Simple Solutions That Work! Issue 17

45 BACK TO BASICS Continued on next page and the distance to the part of production you want to use this free heat. In any event you will save between 21-25% in fuel if you preheat your combustion air with the free heat and reduce your carbon footprint by that same amount. REGENERATIVE BURNERS Regenerative burners are another way of saving energy and thus reducing your carbon footprint. Fuel savings are achieved by increasing the furnace efficiency to 74% (vs 35% on a cold fired system). This results in a 35-40% reduction in fuel usage and carbon footprint per furnace. The cost is determined by the size of the burners per furnace. MOLTEN METAL CIRCULATION There are several options to circulate molten aluminum or zinc. You can use mechanical pumps, electro- magnetic stirrers (both sidewall and under floor stirrers) and of course induction furnaces. Mechanical pumps offer a variety of benefits including lower upfront costs, better temperature uniformity, increase in production or less energy to melt the same metal and produces less dross. The only downside is the required yearly maintenance and needing a side charge well to make this work most efficiently. By adding circulation to your charge well you can increase production 18-21% or save that much energy which in turn reduces your carbon footprint. ELECTROMAGNETIC CIRCULATION IN MELTERS • Electromagnetic stirring under the floor is only feasible for current tilters or melters with a large pit underneath. • Electromagnetic stirring from the side of the unit can be adapted to any of the melting furnaces with some modifications.