ENERGY EFFICIENCY
NOx TECHNOLOGY
ALUMINIUM MELTING
FOREHEARTH PERFORMANCE
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Contents
Editor: Nadine Bloxsome
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
ALUMINIUM MELTING
NOx TECHNOLOGY
2 News 6 BIFCA Column
FOREHEARTH PERFORMANCE
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Production editor: Annie Baker
Energy efficiency 7 Up to 15% energy savings through process optimisation 11 Energy efficiency: Leading the change towards eco-efficient furnaces
Sales/Advertisement production: Esme Horn Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855136 Email: esmehorn@quartzltd.com
Sales Manager: Manuel Martin Quereda Email:
NOx technology 15 A furnace focused on the environment
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Managing Director: Steve Diprose
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Aluminium melting 17 Has the holding furnace had its day? 18 Casthouse capacity expansion
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Chief Executive Officer: Paul Michael
Investments 19 Oven and software investment
Published by Quartz Business Media Ltd,
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Forehearth technology 20 Training and audits optimise forehearth performance
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Comment and News
Furnace to be re-lit as Liberty Speciality Steels fires up The new chief executive of a South Yorkshire steel company has unveiled plans to re-start its biggest furnace, use green energy to power the plants and create 300 jobs. Jon Bolton (pictured) of Liberty Speciality Steels, said he also wanted to reinstate a mothballed bar coiler at Thrybergh, reopen a bloom caster at Aldwarke and spend £15m-a-year on equipment and staff. In his first interview since Liberty House Group bought the business from Tata for £100m three weeks ago, Mr Bolton said that as well as reinstating the mothballed ‘N’ electric arc furnace - used to melt scrap steel - he would bring the smaller ‘T’ furnace back up to capacity. He also wanted to grow the bar business four-fold over the next two years and introduce a ‘buy-local’ policy, while some people on temporary
contracts had already been made permanent - a “statement of intent” ahead of creating 300 jobs. Speciality Steels employs 1,700 at five steelworks, some 890 at a purifying facility in Stocksbridge, 618 at Aldwarke and Thrybergh in Rotherham and 99 at a bar mill in Brinsworth. It also has units in Wednesbury, Bolton and two in China. Liberty’s plan is to own the steel process from end to end, buying UK scrap, melting, processing and selling some to its 13 engineering businesses. “Steel is traditionally run on very thin margins, with many players taking a share. The problem is no one is making huge amounts of money. Ours is a new model in terms of ownership, control and management.” Mr Bolton added. The company also wants to introduce ‘green energy’ - possibly biodiesel - at Stocksbridge
and Rotherham to save money on electricity and gas bills. Meanwhile, Liberty was already replacing Tata’s national supply contracts with local ones, he added. “We will always look to source as much as we can locally, we recognise the contribution the business makes to the local community. I think Speciality Steels has a bright future. Every time I go into the plant and talk to people you get a buzz.”
March 2017 (Japan time). The furnace itself was intact and has been kept on hot hold. After considering options, it was determined that expediting the cold repair in parallel with the repair of the storm damages was the best approach. During the repair,
Welcome to the June 2017 issue of Furnaces International. As I am sure you will have read in the last issue, Sally Love has moved onto pastures new, so I have stepped in to make sure you still get your fix of furnace related action every three months... Some of you may recognise me from Aluminium International Today magazine. Others might even recognise me from Glass International, which is where I actually started my Quartz career some years ago! It is my pleasure to join Furnaces International on its sixth issue and I hope it continues for many more to come, but I need help from you, the readers.
NSG: Cold Repair of Float Glass Furnace in the U.S. The repair, which was originally planned in FY2020, will be carried out in FY2018. As announced on 6 March 2017, parts of the buildings and other properties at the Ottawa plant where the furnace is located were damaged by the tornado on 1
Comment
products will be shipped from the inventory at Ottawa or from other Group plants. The repair is expected to take longer than usual and the furnace is planned to resume production in December 2017.
If you have any news, product, or project stories that you would like to share, then I would love to hear from you. I am also very interested to publish any case studies or technical articles, so don’t hesitate to get in touch if this sounds like something you can help with. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this issue!
Nadine Bloxsome Editor, Furnaces International nadinebloxsome@quartzltd.com 2
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Work begins to protect historic furnaces Work is set to begin on a £1.2 million project to protect a historic former furnaces that has been classed as being at risk. A canopy will be put up over Bedlam Furnaces in Ironbridge, UK to protect it from the elements, followed by work on its masonry and stone work to ensure it will survive for future generations. For years, the Grade II* listed Scheduled Ancient Monument has been categorised as ‘High Risk’ on English Heritage’s Register of Heritage at Risk and is in need of urgent stabilisation and conservation. Several severe winters and the exposed nature of the structure have caused the deterioration of the brickwork and hard cappings and the
general deterioration in its condition. It is thought to be the last surviving furnace of its kind in the country. While Abraham Darby came to Coalbrookdale in 1708 or 1709 to begin work perfecting the use of coke to smelt iron, it wasn’t until about two or three decades later that it took off. Paul Gossage, a spokesman for the Ironbridge Gorge Museums Trust, said the Bedlam Furnaces were the first to be built specifically for the process of using coke, which makes them significant in the area’s role as part of the industrial revolution. Mr Gossage said: “In about 1785 a third of all iron in the UK was made in Coalbrookdale because of
the use of coke instead of charcoal. “These furnaces are the last remaining, of their nature, in the UK. Since 2014 the furnaces have been on the Historic England at risk register.” One of the reasons for the problems is that the furnaces, which are built into the side of a hill, are exposed to the elements and have suffered water damage. After much fundraising by the trust, and with help from Historic England, who has provided a grant of £700,000 and English Heritage, a plan has been made to put a canopy over the top of the furnaces, which will protect them from the weather in future.
