of the body, wherein a first end face includes a socket and a second end face includes a threaded tang. 
     
     
         2 . The electrode of  claim 1  wherein the TPI of the tang comprises less than four. 
     
     
         3 . The electrode of  claim 2  wherein the TPI comprises less than three. 
     
     
         4 . The electrode of  claim 1  wherein diameter of the electrode comprises no more than 850 mm. 
     
     
         5 . The electrode of  claim 1  wherein the diameter of the electrode comprises from 500 mm to 900 mm. 
     
     
         6 . An electrode column wherein one of the electrodes in the column comprises the electrode of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         7 . The electrode column of  claim 6  wherein the column has an overall length of at least 6350 mm and less than two joints. 
     
     
         8 . The electrode column of  claim 6  comprising over 6300 mm of length and less than two joints. 
     
     
         9 . The electrode of  claim 1  wherein an angle of taper of the tang comprises at least 9°. 
     
     
         10 . The electrode of  claim 9  wherein the angle of taper comprises at least 15°.