ITP Metal Casting: Advanced Melting Technologies: Energy Saving ...

1. Objective and Scope of the Study
The objective of this study was to explore the concepts of breakthrough technologies in melting
metals that may dramatically reduce the energy consumption. The study will guide the Industrial
Technologies Program’s (ITP) Metal Casting subprogram in pursuing high-value R&D
opportunities for enhancing energy efficiency of the metal casting industry.
The study was undertaken as part of ITP’s Grand Challenge mission, a strategy seeking dramatic
improvements in industrial energy efficiency. The study aims to provide a preliminary concept
definition of “Grand Challenge” opportunities in the context of advanced melting technologies. It
accomplishes its purpose by examining current and emerging melting technologies and
discussing their technical barriers to scale-up issues and research needed to advance these
technologies. It identifies potential avenues for improving melting efficiency, lowering metal
transfer heat loss, and reducing scrap and improving yield.
The scope of the study includes ferrous and non-ferrous melting applications in the metal casting
industry, both in domestic and international markets. Although, the report focuses on metal
melting applications, the melting technologies and developments discussed in this report are in
general applicable to all furnaces and molten material processes, including primary aluminum,
secondary aluminum, glass, iron and steel, and other industries.
2. Introduction
Melting of metals, glass, and other materials has been a vital manufacturing process for several
thousand years, producing molten liquids that can be poured and solidified into useful shapes.
Although the basic process continues to be the same, the utility of cast products has come a long
way. The process that created tools and exotic goods for only a privileged few in the Bronze Age
contributes to components used in over 90% of manufactured goods in our society today. Since
the dawn of the industrial age, the tremendous progress in the melting process equipment, the
range of molten materials, the chemistry and thermal controls, and the complexity of the finished
products has enabled cast components in building a vast variety of products – automobiles,
power generators, railroad cars, oil pipelines, military hardware, medical instruments, etc. to
name just a few.
The energy efficiency of any foundry largely rides on the efficiency of the melting process – a
multi-step operation where the metal is heated, treated, alloyed, and transported into die or mold
cavities to form a casting. The melting process is not only responsible for the energy
consumption and cost-effectiveness of producing the castings (Exhibit 3), but it is also critical to
the control of quality, composition, and the physical and chemical properties of the final product.
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