Mechatherm wins multimillion furnace order A UK company specialising in the manufacturing of aluminium furnaces has secured new funding from Barclays to support a major contract win. Kingswinford-based Mechatherm International has secured the multimillion pound order to supply one of the biggest aluminium producers in
the world with melting and holding furnaces. This order has resulted in 10 new jobs being created at the company, taking the current workforce to 60 staff. The family-owned business was founded in 1973 by Louis Riley and John Gardner and specialises in the design, manufacture and installation of furnaces and ancillary products. Andrew Riley, chairman of Mechatherm International, said: “We are delighted to be awarded this order which is testimony to the expertise and hard work of our staff and enables us to compete with some of the larger
companies in the market place. “The support from UK Export Finance and Barclays has made this possible and we are delighted they have confidence in the company’s management team and financial status to deliver this order.” UK Export Finance supported the business alongside Barclays by providing a guarantee under its bond support scheme to free up Mechatherm’s working capital to fulfil the order. Later this year, the company is planning to open an office in Dubai to further grow its international sales.
News
NEWS IN BRIEF Production stopped in four furnaces of RSP With four of the five blast furnaces not being in operation at present, the fate of Rourkela Steel Plant, one of the biggest steel-making units of the country, looks uncertain, according to reports. At present, Annapurna, the fifth and only furnace of the plant is active which produces only 2,000 tonne hot metal a day and it is not adequate to meet the demand of the market. Lucideon expands 2017 Refractories Training Programme Lucideon, the international materials development and commercialisation organisation, has announced the expansion of its 2017 training schedule with five refractories courses that cover materials, performance, troubleshooting, design, and quality control during refractory installation. The one-day courses will be held at the Lucideon headquarters in Stoke-onTrent, UK and are suited for organisations looking to enhance their current refractories knowledge and grow internal expertise. For more information, visit www.lucideon.com/ refractories-training JSPL starts largest blast furnace The biggest integrated steel plant in Odisha, owned by Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL), was recently made operational on with the commissioning of the country’s largest blast furnace. The plant, with its 4,554 cubic metre blast furnace, will make Odisha the fourth-largest steel-maker in the country.
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BIFCA column
British Industrial Furnace Constructors Association Top 10 tips to improve efficiency in heat treatment processes Heat treatment processes involve highenergy usage and compliance to strict industrial regulations. Poor control of the process can lead to large amounts of wasted energy and quality issues that result in non-compliant waste products and costly fines. Here, Amber Watkins of Eurotherm, Scheider Electric, discusses points No. 8, 9 and 10 of how to get better efficiency in heat treatment processes while meeting industry standards, with furnace applications in mind.
8. Recorded Data Saves Energy
and calculating the data in a meaningful way for analysis and reporting purposes. Most
modern
energy
metres
have
We often hear people say, “I don’t know how
communications built in, allowing data to be
much energy is being used by my process,”
sent to a logger or recorder for analysis and
and legislation is driving plants to review and
reporting. Data from probes and sensors can
report their energy usage. In older factories
also be recorded by feeding the output signals
where production lines are still reliant on
into data loggers’ inputs. Full-featured digital
utility electricity meters it is often impossible
recorder models have advanced mathematical
to tell how much energy is used on individual
functions to carry out calculations on the data.
lines and processes in the plant, and even if
The resulting signals can also be recorded,
modern energy meters and sensors have been
providing valuable information to engineers
fitted at optimum points of measurement,
responsible for meeting energy saving targets
you still need a way of collecting, recording
and for reporting to management.
to its optimum capacity during its planned run
failure occurs. Also, given the benefit of visual
time. The result is then measured against the
data, maintenance personnel are often able
maximum possible running time to calculate
to recognise when components are starting
The equipment used in the treatment of
the TEEP. The calculations involve metrics
to fail. For example, a failing compressor will
materials can have a hard life, whether batch or
based on loading, availability, performance
show a recognisable wave signal. The recording
continuous processes. Equipment like heaters,
and quality and the resulting information
product can be configured to trigger an alarm
thermocouples, motors and compressors can
shows up efficiency problems like down-time
based on aspects of this kind of signal pattern
become degraded over time and may not be
due to unplanned maintenance and product
using maths functionality, informing the
operating at their full potential. It is difficult
quality issues.
maintenance team and preventing unplanned
9. Benchmarking for Furnace Uptime
down time. The ability to make comparisons
to know when components are wearing out
The benefit of recording your process is that
and likely to cause problems in the process.
you can use the data to benchmark aspects
between
Also, Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)
of the output for comparison over time. For
data and current process data is becoming
and Total Effective Equipment Performance
example, the energy used in a batch can be
a valuable advantage to efficiency during
(TEEP)
Key
recorded and compared at monthly intervals.
manufacturing,
Performance Indicators (KPIs) in modern
If more energy is being used, something could
through better OEE and TEEP.
