Power Consumption 1) Verendra Gupta: On melting side, combination of induction furnace CE meter and spectrometer insures the chemical composition. Hence we are complacent about melting equipment and melting cost. The days are not far when cupola melting with channel holder will be the practice to save cost, global warming and sustainability. 2) 2015 there was a study of Furnace and Ladle practices by some of our elite researcher, out of 10 Foundries he visited; he observed most of them were working without care to furnace and ladle lining. None were using ladle and furnace cover. 3) My self generally visited DI Foundries where the situation is much Disciplined. 4) Hence Energy Savings by way of cultural change in Foundry Melting Practices is most important for us. 5) Often people tend to buy cheaper Melting Scrap with lots of waste, rust and inclusions and end up much more producing slag and getting melt as well. 6) There many such factors where more savings can be achieved. 7) But all seems most interested in molding.... So the solution is invest in LFC, HPML or VPC and recover your investments in 2 years time and enjoy life with 40% less parameters to controlďż˝ 8) But still Melting needs all attention - the energy consumption shall be more clear if forward following information 1. Metal 2.avrg wt of castinht3.size & kw of fc 9) But Furnace Consultants should come forward or people like you, who have more than 40 yrs to foundry but I liked the approach given by Mr Staf Heindrick... to list of activities and then act on each one by one first the list. 10) 650-680 kw per ton liquid is being obtained by 750kw inductotherm fc at Tata where i am auditing and modifying Sop. the average wt of casting 15kg with yield 70% 11) in insert for sgi i am getting regular 550/560 kw per ton liquids even in yr city 12) The melting cost therefore is ~Rs 7 per kg. 13) Somebody should equivalent data for cupola and holding furnace practice. 14) Yes I fully agree that a figure of 550/560 ke per ton is a figure extremely difficult to achieve. Congratulations sir đ&#x;’?đ&#x;’? 15) Please note that bad ladle practice makes much difference from one foundry to other. Energy can be further reduced if fdy rtn is tumb blasted.
16) One kg slag consumes nearly twice energy needed for metal. even good practice of ladle and clean charge including return makes much difference with practically no holding of metal 17) Now Igbt tech fc is guarantee min PF .99 and over all 3%energy saving wrt to Inductotherm equivalent fc. i am on way to install one such fc 360kw/500kg at Raipur. i have audited such fc at Rajkot and Prithampura. 18) In one study we found that shot blasted return gave energy saving but not cost saving when cost of shot blasting which included transportation of return to shot blasting machine and back !! 19) do following action in close the tumb blast by brick work. hope noise shall get reduced 20) Remember on average rtn for Sgi is around 30%. Most of castings ate made by green sand. Our aim is just remove loose sand adhered to runner system. be sure you will reduce heat time along with energy. i am sure in 24 hrs you will increase minimum one heat. i am getting it one fdy. Simply reducing heat time lead to energy savings. as heat losses directly proportional to time. 21) Power consumption can be reduced by attacking at different locations. Let us HV comments on following points one by one. a) Scrap selection b) Lining material & life. c) Charging & melting practice. d) Pouring temp. e) Pouring procedure. f)
Covers on furnace.
g) Cover & wall insulation of Ladle. 22) Briquetted chips and baled CRCa charge reduces loading time, faster melting. Typically in a 500 kg cap furnace, melting time can be reduced 7-10 minutes 23) But Melting is the major cost in any Foundry, and any discussion and implementation in furnace, practices and SOP in that area will create a bigger implications in our competitive edge over others Foundries in the world 24) Controlling Melting units below 600 is still a big challenge for foundries. 25) Main culprits for higher power consumption :26) Mismatch in molding vs melting. 27) Breakdowns due to poor maintenance.
28) Dirty charge hence time lost in de slagging and chemistry. 29) You are right but with so many experienced heads we can certainly achieve something, still 600 kW / ton just very few can achieve... 30) We should work to help and empower others to achieve 600. 31) Our costs will come down. Let's forget competition between ourselves and target the world as our market. 32) So many times foundry projects r done by compromising cost which resulting reoccurring cost in future in terms of huge wastage of energy in all its forms. Never be recovered by sincere efforts of foundry technicians. 33) I have mentioned holding time. This is neglected all the time.as melting shop don't want delay on their account. If molding ship metal requirement is lower than melting , holding comes in picture. We must match melting & moulding speed. Pl remember, moulds can wait for metal but metal should never wait for metal. 34) But foremost we should call best of our furnace consultants and set SOPs to achieve 650 kW/ton for Melting in Induction Furnace 35) Sometimes we have to compromise in between. What is your suggestion when metal requirement is more than 10t/hr. How to select furnace pot capacity. 36) Sir at the time of selection they assured you that melting power would be 550 but never achieved practically. 37) 650 is achieved by and large. 38) Furnace selection is very critical. We need to know min & Max metal requirement per hour, ladle size for poring, if SG then treatment size. Pouring time to pour moulds. How many ladles used at time for poring. Holding furnace or presspour is available. etc .