The dictionary defines the cupola as a vertical cylindrical furnace for melting gray iron ingots.
The Encyclopedia Britannica, on the other hand, states that René-Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur built the first cupola furnace in France around 1720.
The cupola remains the most economical melting process if the furnace is operated continuously.
The cupola is the only secondary, non-steelmaking melting furnace that has the metal and fuel in direct contact and therefore achieves high degrees of thermal efficiency using coke, coal and charcoal. A British company has developed a cupola that does not use coal and replaces it with natural gas burners with the addition of ceramic balls inside the furnace to allow the combustion gases to pass through.
Cupolas are:
- The only smelting furnaces in which the metal output can be continuous.
- High hourly production
- Relatively low operating cost
- Simple to operate
However, these furnaces have been replaced by induction furnaces, which allow a better control of the chemical analysis and temperature of the metal and, above all, are less polluting.
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