business. OEE quantifies the performance of a
be going wrong in the process, which can
piece of equipment or production line relative
then be investigated early before a complete
10. Smart Reporting
pasting information into documents by hand. For some people it can waste several days per month. There is a better way to produce these reports! Most reports are required on a regular basis and the solution here is a software reporting package designed for industrial automation applications. These contain configurable report templates along with drivers for pulling data from a variety of common devices and file sources. The real time saver is that the data can be pulled in automatically over a network,
are
increasingly
important
We all need to supply reports nowadays, to prove compliance to process parameters, account for energy usage and present our KPIs. It is still common to see personnel manually creating report documents and often that input data needs to come from various sources. This can mean scanning or photocopying data and images like paper charts into digital format, manually manipulating and calculating data, and cutting and
recorded
benchmarked
improving
process
profitability
creating your report the way you want it, saving it as a secure PDF and sending it to the right person. Collecting your data digitally at the source, enables you to save time in the everyday reporting process even if creating them by hand, but the most efficient way of reporting the data in the long term is to take advantage of a dedicated software reporting package, so you can get on with your daily tasks without the bother of time consuming manual reporting.
Contact BIFCA National Metalforming Centre, UK enquiry@bifca.org.uk www.bifca.org.uk 6 www.furnaces-international.com
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Energy efficiency
Up to 15% energy savings through process optimisation To determine the energy-savings potential for aluminium melting processes, minimise melting loss and create the basis for a modern heat recovery system, researchers have developed a system for monitoring and controlling the melting process, in a collaborative project between industry and science. For this purpose, the melting furnace builder ZPF GmbH was the lead manager, having also given the impetus for this undertaking. The research conducted in the scope of the project funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi), concluded in 2016 after a total term of four years, has enabled a significant reduction of the melting down time. Consequently, it was possible to achieve an improvement of up to 15% in energy efficiency. “The entire furnace system needs to be optimised in order to achieve sustainable improvements. This was the main finding from the previous project concluded in 2011, which was mainly concerned with new burner arrangements and alternative refractory material,” reported Sven-Olaf Sauke who accompanied the planning of the project. “We have made another step in this direction, with the research projects started at the beginning of 2012 and EDUSAL II project which resumed at the end of 2013.” The focus was on the one hand, on the developing of measuring technology to detect the furnace chamber by sensors. This was intended to detect and quantitatively fix the local positioning of the residual material on the melting bridge. On the other hand, the objective was to find out how a dynamic furnace system can be aligned with the melting charge, on the basis of the measured data and whether the efficiency of the overall system can be increased as a result.
"Our original expectations of energy savings of up to 15 percent have been met; measured data allow for the conclusion that this increase in efficiency is based on a reduction of the melting down time", as Sauke gladly states the success of the project, explains Sven-Olaf Sauke.
Optical measuring method to detect the furnace interior Each of the project partners has researched relating to sub-projects in their domain. To this end, fundamental
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Energy efficiency
metrological analyses on energy savings and automation for aluminium melting processes have been conducted at the Institute for Metal Forming Technology and Machinery at the Leibniz University Hannover (IFUM). To enable this, a corresponding sensor technology, that withstands the thermal condition in the surroundings of the furnace, had to be developed. An optical camera technique turned out to be most suitable for this. “The camera which was specially adapted for this project allowed the monitoring and evaluation of a melting process currently in progress, for the first time. However, applicability is at present still limited by the efficiency of the technical elements,� explains Sauke.
Since the velocity was critical for analysing the measured data, but it was insufficient in the image processing software used, the researchers developed a specific evaluation algorithm. In an initial step, this algorithm imports the data determined by the camera and generates a table from this in which the information of three images captured during the recording time are recorded. All coordinates that are outside the boundary areas of the aluminium ingot package are automatically deleted by the programme and, in a third step, the remaining surface is divided into nine defined regions. Thus, the flow properties of the melt and the position of remaining aluminium residues can be determined
systematically.
Simulations relating to the mode of operation of the dynamic furnace system The cyclically collected measured data was converted into a 3D model with the aid of specific software for further processing. This model was converted into a coordinate system, which was required for activating the mobile furnace system. The influence of the bath filling level on the exhaust gas outlet temperature and the melting down time of the ingots turned out to be low. It was furthermore examined how the pivoting of the burner and the resulting increase of the range
Figure 1. Outline of overall project. Researchers have developed a system for monitoring and controlling the melting process in a collaborative project between industry and science to determine the energy-saving potentials for aluminium melting processes
Figure 2. At present, state-of-the-art technology for aluminium melting furnaces are static burner systems in which the burner are installed stationary. During the EDUSAL II research project, the melting behaviour and burner positions were calculated with the aid of simulations at the Institute for Heat Technology and Thermodynamics (IWTT) at the Technical University (TU) in Freiberg.
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Energy efficiency
a
b
Figure 3. The camera system selected at the IFUM in Hannover for measuring height changes inside the aluminium furnace was tested in the scope of trials at the Technical University in Freiberg. As a first step, the optimal camera position above the charging cover of the furnace was determined, and the camera
affect the temperature distribution on the melting bridge. In this a significant increase of the melting capacity could be proven in comparison to a static positioning. “Consequently, the time needed for melting the aluminium residues is significantly reduced, which implies a considerable overall improvement in energy efficiency,� Sauke summarised the result of the simulations. Without exception, the simulations were conducted at the Institute for Heat Technology and Thermodynamics (IWTT) of the Technical University TU Bergakademie Freiberg. During the numeric simulations used for optimising the mode of operation of the dynamic system, both holding and melting operation were considered. In addition, investigations were conducted to the furnace system in use at the IWTT, as well as on possibilities for reducing gas consumption. As a complementary measure, investigations intended for reducing the melting loss and a major part of the hot tests under laboratory conditions have been conducted at the Foundry Institute (GI) of the Technical University Freiberg.
