“By using the low-temperature Oxyfuel method, we can melt 50 percent more cold aluminum in the same amount of time as we did previously. In addition the propane consumption and carbon dioxide emissions have been cut in half which also is very positive.”
Wenche EldegardCast House Manager
Invensys Helps Hydro to Significantly Increase its Aluminum Cold Melting Capacity as well as Reduce Waste and Emissions
Goals• Thecompanyrequiredasolutionthatwould
enableittoachieveincreasedmeltingcapacityandreducewaste
• Thetechnologyneededtonotonlyincreaseproductionefficiencybutalsoreduceproductioncostsandincreaseenergysavings
Challenges• Thealuminummanufacturerneededto
accuratelycontrolcombustionoperationsandenablethesmoothtransitionofvariousmetallurgicalprocesses
• Optimizingenergyoutputduringthealuminummeltingcyclewasvitaltoachievingoverallproductionefficiency
• Tomaintainprofitability,thetechnologyneededtoprovidebothcostsavingsinproductionaswellasassistinminimizingthecompany’senvironmentalimpact
Solutions and Products• FoxboroProgrammableAutomationController
(PAC)System
Results• ByutilizingthekeyfeaturesofthetheFoxboro
PACSystem,LindeGashasenabledHydrotoincreaseitsaluminumcoldmetalmeltingcapacitybymorethan50percent
• Thecompanywasabletoreducedrosstolessthan2%andfuelconsumptionby50%
• Asignificantreductionincarbondioxideandnitrogenoxideemissionsalsowasachievedtomaintainthecompany’scommitmenttoreducingitsimpactontheenvironment
• TheLindeGasLowTemperatureOxyfueltechnology,usingTheFoxboroPACSystem,nowenablesthecontinuousproductionof125,000tonsoffoundryalloysannually
INDUSTRY:METALS,MINERALS&MINING
Hydrowww.hydro.com
©NorskHydro
Ardal, Norway–In1957thetincanmadeasignificantleapindesignandfunctionalitybyincorporatingthemostabundantmetalintheEarth’scrust--aluminum.Thoughthenewaluminumcontainerstillhadtobeopenedwithaknife,itbecamecheapertoproduceandreducedthepossibilityofleadpoisoningassociatedwithsolderusedtosealtincontainers.Thelowdensity,corrosion-resistantmetalalsoofferedgreatermalleability,enablingittobemanufacturedinawiderarrayofshapesandsizes.
Duringthelastdecade,aluminummanufacturinghasmadevariousevolutionaryleapsinprocessesandmaterialsthankstothedevelopmentofnewproductiontechnologies.Hydroisoneoftheworld’sleadingproducersofaluminumandisasuppliertoawiderangeofindustriesspanningautomotiveandtransportationtobuildingsupplies,packagingandconsumergoods.
Toprovidetop-qualityandcost-effectivealuminumproducts,Hydroemploysintelligentburnercontrolsolutionsforlow-temperatureOxyfuelcontrol.TheuseofOxyfuelcombustionsubstantiallyincreasesthethermalefficiencyoftheproductionfacility’sfurnaceoperationsbecausetheradiantheattransferoffurnacegasesproducedaresignificantlymoreefficientthanthosecreatedfromair-fuelprocesses.
UsingtheFoxboroProcessAutomationController(PAC)System,inconjunctionwithLindeGasOxyfuelburnershasresultedinsignificanteconomicsavingsandsupportsHydro’scommitmenttoreducinggreenhouseemissionsanddross,whichisamassofsolidimpuritiesfoundfloatingonmoltenmetalsuchasaluminum.
More Than Just Aluminum Foil
WorkinginconjunctionwithLindeGas,aleadinggasesandengineeringcompany,InvensysOperationsManagementinstalledtheFoxboroPACSystemforprocesscontrol,dataacquisition,remoteequipmentmonitoring,machinevisionandmotioncontrol.ThewholeSystemreducesHydro’sengineeringcostsandprovideshighavailabilityofdata,maximizingthecompany’sprocessuptime.
ThechallengeatHydrowastooptimizetheamountofenergyrequiredinthemanufacturingprocesswhenproducingitsmorethan125,000tonsoffoundryalloyseachyear.Combinedwiththelow-temperatureOxyfueltechnology,theFoxboroPACSystemdelivershighermeltrateswithreducedoxidation,lowerfuelconsumptionandultra-lownitrogenoxideemissions.There-meltcapacityhasnowbeenincreased,withcapacityup50%whiledrossislessthan2%.
AlthoughOxyfuelisacceptedasstate-of-the-artforrotaryfurnaces,thealuminumindustryhasbeenmorecautioustoadoptthetechnologyinreverberatoryfurnaces.Withtheriskofcreatinghotspotsduetooverheatingthealuminumsurface,amoreeffectiveprocesshadtobefound.Hydronoweffectivelymanagestheserisksbyemployinglow-temperatureOxyfueltechnologycombinedwiththeFoxboroPACSystemintelligentburnercontrolsolution.
TheFoxboroPACSystemisahigh-performancehybridautomationcontrollerwhichoffershighperformance,reliabilityandhighI/Odensitieswithcost-effectiveredundancyoptions.ItscontrolunitandI/Osystemformthebasisofacompletedistributedcontrolandrecordingenvironmentcapableofcontinuousanalog,logicandsequentialcontrol.Combinedwithsecuredatarecordingforaccuratemanufacturingmeasurementparameters,theFoxboroPACSystem’scollectionoffeaturesisdesignedtomaximizeHydro’sreturnoninvestment.
