ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Not everyone knows Continuus-Properzi as a furnace manufacturer.  Currently, the “Continuus-Properzi Furnaces & Combustion Division” is dedicated entirely to the engineering, design, construction and shipment of furnaces (we also organize the transportation of over-sized shipments) that serve CCR (Continuous Casting & Rolling) lines for the production of aluminum and copper wire rod.

Let’s focus our attention for a moment on “recycling” and therefore on the production of copper wire rod starting from scrap.

Recycling of copper scrap is one of the best examples of a circular economy. Melting, refining and casting the desired final product according to Properzi know-how, accumulated during 30+ years of experience, allows great economic savings and avoids additional exploitation of the mines.

Properzi’s scrap recycling technology fits perfectly into this context, allowing greater energy efficiency as the production phases are significantly reduced.

Here is a clear comparison of both technologies, Properzi’s technology versus traditional recycling technology:

This technology requires special furnace typology that we will describe in a detailed manner below.

2012 – One furnace, in particular, benefits from energy efficiency; it is a Properzi scrap refining furnace for the production of copper wire rod.  This furnace, having a top loading configuration, can accommodate larger quantities of scrap and requires fewer door openings during the scrap loading process which further improves its efficiency.

With the new geometrical configuration of the furnaces, by placing a large door in an elevated position served by an inexpensive skip charging machine, we are able to achieve significantly improved thermal efficiency due to the enormous quantity of Cu scrap loaded through the charging door (patented by Giulio Properzi, inventor of several new solutions serving the non-ferrous industry).  The first furnace with a capacity of 250 tons per day was produced that same year.  Several top-loading furnaces with capacity of 100 tons per day have been installed since then.  When the charging door is on top of the furnace body, the scrap can be conveyed by a belt through a smaller door thereby minimizing the escape of heat and pollutant fumes.

2015 – Energy efficiency is also exemplified by another type of Properzi furnace, a melting furnace that is part of the plants for the production of aluminum wire rod, called the Properzi Vert-Melt (Vertical Melting) Furnace.

The Vert-Melt Furnace is a combination of a vertical melting furnace (shaft) with a static receiving/holding chamber.  It offers several advantages including: much higher energy efficiency compared to any type of reverberatory furnace (1 to 1.5 % versus 3 to 5 %), lower emissions, and 25% less gas consumption.  Moreover, the efficiency of the furnace is significantly increased thanks to the recycling of the heat absorbed by the molten metal from the combustion of the main burners but also, from the fumes coming from the receiving chamber.

Stay with us with following the last part of Properzi green economy!