Figure 4. Right (a,b,c,d) During industrial tests, the ambient temperature was significantly higher than in the laboratory, which meant that it was necessary to cool the camera by compressed air. A total of eight test images were recorded over 45 minutes. In the process, the longer the aluminium ingot package was exposed to the melting treatment, the brighter the surroundings were. To avoid overexposure, the exposure time was adapted during the melting treatment.
c
Assumptions confirmed under real industrial conditions ZPF supported the collaborative project on fundamental questions, took care of the software development as well as the installation and testing of individual system components. The company based in Siegelsbach was also responsible for the test phase, using a demonstrator, and for the industrial implementation and testing. “For the field experiments, a demonstrator, which was closely based on a series system (melting furnace, type SG 1,5T5 with a melting capacity of 1.5 t/h and a holding bath capacity of 5 t), was installed but was equipped with a large number of special components, as required for the project type, such as those required for the entire measuring
d
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Energy efficiency
Figure 5. If the non-rotating burner is installed in the vicinity of region 3 the melting process starts in this area. In this case, highest average aluminium quantity accumulates at the edges, that means in the regions 7 and 8.
Figure 6. In order to be able to align the gas burner exactly onto the melting charge, ZPF developed a demonstrator with a dynamic burner system which detects the position of the melting charge with the aid of a monitoring system.
equipment,” Sauke said. Based on the coordinates transferred to the burner control by the measuring system, it was possible to swivel the system to the desired position via two servomotors. As a result, melting times could be reduced - without the quality being impaired - at lower gas consumption. “Our initial expectations of 10 to 15% reduction in energy consumption have been met; measured data allow for the conclusion that this increase in efficiency is based on a reduction of the melting down time”, stated Sauke pleased with the success of the project. The foundation for a new procedure has been laid by confirming the assumptions under real industrial conditions. In order to draw further conclusions on an optimised mode of operation, it is still necessary to improve a few things and to conduct further long-term tests. “During another R&D project, to be launched in 2017 if possible, the main focus will be directed to variable burner positions and identifying possibilities for improvement of measuring sensor
technology,” said Sauke giving an outlook for the future. Among other things, an on-line monitoring unit is expected to be used to increase the system security. The medium- to longer-term objective is that the findings should be incorporated into the development of furnace systems - not only at ZPF. “Once the technology is ready for series production, it will be for the benefit of all companies operating aluminium melting furnaces. The use in other branches of industry in which process monitoring for hot area is required is imaginable.”
(0)511 762-3007 Internet: www.ifum.uni-hannover.de TU Bergakademie Freiberg Institut
für
Wärmetechnik
und
Thermodynamik Gustav-Zeuner-Str.7, 09599 Freiberg, Germany Phone: +49 (0)3731 3939-40, Fax: +49 (0)3731 3939-42 Internet: www.tu-freiberg.de Gießerei-Institut Bernhard-von-Cotta-Straße 4, 09599 Freiberg, Germany Phone: +49 (0)3731 3924-41, Fax: +49 (0)3731
Contact www.zpf-gmbh.de
3924-42 Internet: www.tu-freiberg.de More information for the editorial department
More information for readers/ observers/interested persons: Gottfried
Wilhelm
Leibniz
ABOPR Pressedienst B.V. Leonrodstrasse 68, 80636 Munich, Germany
Universität
Institut
Phone: +49 (0)89 500315-20, Fax: +49 (0)89 500315-15
Hannover für
Umformtechnik
und
Umformmaschinen
E-mail: info@abopr.de Internet: www.abopr.de
An der Universität 2, 30823 Garbsen, Germany Phone.: +49 (0)511 762-2164/-2264, Fax: +49
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Energy efficiency
Leading the change towards eco-efficient furnaces This article presents a new Horizon 2020 project – VULKANO The VULKANO project: A Novel integrated refurbishment solution as a key path towards creating eco-efficient and competitive furnaces is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. The main goal of VULKANO is the retrofitting of two types of industrial furnaces, namely preheating and melting, applied on three energy–intensive sectors (steel, ceramic and aluminium) with a huge number of potential users in Europe. The project will be realised by the international consortium composed of 12 partners from: Spain (CIRCE, TECNALIA, TORRECID, CIDAUT), Slovenia (BOSIO, Valji), France (FIVES), Italy (CSM), Great Britain (PCM Products), Germany
(Fraunhofer), Turkey (ASAS) and Poland (IEn). The project is coordinated by CIRCE Foundation (Centre of Research for Energy Resources and Consumption), Saragossa (Spain). Intensive industries are continuously facing new challenges in order to increase the efficiency, reliability and flexibility of their processes. In particular, due to being one of the most energy intensive processes, industrial furnaces have been the focus of multiple researches in order to address radical improvements in the competitiveness and energy, environmental and cost performance at system level. For that purpose, the development of improved designs based on new materials, alternative feedstocks,
equipment and the integration of permanent monitoring and control systems into new and existing furnaces seem to be essential instrument to meet those demands. In that sense, the overall objective of the VULKANO project contributes not only to update the mainly old-aged European furnaces but also to create a path to follow in order to ensure a successful design in case of new furnaces. This path includes deployment of options comprising incremental improvements to existing technology, and the application of significant process changes using technologies that are technically reliable and have the potential to become commercially ready in the medium term.
