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Foundenergy

Foundenergy

Waste Heat Recovery Power Generation Based on Organic Rankin Cycle (ORC) Technology in Foundry Industry.

Background

In forges and foundries the main energy requirement is the need for large quantities of thermal energy for heating or melting of the product. In gas and coke powered furnaces waste heat is generated in a process of fuel combustion, and once the product has been melted the waste heat is then “dumped” into the environment, even though it could be reused for some useful and economic purpose. The essential quality of the heat is not the amount but rather its value or grade. The strategy of how to recover this heat depends in part on its temperature and on the overall economics involved. Large quantities of hot flue gases are generated from Boilers, Kilns, Ovens and Furnaces. The most significant waste heat source in foundry plants is from kiln furnaces and cupola furnaces. If some of this waste heat could be recovered and reused, a considerable amount of primary fuel could be saved. Precisely, waste heat in this industry comes from the gas fired firing kilns used to pre-heat investment moulds as well as from firing kilns in the supply industry to manufacture ceramic cores.

Project Aims

By deploying innovative and reliable technological solutions energy costs could be decreased and environmental pollution reduced. The most promising solution today would be the use of reliable low temperature cogeneration technologies based on the Organic Rankin Cycle (ORC) process and customization for waste heat recovery and electrical energy production in the Foundry industry. The thermal efficiency improvement of the mentioned process is 20% in comparison with other conventional waste heat power plants that utilize the heat potentials like those available in a Foundry plant. The EC is investing large sums of money in Renewable Energy sources to increase the overall efficiency of technology, improve their cost benefit effects and gradually reduce incentives on renewables. The future landscape of European energy demand and supply will have to make much greater use of new renewable energy sources and focus more upon energy-efficient methods to reach the goals appointed by the European commission – Sustainable Energy Europe. New distributed energy conversion technologies are required to utilize sustainable energy resources suitable for power generation without causing environmental pollution.

Planned Deliverables

The following innovative solutions are being developed and implemented, with validation trials planned:

  • Waste Energy Recovery Boiler (WERB) along with wear resistance pipe materials development and WERB design, construction, optimization and validation
  • Design of an integrated Waste Heat Recovery system for power production optimized for Foundry processes
  • Advanced Control And Guidance System
  • Operational Integration and Optimization of WHRS prototype and the ORC system in the Foundry plant