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An electric arc furnace running a "meltdown" process. Think of it as a giant arc welder. Three giant electrodes, each 8 feet tall and 1 foot across, create a continuous electrical arcing for melting and mixing ingredients used in industrial steel casting. The electrodes never touch the steel themselves, and it's the radiant heat of over 2400° F that melts the ingredients!
The furnace itself is 20 feet across and spits out tiny globs of melted steel throughout the process. Because of the danger, I could only come within 30 feet. Even at that distance, it's once of the loudest things I've ever recorded. With pads on both mics and the level on my 702 nearly all the way down, this still peaked around -9 when recording. Thank goodness for hearing protection!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_arc_furnace
recording miscellany:
Sound Devices 702
mid/ pressure: MKH8060
side/ gradient: MKH30
recorded at Bradken Foundry in Tacoma, WA
Photo courtesy of Elaine Thomas and Bradken Foundry in Tacoma, WA.
2 comments
Hats off to folks who work in that environment daily... crazy.
@michael-jones-89: They were all super cool and excited to help out. It's not every day they get to show outsiders what they do, so they were happy to crank it up loud. It's hard to see in the picture, but they're wearing flame-retardant gear, ear protection, hard hats, and safety glasses. I was warned not look into and not to get too close to the furnace while it was in action, lest I run the risk of eye damage and flash burn.