©NorskHydro
Oxyfuel and Foxboro PAC Technology
ByusingthelowtemperatureOxyfueltechnology,Hydrocanreplace20,000tonsofliquidaluminumbyre-meltingcoldmetal.Previously,theprocessincludedthemixingof8tonsofcoldmetaland22tonsofliquidmetalwhichhadahighproductioncostfactor.Nowthemixis13tonscoldand17tonsliquidmetal,reducingoveralloperationscosts.TheOxyfuelprocessandFoxboroPACSystemtechnologyhasenabledthecompanytoincreaseitsoverallaveragere-meltingcapacitybymorethan50%forthefourfurnacesatthecasthouse.
“ThekeyelementHydroneededwasincreasedcapacityonmeltingcoldmetal,thesolutiongivesthemthatalongsidelargeenergysavings.Itwasvitaltoprovideaccuratecombustioncontrolandasmoothtransitionbetweenallaspectsofthecyclewhileoptimizingthemeltingcycleandapplyingthemaximumenergywhenthethermalefficiencyishighest,”saidLarsGoranElfgren,ProjectManageratInvensysOperationsManagement.
Thankstoimprovedthermalefficiencyandincreasedheating/meltingrates,overallproductivityisincreasedwhileatthesametimesavingonfuelcostsandreducingcarbondioxideandnitrogenoxideemissions.ThetwoproductionlinesforprimaryfoundryalloyswereconvertedtothelowtemperatureOxyfuelandFoxboroPACSystemprocessresultingina50%increaseinre-meltingcapacity.
Combiningthelow-temperatureOxyfuelburnerforaluminummeltingwiththeFoxboroPACSystem,Hydrohastakenasignificantsteptowardenablingmoreefficientre-meltingofaluminuminreverberatoryfurnaces.
IntegratingtheFoxboroPACSystemwiththeplant’sPLCsenableHydrotomaximizeROIbyofferingautomaticdual-redundancyoptionstoguaranteeprocessefficienciesandprotectagainstcontrollerorcommunicationsfailures.Thispowerful,cost-effectiveprocessautomationcontrolleralsouniquelyprovidessecuredatarecordingwithdual-redundancyatpointofmeasurement.
“TheFoxboroPACSystemallowslow-cost,multi-loopprocesscontrolcapabilitytobedeployedrightataprocessunitandcanbeeasilyconfiguredusingInvensystechnology,”saidConstantineLau,DirectorofProductMarketingforControlandSafetyProductsatInvensysOperationsManagement.“WhiletheFoxboroPACSystemcanbeeasilyintegratedintoacontrolorplantnetwork,itwillcontinuetocontroltheprocessevenifanetworklinkislost.Combinedwithoptionalcontrollerredundancy,thisprovidesahighdegreeoffault-toleranceataverylowcost.”
Foxboro Combines PLC Architecture and DCS Functionality
Inaddition,theFoxboroPACSystemenablesredundancyofprocessors,powersupplies,recordingandnetworks.Thecontroller/recorderredundancyisautomaticallycommissionedbysimplypluggingtheadditionalprocessormoduleintotheredundantbaseandinitiatingtheE-Synctechnologywithasinglebuttonpressonthefrontoftheunit.DuringtheE-Syncprocess,allfilesfromtheprimaryprocessorarecopiedtoallowasecondaryprocessortomirrorandmonitortheprimaryprocessor.Nospecialcablingorengineeringisrequiredtoconfigureasecondaryprocessor.
WiththeE-Synctechnology,theFoxboroPACSystemprovidesahigh-performancesolutionthatoffersextremelycost-effectiveredundancyoptions.ThecontrolunitandI/Osystemformthebasisofacompletedistributedcontrolandrecordingenvironmentcapableofcontinuousanalog,logicandsequentialcontrolallcombinedwithsecuredatarecordingatpointofmeasurementtomaximizeROI.
Asaluminumhasdemonstrateditsabilitytobeusedinamultiplicityofproductswithmyriadbusinessandconsumerapplications,Hydrohasbeenaleaderinadvancingimprovementstothemetallurgicalprocessingofthisextremelyabundantmetal.WiththehelpofInvensys,Hydrohasimplementedredundantcapabilitiesthatmaximizeprocessuptimeinitsaluminummeltingprocess,resultinginlowerengineeringcostsandareducedimpactontheenvironment.
Invensys,theInvensyslogo,ArchestrA,Avantis,Eurotherm,Foxboro,IMServ,InFusion,SimSci-Esscor,Skelta,Triconex,andWonderwarearetrademarksofInvensysplc,itssubsidiariesoraffiliates.Allotherbrandsandproductnamesmaybethetrademarksorservicemarksoftheirrepresentativeowners.
©2011InvensysSystems,Inc.Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthematerialprotectedbythiscopyrightmaybereproducedorutilizedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronicormechanical,includingphotocopying,recording,broadcasting,orbyanyinformationstorageandretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromInvensysSystems,Inc.
Invensys Operations Management • 5601 Granite Parkway III, #1000, Plano, TX 75024 • Tel: (469) 365-6400 • Fax: (469) 365-6401 • iom.invensys.com
Rel.03/11PNFX-0185
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