Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering, 2021, 9, 61-74 https://www.scirp.org/journal/jmmce ISSN Online: 2327-4085 ISSN Print: 2327-4077 DOI: 10.4236/jmmce.2021.91005 Jan. 21, 2021 61 J. Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering Melting Time Prediction Model for Induction Furnace Melting Using Specific Thermal Consumption from Material Charge Approach Onigbajumo Adetunji 1* , Seidu Saliu Ojo 2 , Akinlabi Oyetunji 2 , Newton Itua 2 1 School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia 2 Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria Abstract A system-level evaluation was used to analyze the induction furnace opera- tion and process system in this study. This paper presents an investigation into the relationship between the instantaneous chemical composition of a molten bath and its energy consumption in steelmaking. This was evaluated using numerical modelling to solve for the estimated melting time prediction for the induction furnace operation. This work provides an insight into the lowering of energy consumption and estimated production time in steelmak- ing using material charge balancing approach. Enthalpy computation was implemented to develop an energy consumption model for the molten metal using a specific charge composition approach. Computational simulation program engine (CastMELT) was also developed in Java programming lan- guage with a MySQL database server for seamless specific charge composition analysis and testing. The model performance was established using real-time production data from a cast iron-based foundry with a 1 and 2-ton induction furnace capacity and a medium carbon-based foundry with a 10- and 15-ton induction furnace capacity. Using parameter fitting techniques on the meas- ured operational data of the induction furnaces at different periods of melt- ing, the results from the model predictions and real-time melting showed good correlation between 81% - 95%. A further analysis that compared the relationship between the mass composition of a current molten bath and melting, time showed that energy consumption can be reduced with effective material balancing and controlled charge. Melting time was obtained as a function of the elemental charge composition of the molten bath in relation to the overall scrap material charge. This validates the approach taken by this research using material charge and thermodynamic of melting to optimize and better control melting operation in foundry and reduce traditional waste during iron and steel making. How to cite this paper: Adetunji, O., Ojo, S.S., Oyetunji, A. and Itua, N. (2021) Melt- ing Time Prediction Model for Induction Furnace Melting Using Specific Thermal Consumption from Material Charge Ap- proach. Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering, 9, 61-74. https://doi.org/10.4236/jmmce.2021.91005 Received: October 15, 2020 Accepted: January 18, 2021 Published: January 21, 2021 Copyright © 2021 by author(s) and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access