Figure 1. Project’s key idea
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Energy efficiency
The overall objective of VULKANO project is to design, implement and validate an advanced retrofitting integrated solution to increase the energy and environmental efficiency in existing preheating and melting industrial furnaces currently fed with natural gas. This will be achieved through implementing combined new solutions based on high-temperature phase change materials (PCMs), new refractories, optimised co-firing, advanced monitoring and control systems and a holistic inhouse predictive tool. On top of that, the realistic and powerful holistic tool will also able to optimise the integration of the solution with upstream/ downstream perspective, following a life cycle and cost thinking. This predictive tool will support plant operators and decision makers to select most suitable retrofitting strategy for their plants, fostering overall efficiency, increase in competitiveness and circular economy and reducing the environmental impact of the product value chain from an LCA and LCC perspective. The solutions developed will be implemented in two real facilities: one in the ceramics sector (in Spain) and another in the steel sector (in Slovenia). And in order to validate the viability of replicating said solutions, they will also be applied in a third sector: Aluminium (in Turkey). A well-balanced consortium comprised by end users, technological solution providers and R&D centres will ensure that the objectives can be reached satisfactorily, and will enable easy replication of the strategy to improve European industrial furnaces towards more modern, energy-efficient, affordable and environmentally-friendly designs.
Integrated solution The realisation of VULKANO’s main goal of retrofitting of two types of industrial furnaces on three energy-intensive sectors can be achieved through the combined implementation of five key aspects into an integrated solution.
1. Improved Refractory Materials The VULKANO project foresees a 5% of improvement in the energy efficiency of the overall process through the development and implementation of new alternative materials for hightemperature, high-alkali environments capable to operate at higher temperatures
Figure 2. Integrated solution of the project
or/and for longer periods of time. This will lead to less process down time, greater energy efficiency as more heat kept in associated manufacturing processes, and materials that can be installed/repaired in a more efficient manner. To withstand with variations in furnace operation conditions and to overcome the current challenges existing in refractories related to reparability, durability, and recyclability, it is expected to develop in this project under eco-design criteria a new family of refractories nano-bonded able to cover more efficiently the required conditions existing in the pre-heating and melting furnaces considered in the framework of the project. Beyond this goal, VULKANO project includes the use of nano-particles containing aqueous suspensions (colloidal binders) instead of more common options as nanopowers to avoid the managing of these substances, which have technical and healthy handicaps and higher prices that hindrance to their industrial use. Additionally, VULKANO project foresees the incorporation of potential by-products of combustion process, like fly ash and by-products of aluminium industry into the refractories to foster the circular economy, decreasing environmental impacts along the value
chain and decreasing the initial installed cost (CAPEX) of the solution.
2. PCM-Based Energy Recovery VULKANO will develop a novel energy recovery system, which will allow integrating the furnace and its thermal flows downstream and upstream the process. The system will be based on high temperature PCM, which becomes a really interesting option to increase operation efficiency in the thermal transfer and transport within a single facility. This increase is promoted by taking advantage of latent heat instead of sensible heat. In this respect, VULKANO will provide an important progress in the knowledge of potential applications for PCM facing up with the challenge of implementing these materials at high temperature ranges Moreover, PCM based systems have another positive effect since they ensure a constant temperature at the outlet of the system for both streams (the exhaust gases and the preheated stream). This smoothing effect allows having a higher quality signal to feed monitoring and control systems and also facilitates the design of upstream and downstream equipment and the pollutant control at the chimney. Consequently, in this retrofitting solution, the PCM has a
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Energy efficiency
double purpose acting as a physical filter, which is able to recover energy at the same time that smooths fluctuations in the temperature profile working similar to a low-pass filter.
3. Co-firing The VULKANO project will introduce a second energy source from renewable/ alternative feedstocks with the aim to substitute the high percentage of natural gas in industrial furnaces. The use of syngas has been identified as one of the most suitable strategies to integrate retrofitting actions into industrial furnaces, as it can be mixed and complemented with natural gas.
4. Integrated Control System Most furnaces currently used at various industrial sectors that consume a large amount of energy have some kind of control system, which does not provide monitoring and an integrated control to make the transition more gradual and selfteaching. This is attributed mainly to the fact that I/O had become obsolete, which leads to the existent need to retain overall control strategies and user functional knowledge of system operations. This scenario has allowed to VULKANO project to detect an undervalued potential in the existent furnaces to improve substantially quality control requirements and hence
to improve decision-making by the engineers and technicians, in particular, when there are variations in furnace system inputs and quality of materials being processed in the furnaces and changes in market conditions. This improvement can be achieved through the high degree of reliability of computer technology and programmable logic controllers, which has also made process control systems as a whole more reliable. This circumstance and the fact that it is now possible to create single information space based on a local computer network connected to the furnace system, VULKANO project proposes to integrate the existing equipment by upgrading from a legacy DCS (Distributed Control System) to a new monitoring and control system platform. To this end, VULKANO project will develop systems able to execute dispatcher-level control functions using open mainline/modular subsystems, thereby, VULKANO project will resolve issues concerning to the integration between subsystems. As final outcome, the new and improved control system will directly contribute to achieve a more efficient furnace and consequently important fossil fuel savings. In addition, the whole control system will serve as guidance for replication in other similar furnaces listed in SPIRE roadmap.
