The furnace department is responsible for taking lime, which is generally shipped to us in railcars; coke, which is shipped to us on the Ohio River in barges; and electrical power, and producing calcium carbide. This is fundamentally the same furnacing process that was discovered in the 1890's.

The materials come together in a SAF, a type of electric furnace. There, the electrical energy is converted to heat which causes the lime and coke to react according to the chemical reaction:

3C + CaO --> CaC2 + CO

CaC2 is the chemical formula for calcium carbide.

Using the gray menu above, you can find out more about this process and the modern equipment and techniques that produce calcium carbide.

In the picture: the small transfer house at the right conveys coke and lime up to the top fo the furnace building on the left. The furnace building houses the furnace itself, the electrodes, additional conveyors to the furnace, and the tapping platforms.