Poor energy efficiency within industrial furnaces usually impacts companies' production costs, since more energy consumption is required to achieve the desired temperature. This, in turn, has a tangible impact on their carbon emission footprint.
According to the International Energy Agency, the industrial sector is one of the main culprits of global energy consumption. As such, industrial furnaces tend to be the pieces of equipment that consume the most.
In this article, we will share a series of solutions you can implement to improve energy efficiency, reduce production costs, and be socially and environmentally responsible.
Factors that may be affecting your energy efficiency
Some elements that may be harming your energy efficiency are:
- Heat losses in the furnace process
These may be due to structural damage to the insulation or incorrect gas flow distribution inside the furnace.
- Inefficient combustion processes
Probably due to inadequate or excessive air/fuel ratios or poor mixture caused by internal damage to the burner.
Tips to reduce fuel use in your furnaces
Some tips that can help you improve furnace energy savings are:
- Monitor the temperature on the cold side of the furnace, carefully checking that there are no hot spots.
- Periodically analyze the composition of the furnace combustion gases, ensuring you are maintaining the expected levels of oxygen and CO.
- Periodically check that the combustion air and fuel flows are in a stoichiometric ratio.
- Check at least twice a year that the burners are in good condition and show no damage.
- Perform periodic maintenance on the combustion system.
- Avoid infiltration of cold air into the furnace that could affect the efficiency of the process.
- Keep the temperature control loops tuned. If there is no temperature control loop, we recommend integrating one.
- Periodically monitor consumption, either manually or automatically.
Are you looking for support to carry out any of this furnace monitoring? Contact us.