Evaluating Aluminum Melting Furnace Transient Energy Efficiency

Recent increases in energy cost have lead to a renewed focus on energy efficiency during aluminum melting operations to reduce fuel usage. The goals rife batch melting operation are to melt the charge using the minimum required energy, to melt die metal to the required temperature within the required timeframe, and to avoid generating unwanted contaminants by overheating the charge. The heat transfer efficiency of a conventional hydrocarbon fired aluminum melting furnace varies over the course of the melt cycle, depending an the conditions in the furnace. The purpose of this work was to develop a method of determining the transient heat transfer efficiency throughout the furnace cycle and to take advantage of this knowledge to optimize the melting process through furnace controls and proper production operations. This furnace survey methodology has been developed and used to evaluate a number of furnaces.