International Journal of Research & Review (www.ijrrjournal.com) 75 Vol.5; Issue: 2; February 2018 International Journal of Research and Review www.ijrrjournal.com E-ISSN: 2349-9788; P-ISSN: 2454-2237 Original Research Article Thermal Design of an Oil Fired Crucible Furnace using CFD Technique Beneth C. Chukwudi, Martins B. Ogunedo Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imo State University, Owerri Corresponding Author: Martins B. Ogunedo ABSTRACT Thermal design of a furnace could be complex and time consuming as it requires iterative calculations to arrive at expected operating temperature values of the various parts or segments of the furnace. A more accurate and time saving approach to furnace thermal design is the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technique. Hence, this study, a thermal design of an oil fired crucible furnace is carried out using the CFD application in Solid Works flow simulation software. A CFD domain was set up, and simulation parameters such as mesh analysis, material settings and boundary conditions were applied. Result of the CFD reveal that temperatures of 1131.1 K, 776.8 K, 313.2 K, and 301.1 K will exist at the crucible pot, refractory wall, casing and cover of the crucible furnace respectively. The study also indicates that the average temperature of the refractory wall would be able to withstand the thermal stresses induced by the temperature. The temperatures of the casing and cover suggest that deformation arising from furnace operation will be quite negligible, and that no hazard is posed to both the foundry operator and the diesel fuel since the maximum external temperature of 313.2 K is less than the flash point of diesel fuel which ranges from 325 K to 369 K. The study recommends that the furnace would be suitable for melting aluminum since the temperature of the crucible pot is higher than the melting point of aluminum. Key Words: Heat flux, Temperature, Simulation, Computational, Domain. INTRODUCTION A furnace is a lagged enclosure designed primarily for heating of metals in order to achieve a metallurgical change. This change could either be to refine the microstructure of the metal as in the case of a heat treatment furnace, or it could be to attain the pouring temperature of the metal as in the case of melting. In a study on the Design and Development of a Gas Fired Reverberatory Furnace: In View of Huge Gas Reserves in Nigeria, [1] noted that furnace design is a complex process, and the design can be optimized based on multiple factors. One of such multiple factors is the thermal factor which comprises of: the surface heat flux, thermal conductivity of solid, and heat transfer rate. In carrying out thermal designs, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has become a helpful tool for heat transfer studies, this approach among many other benefits enables the designer to have a better understanding of the work being designed while saving the cost and time involved in running tests aimed at generating performance data prior to the validation and production stages. Researches such as Modeling and Event Based Simulation of an Earthmoving Digger Using Solid Works Premium 2014 carried out by [2] shows the effectiveness of CAD models and simulation in engineering design process. Therefore, this study aims at carrying out a thermal design of an oil fired crucible furnace using the CFD feature available in Solid Works Flow Simulation software. The objective of CFD study is to simulate prevailing physical and