A method for heating and/or melting a charge such as aluminum in a furnace using heat generated by combustion to radiatively heat the charge through a layer of protective gas wherein combustion reaction products generated by the combustion are exhausted from a lower level within the furnace, and, during melting, the protective gas layer has a higher upper boundary than during a subsequent heating period, enabling reduced NO.sub.x generation, lower fuel and oxygen consumption and reduced refractory corrosion by avoiding furnace gas flow through the high temperature upper furnace region.
A process for melting an aluminum charge into molten aluminum and simultaneously refining the molten aluminum to produce a refined molten aluminum having a low hydrogen content in a direct fired furnace (10) is provided.
