17 COMMUNICATION ISSUE Continued on next page Determining a Customer’s Needs to Achieve Objectives & Goals One of the most frequent questions we get asked is, “What is the right furnace for my operation?” While we understand you are making aluminum castings either by die casting, permanent mold, sand castings, tilt pour, investment casting, or lost foam—much more needs to be known to properly support your production facility. Capital equipment is expensive and needs to be long-lasting, therefore, we really need to understand your goals and objectives (now and for the future) before recommending the type and size of furnace needed. Setting your goals in priority is critical. Some foundries are setting very high safety goals whereas others are focused on reducing energy costs as their top goal. Once we know your priority, selecting the correct furnace is that much easier. When thinking of your top goals, consider: increased safety, lower up-front costs, higher quality melt, reduced energy costs, metal melt loss and carbon footprint reductions. After your top goals are established, then we need to understand the objectives by each goal. This will include quantifying either reductions or increases that you are looking JEFF ZURFACE Aluminum Market Specialist THE SCHAEFER GROUP ARTICLE TAKEAWAYS: • Matching capital equipment features to your melting goals • Common holding and melting furnace advantages for by each of your top goals. For example, if you are looking to reduce your energy costs as your top goal, what reductions are you looking for? After top goals and objectives are established then your furnace provider will need to understand your melting operation. These questions will guide you: • What alloy are you using? • What temperature do you want to melt/hold the molten metal? • Are you melting ingot, sow, t-bar, scrap, or all of these? • What is the size of the material being charged? • Will you be alloying or modifying the metal in any way? • Do you want to melt chips or recover inserts from our parts? • How much space do you have to work with? • Are their any height limitations? • Are there needs for auxiliary automation equipment? • Are there needs for circulation or transfer pumps? • Are there needs for degassing? • Do you want gas, propane, oil, or electric-fired furnaces? • Do you want to look at central melting or in-cell/machine side melter holders? • Understanding your plant layout and any future considerations. An experienced furnace company can help you make the best decision that best meets your goals and bottom line. These are just a few of the important questions that need to be answered to assist in determining the correct furnace for your production. Here is a basic overview of each type of furnace: Electric Holding & Melting Furnaces Electric melters and holders have far lower metal loss than a fossilfueled furnace either at or below 1%. Melting can be accomplished at .20 -.23 kW which equates to approximately 785 Btu per pound and holding in our low energy holders that uses electric immersion elements can be accomplished in the 18-20 Btu per pound range if you convert the electric usage to Btus. We believe with the carbon reduction push that this will be the
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