A REVIEW FOR SELECTION

MELTING PRACTICES
Traditional Coke fired Crucible Furnace
Traditional Coke fired Cupola Rotary Furnace

Divided Blast Cupola

Small Induction Furnace High Powered Large Capacity Induction Systems Gas Fired Cupola in place of CC or DBC High Production with Induction Furnace, some with

duplexing from cupolas

IMPROVEMENTS IN CONVENTIONAL CUPOLAS

Various Technological Improvements have been done

all over the world. Hot blast, Side Charging, Oxygen enrichment, Divided Blast, High Melt Rate Long Campaign, Liningless Cupola and Computer Controlled Melting Process are some of these. Out of these only DBC has been found to be applicable in South Asia because of least cost and very good reduction in coke rate Pollution control device in small DBCs is very cheap Availability of better Coke and Pig Iron has helped the conventional cupolas to a large extent

DIVIDED BLAST CUPOLA

History
Changes in Design : Blowing known quantity of air in

two rows of tuyers from separate wind belts fed by air split into two from the blower Coke Consumption reduced from 15% to 35% Reasons for Highly Improved Coke Rate
Efficient Combustion of carbon to CO2 to reduce CO in

exhaust gas to negligible Stack height increased to accommodate minimum 6 charges to pre heat the charge more effectively

Thermal Balance of Conventional Cupola

2%

Thermal Balance of Divided Blast Cupola

2%

13%

8% 35%

10% 15%

5% 59% 40%

Metal Slag Heat Loss Through Walls

Latent Heat of CO2 Sensible Heat of Exhaust Gas

ROTARY FURNACE
Low Capacity Batch Type Furnace
Furnace oil / LDO / Gas fired High Fuel Consumption 6 Kg Liquid Metal per Kg oil

Poor Fuel Effeciency (25%)

Very Large Capacity fuel efficient gas furnaces are used

abroad for melting along with duplexing in channel holders

SECTIONAL VIEW OF COKELESS CUPOLA

COKELESS OR GAS FIRED CUPOLA

History
Construction and Operation Gas Consumption Natural gas 85 m3 per ton

- LPG 60 m3 per ton Highest Fuel Effeciency due to direct contact of burnt gases with charge and no or very little slag formation

ENERGY EFFECIENCY AND CARBON FOOTPRINT OF DIFFERENT MELTING METHODS

Importance of being environment friendly and

reduction of global warming carbon footprint Calculation of Energy efficiency Carbon footprint related to Energy efficiency Calculated Energy for melting cast iron of 370 KWH per ton is exactly the same as calculated by an American Foundryman

ENERGY EFFICIENCY
100 90 80 1200 70 60 50 40 30 400 1000 800 600 1600 1400

CARBON FOOTPRINT

20
10

200
0

PUBLISHED DATA FOR CARBON FOOTPRINT OF CUPOLA AND INDUCTION FURNACE

Tons of Carbon dioxide produced per ton of

casting shipment
GREY IRON CUPOLA INDUCTION MELTING FURNACE

Electricity Natural gas Coke Others TOTAL

0.5 0.19 0.45 0.02 1.16

2.47 0.35 0.04 2.86

Induction melting foundry producing more than two and a half times CO2 than a cupola foundry for same production and dispatch.

MELTING COST IN SOUTH ASIAN FOUNDRIES

Cost Inputs in India and Pakistan are as follows
HARD COKE- Low ash , 12% Rs 30/PKR 70/HARD COKE- High ash 30-35% Rs 16/---NATURAL GAS (per nM3) Rs. 32/PKR 13/LPG (per Kg) Rs. 58/PKR 28/ELECTRIC POWER Rs. 5/- per kWH PKR 15/- per kWH REFRACTORY BALLS FOR COKELESS Rs. 37/- kg Assume PKR 75/ kg FURNACE OIL Rs. 30 PER KG PKR 70 PER KG DUPLEXING POWER 80 kwh/ ton, For cokeless cupola-2 kg of refractory balls/ton extra.

MELTING OR CONVERSION COST OF METAL IN INDIA AND PAKISTAN

12000

10000

8000

India Pak

6000

4000

2000

0 Rotary Furnace Induction CC high ash CC low ash DBC high Furnace coke coke ash coke DBC low ash coke Cokeless NG Cokeless LPG Duplexing Duplexing DBC low NG ash

CONCLUSIONS
In India, Duplexing in DBC and/or Cokeless are the

most Energy efficient, Environment friendly and Economical Direct Melting in Induction Furnace is most Energy inefficient, least Eco friendly and Costliest Duplexing from Cokeless is the best in Pakistani conditions Very Low Power Channel Induction Furnaces are being used abroad for Duplexing

RECOMMENDATIONS
Small Conventional Foundries must modify / replace their

cupolas to DBC and start duplexing in small Induction Furnaces Medium and Large Scale Foundries must install requisite number of small cupolas and duplexing in normal induction furnaces or channel holders For ductile iron and restricted power availability, cokeless is the best choice, especially in Pakistan Saving scarce electricity by above methods will make our life easier Contribution to reduction in global warming by foundry trade will help the future generations