ENERGY EFFICIENT OPERATION OF SECONDARY ALUMINUM MELTING FURNACES

摘要

It has been shown that re-melted aluminum can be produced at approximately 5% of the energy required of primary production. However, industry wide studies suggest an average melt efficiency of 25% in secondary furnaces. Efficiency improvement of the remelt process is a challenge that currently faces the industry. Refinement of this process requires analysis of the intricate combustion and heat transfer processes within the furnace. The Department of Energy, Albany Research Center (ARC) has had tremendous success at predicting the performance of industrial secondary furnaces. Through scale modeling and verifiable computational results, the ARC has been able to simulate the processes of industrial furnaces with a high degree of confidence. These methods have suggested small design modifications that improve overall furnace performance. Using the results from previous computational models, the ARC aims to define the design parameters that will result in peak efficiency considering both power input and emission composition.