Dedicated cathode melting furnaces are used in continuous copper rod and copper or zinc ingot casting.

If used in the production of oxygen-free copper alloys, these furnaces are mainly designed as drum-type units.

The cathodes are fed into the induction furnace by an automatic charging machine. The special shape of the drum ensures that the bath surface area is large enough for the charged cathodes to immediately submerge without oxidizing.

In oxygen-free copper production, the cathodes are preheated before being charged into the furnace to remove any residual moisture.

Inside the furnace, oxidization of the metal bath is minimized by applying a protective charcoal layer. The charcoal also actively further reduces the residual oxygen content in the molten metal.

To empty the molten metal into a casting furnace, the melting furnace is turned through its longitudinal axis up to the point where the metal can flow out into the casting furnace via a siphon. This design ensures that the metal is hermetically sealed off from the oxygen atmosphere.

Induction melting units for zinc cathodes are also designed as closed channel-type furnaces. They are mostly built as stationary units and with a much less sophisticated geometry than copper melting furnaces because they are usually emptied via runners or by pumps. The cathode packages are transferred to the furnaces by purpose-designed charging systems and fed into the metal bath using grippers. Induga also supplies the associated charging equipment, such as chain conveyors, tilting tables and gripper systems.