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5. Holistic In-House Predictive Tool VULKANO project will include the development of a powerful holistic decision support tool able to address and optimise the furnace design and its energy and environmental performance taking into account the interaction between the furnace and the (1) eco-innovative retrofitting solutions and (2) upstream/ downstream processes according to LCA/ LCC premises alongside the value chain. This tool will be materialised in specific software. The application of a LCA/LCC methodology requires a comprehensive characterisation of the sectors involved in VULKANO, creating a cross sectorial database structure which will allow the comparison between the current state of each furnace and their expected performance once the retrofitting solutions will be applied. In addition, concerning the replicability of the project results, VULKANO tool will be the nexus between the solutions tested and implemented during the project and their potential applicability to other melting and preheating furnaces installed not only in the sectors included in VULKANO but also in other industrial sectors.
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CONNECTING THE INTERNATIONAL ALUMINIUM INDUSTRY
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03/10/2016 11:46
NOx technology
A furnace focused on the environment An Eco Glass Innovation policy from Falorni Tech has helped several glassmakers around the world achieve their environmental targets while maintaining flexibility for the production of multiple colours, reports Ing. Andrea Zucconi, Commercial Director. Since it was formed, Falorni Tech has focused its activity in the research of new solutions to improve the efficiency and performance of glass manufacturing industrial plants. The aim is to increase energy efficiency, minimise the environmental impact and improve safety standards for workers. Within the frame of its Eco Glass Innovation policy, Falorni Tech has developed projects and realised plants that want to achieve such important targets. At the beginning of 2017 the company completed the construction of a new concept of production facility for the fabrication of high quality coloured glass within the premises of an established and well-known Italian glass company that specialises in hand made and semiautomatic manufacturing of tableware glass. The production of glass will be based on two identical melting furnaces of a small capacity each provided with an oxygas heating system and tilting basement. The glass gathering will be effected either manually or by a fully automatic ballgathering robot, which will serve both furnaces without need of dislocation. This feature will permit the factory to manage both furnaces and production lines under the maximum flexible conditions with regard to change of colour, pull fluctuations and job change keeping the overall operating cost at a low level. The tilting basement feature is also a key element of flexibility as it allows the furnace to work either as continuous tank with a constant glass level all the time and to extract the coloured glass until the very last drop before making the colour change.
Figure 1. Furnace overview
As the present global market competition can be won only by investing in technology and improving quality, the companies are capable of maximizing flexibility, hence minimising production losses and energy consumption. The oxygen-gas heating technology in small plants is no longer a taboo. In fact it not only allows them to attain a low specific consumption, high quality of glass and production flexibility, but is also reduces NOx emissions sharply, compared with any alternative conventional heating technique. With this plant Falorni Tech aims to lessen the specific fuel consumption by up to 30% and to cut NOx emissions by up to 50% compared with the customer’s previous furnaces, but without
considering the advantages gained in higher flexibility and pull. The plant, which will be put into operation in the middle of 2017, will be accurately monitored by Falorni Tech technical staff from the start of its operation in order to collect all working data and verify the actual operating parameters. All this activity is part of the Eco Glass Innovation policy which aims to build, through field experience, the database of information on which all future projects will be based. This new application is the latest from Falorni Tech in the past two years. The most relevant application was a full oxygen/gas plant in Turkey for the production of 90 ton/day of glasswool.
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NOx technology
This furnace, which has been in operation since the end of 2015, is equipped with the latest oxy-fuel technique in combination with a VPSA plant for the on-site production of oxygen. The furnace has replaced an existing conventional recuperative furnace. In terms of consumption the new oxy-gas tank confirmed the target of expected consumption (below 1.000 kcal/kg of glass) and the expected level of emission (less than 50% NOx). As further proof of Falorni Tech’s engagement in Low NOx applications for environmental friendly purposes, another important achievement in 2017 will be the supply of a new updated oxy-gas furnace for Mexican company Grupo Pavisa at its Naucalpan, Mexico DF site. The furnace, which is currently under development, will be designed using updated software for mathematical modeling merging the results of this predictive study with Falorni Tech’s long experience in the field of furnaces for glass making. The furnace is expected to be put into operation at the beginning of 2018.
Furnace Data Type of furnace
Oxy-gas fired tank with a variable level and tilting basement.
Melting capacity
From 2 up to 3 ton/day.
Type of glass
Soda-lime glass flint and coloured.
Production
Hand-made and semi-automatic with robot gathering.
Nominal consumption
Max 3.100 kcal/kg depending on glass colour and operating conditions.
Oxygen supply
Industrial oxygen min 93% purity.
Max Melting temperature
1550°C
Contact Commercial Director, Falorni Tech, Empoli, Italy www.falornitech.com
Figure 3. High efficiency oxy/gas burner
Figure 2. Oxy/Gas combustion skid
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Aluminium melting
Has the holding furnace had its day? Equipment developments in remelting mean the traditional process route could change. David Humphrey’s, Senior Consultant, Innoval Technology discusses the tilting melting/holding furnace.
The traditional aluminium remelt processing route for melting uncoated scrap typically involves the following equipment: • A melting furnace/s for melting solid metal/scrap and alloying it to the target composition. • A holding furnace in which metal treatment to reduce alkali metals or remove inclusions takes place. Occasionally there are also small alloy “trim” additions. • A casting pit for pouring molten metal from the holder into moulds to produce slabs. Often there will be some additional equipment (degassers and/or filters) between the holder and the casting pit to improve the metal cleanliness, remove sodium/hydrogen etc. The holding furnace can also decouple the melting furnace from the casting pit to enable the melting furnace to maximise its output.
