Reduction of Energy Consumption and GHGs Emission in Conventional Sand Casting Process by Applicatio.docVIP

Reduction of Energy Consumption and GHGs Emission in Conventional Sand Casting Process by Applicatio 　　1School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK 　　*Corresponding author. 　　Funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council(EPSRC) of the UK under the grant of EP/G060096/1. 　　Received 30 November 2011; accepted 18 January 2012 　　Abstract 　　In conventional foundry, engineers generally consider the quality of casting part as the most essential issue and regard the energy consumption and Green House Gas(GHGs) emission as the auxiliary ones. This usually causes large amount of energy consumption as a result of the inefficient casting processes used and increases the production costs and environmental pollution. This paper presents the new CRIMSON process where its facility and melting process were compared with conventional melt furnaces and aluminium alloy melting process. An actual case was investigated to reveal quantitatively how the conventional foundry wastes energy and increases GHGs emission, and what the improvement of energy efficiency and the GHGs emission reduction can be achieved using the new CRIMSON process. The results of this investigation will help the foundry engineer recognize the importance of energy saving and environmental protection and show how to utilise this new process to reduce production costs and carbon footprint without decreasing the quality of the cast part. 　　Key words: Energy consumption; GHGs emission; Furnace; Aluminium; Sanding casting; Melting; CRIMSON 　　INTRODUCTION 　　In metal casting industry, aluminium melting is an energy intensive process where it is estimated that the energy consumption is in the order of 1,700-4,700 kWh per tonne in using crucible and natural gas[1]. In UK, most of the foundry use electricity, gas and oil as energy resource in the aluminium melting processes[2]. Because of the pressure of rising energy cost and the restriction of