The Need of Performing an Energy Audit in a Metallurgical Industry: A Case Study of The Ajaokuta Foundry Shop

The research work focuses on the need to perform an energy audit in a metallurgical industry concerning the operations of the Foundry Shop of the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited. Some basic components for performing the energy audits were discussed. The foundry processes and operations are based on the production of components for other basic industries where their components are used for manufacturing processes like the quarry industries, battery industries, manufacturing, and other process industries. To produce the desired components that the vessel used for the production processes like the Electric Arc Furnaces, the Induction furnace, the crucible furnace, and centrifugal furnaces must be utilized for the effective and optimal production processes tHrough constant monitoring and sustenance of the energy used during the production process. To achieve these production processes, there is always a need to perform energy audits of the facilities used. One method is to design methods of monitoring the power consumed per heat cycle, the duration taken for the production cycle to be completed, and cost expenditure. The need of performing research work was due to the anomalies observed during the melting processes of the two furnaces, the six-tonne Electric Arc Furnace and the One-tonne induction furnace. It was observed that the melting cycle of 2½ to 3 hours was not maintained rather more time, more energy, and more money are wasted on every melting process. To put these situations to check the production processes for the two furnaces were monitored from 5/10/ 2006 to 21/11/2007 for the Six tonnes capacity Electric Arc Furnace and from 03/06/2005 to 01/08/2007 respectively. The data generated were used for the analytical processes of the energy audits. Methods of presenting energy reports and energy action plans were brought to the fore. The performance of the energy audits indicated that much energy was consumed, more time was taken for completing a melting cycle as against the standard while a lot of money is being wasted whenever production processes take place.