Combined melting and holding furnace A more recent trend however has been to use a tilting melter/holder. This combines the operations of both furnaces to achieve steps 1 and 2 above. An example of such a furnace can be seen in Figure 1. There have been many advances in furnace charging equipment and molten metal treatment over recent years. Taking these into account, it’s generally thought that the operational advantages of a tilting melting/holding furnace are as
Figure 1. An example of a tilting melting and holding furnace (picture courtesy of Fives)
follows: • Reduced ongoing maintenance costs particularly refractory wise. • Reduced melt loss. The transfer from melter to holder typically generates at least 0.4% loss. • Improved energy efficiency. There’s only one furnace to keep hot and no heat loss during transfer. • Improved safety due to the elimination of the risk of taphole leakages etc. with a tilting furnace. • Less complexity when undertaking alloy changes.
CAPEX costs
holder should be less than that of separate melting and holding furnaces, to maximise the efficiency of the casting pit, it is likely that you’d need multiple furnaces. Depending upon the casting pit capacity, I anticipate that typically you’d require three tilting melter holders to replace a two melter and two holder configuration. Consequently, the initial capital costs of both configurations may not be significantly different. The questions is, therefore, to melt uncoated scrap, are the days of the traditional melting and holding furnace configuration numbered, and is the tilting melter/holder the future?
Whilst the initial cost of a tilting metal/
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Aluminium melting
Casthouse capacity expansion
Glass International Directory The Directory is the essential guide to glass manufacturers and suppliers of glassmaking equipment worldwide.
Impol d.o.o. based in Slovenska Bistrica, Slovenia has placed an order for a stationary melting furnace and charging equipment for a melting rate of six to eight tons an hour with Hertwich Engineering, a company of the SMS group. It will be part of a new casting plant for rolling ingots due to start operation in May 2018. With a product portfolio that contains more than 105,000 different items, Impol is now one of the most important European suppliers of aluminium extrusions, rolled products and forgings. With some 2,050 employees, the group had a turnover of approximately 550 million euros in 2015; production volume totalled some 189,000 tons. In the last 10 years, Impol has invested a total of â‚Ź400 million in expanding its plant. Production has more than doubled during this period: up 126 per cent. The company is pursuing a long-term growth strategy with continued expansion of production - planning covers the period 2014 to 2020. As part of the current expansion phase, the existing stripcasting machine will be replaced by a new casting plant for rolling ingots. A new 35-ton melting furnace and charging equipment from Hertwich will be installed because the capacity of the existing melting furnace will no longer be sufficient. The new furnace is equipped for the use of standard primary and secondary cast materials as well as process scrap, briquetted swarf and slightly contaminated scrap from the market. The uniformity of the melt (temperature distribution and distribution of alloying additions) plays an important role as far as metal quality is concerned. An electromagnetic bottom stirrer creates the necessary bath movement to ensure good mixing. Regenerative burners are used to optimise energy consumption. The specific energy consumption is thereby significantly less than 600 kWh per ton. In addition, the furnace is equipped with oxygen measurement to allow for reacting on possible organic scrap content.
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Investment
Oven and software investment The UK’s first and only specialist in the heat treatment of aluminium alloys, Dudley-based Alloy Heat Treatment (AHT) has recently invested £500,000 in manufacturing aerospace Oven 30.
Oven 30 allows AHT to solution treat larger products and is the largest oven the company has ever owned. Its dimensions are 2.15m by 2.15m on the base and 2.5m high, which is the usable volume that they have to process parts. AHT managing director, Adrian Church said: “We’ve built and installed the biggest piece of heat treatment equipment we have ever had, in order to do work for a customer who is making parts for the new Bombardier C Series plane. “We didn’t have the capability to quench into polymer, so we expanded it when we learned about the C series. The turnover will increase with the new machine, although our industry is one where we invest speculatively. The
production capacity on that line can double for much less investment than that.” Solution treatment is a fundamental requirement for the strengthening of aluminium alloys. It entails the solid state dissolving of alloying elements into the aluminium. This is achieved at temperatures near to the melting point of the material, followed by a quench process to lock the dissolved alloying elements into place. Without this, the alloy cannot be strengthened. AHT have Nadcap approved ovens for the aircraft industry and CQI-9 compliant ovens for the automotive industry. Oven 30 will also ensure that AHT are saving energy and reducing waste.
Production director, Dave Bryant explained: “Oven 30 will allow us to quote for more work and we will be able to complete existing work quicker as we can put more product in, so this will improve our efficiency. We can reduce the energy we are using by using one oven rather than three.” In response to manufacturing Oven 30, AHT have invested an additional £35,000 into a new production control system. Church stated: “The new DNA software should give us the facility that we don’t have at the moment. The software will ensure that customers can log-in via the Internet to access our system and view the state of the progress of their parts, which is an innovative move for our business.”
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Investment
AHT enjoy long-term relationships with both aerospace primes and sub tier suppliers, applying their heat treatment expertise to semi-finished parts to increase strength, endurance and life span. The company is also Nadcap accredited to work in aerospace, defence and related industries and they have preferred supplier status to primes including Rolls Royce, BAe and Airbus.
Contact www.alloyheat.co.uk
Forehearth technology
Training and audits optimise forehearth performance John McMinn* describes how simple checks and a training and audit programme can dramatically improve forehearth performance. Apart from perhaps a gas meter and the dubious usefulness of an ‘efficiency value’, derived from equalising zone tri-level thermocouples, there is very little to inform the operator how well (or how badly) a particular forehearth is performing. It is producing gobs and the production people are not complaining too much – but exactly how does the operator know at what level the forehearth is operating? Could the performance be improved? Is it operating at 70% or 90% potential? In the absence of a ‘performance meter’ it is basically guess work. Seems OK, so best leave it alone? But leaving it alone costs money in terms of rejected ware, reduced speeds and fuel wastage. Surely, there
must be a more technical and measured approach than this? The answer is to audit the performance of the forehearth and to train operators in how to correctly evaluate how well the forehearth and its control, combustion and cooling subsystems are operating.
Forehearth performance Our experience of auditing a variety of forehearth designs across four continents has shown that sub-optimal forehearth performance is extremely common and is normally associated with a combination of factors rather than purely system de-calibration. A recurring factor is the forehearth operator, and consequently a forehearth performance audit includes an
audit of the skills and performance of the operator. Unfortunately not all operators have sufficiently high skill levels. Frequently, a forehearth audit will identify situations in which the forehearth performance had compromised production yet the operator failed to understand the origin of the problem or to acknowledge a problem existed.
Training To understand why this situation exists, one must consider the level and quality of the training the average operator receives. No forehearth operation textbook exists and in its absence there are two common sources of training.
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Forehearth technology
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The first is in-house training, where the outgoing forehearth manager or operator passes his knowledge onto his successor. This approach often ensures that any existing bad practice is perpetuated to the next generation with the new operator rarely doubting the wisdom of what he is told. The primary source of forehearth training is that provided by the forehearth supplier immediately after system commissioning. To varying degrees this type of training is often perfunctory, concentrating on the basics required to drive the system – how to change set points, how to adjust the air/gas ratio, how to enter PID values etc. Unfortunately it seldom equips the operator with the knowledge of what the best set point profile should be for his glass colour, tonnage and forehearth dimensions. Nor does it enable him to intuitively recognise a combustion fault based on the characteristic response from the temperature sensors or other diagnostic data. Neither does it provide him with the ability to analyse and test the control loop response and ensure the correct PID terms are used. Modern forehearth systems normally provide a wealth of data which, when correctly interpreted, provide much of the information required to assess the performance status of the forehearth. However a deeper understanding of forehearth operation can be obtained from testing procedures developed by Forehearth Services to determine factors such as system de-calibration and loop response. It is within this area that the skill levels of many operators are demonstratively inappropriate. The typical operator response to a change in conditions is to instinctively make an alteration to a set point or an output. If that doesn’t work almost immediately then further changes are made. Unnecessary or ill-judged parameter changes to a forehearth system produce disruption to the equilibrium of the forehearth and consequently have an impact on production. Subsequently, a key aim of the Forehearth Training Programme is to enable the operator to use the data available to him via the control screen and the forehearth subsystems to identify the exact nature of the problem and its origins. All alterations to forehearth settings should be made based on informed and logical deductions. An equally important aim of the
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Figure 1. Demonstrating a poor forehearth zone.
training programme is to teach the operator how to decide where the change should be made, the scale of the change required and, crucially, the impact of the change and the timescale within which the change will occur. This logical approach to forehearth operation avoids unnecessary production disruption.
Data interpretation An operator should clearly be capable of interpreting the data presented by the system and have the analytical ability to determine whether or not the data presented is logical. This requires knowledge not only of the capabilities of the forehearth itself but also of the sensors and field equipment supplying the data, the calibration of the combustion system and the suitability of the PID values chosen for the loop. It is crucial the operator knows how to assess the response of the individual forehearth zone control loops. For example the dead-time (time between making the set-point change and the start of the reaction of the thermocouple to the change) for a thermocouple at a depth of 25mm varies with both glass colour and tonnage. A typical well-calibrated zone, at the correct thermocouple immersion depth in amber glass, should react within two minutes. Fig. 1 shows a particularly badly responding forehearth zone. Luckily it provides vital clues to the operation of this particular zone. As can be seen from the chart the thermocouple reading was unchanged for a period in excess of 12 minutes. For a 5°C step-change in setpoint in amber glass, the zone would be expected to achieve set-point within 12 minutes. As shown by the chart the time required to achieve set-point was
43 minutes. The time required for the glass to flow from the zone entrance to the exit of the zone was approximately 14 minutes based on the zone dimensions and tonnage. The chart shows that after this period the zone had achieved a 1°C increase in temperature. Consequently, the zone is incapable of responding to any incoming change in temperature larger than 1°C. The implications of this for forehearth control are obvious. Again the chart provides clues. Firstly, despite the prolonged time away from the required set-point, the increase in heating output over the initial 53 minutes was 7%. This is a clear indication that the PID values are inadequate. Secondly, an analysis of the combustion system showed that the response was further degraded by both the calibration of the combustion air control valve and the accuracy of the air/gas ratio over the relevant heating output range. Finally a separate analysis chart indicated that an excessive thermocouple immersion depth further compromised the reaction time. The problems discovered in the zone analysis were subsequently rectified and the zone returned to an acceptable level of operation – assuming the zone had ever been operating at an acceptable level of operation! Take the guessing out of your forehearth operation – have them systematically audited and your operators professionally trained.
Contact: *Managing Director, Forehearth Services, UK enquiries@forehearthservices.co.uk www.forehearthservices.co.uk
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