Decarbonization of Aluminum Reverberatory Furnaces: The Case of Plasma Melting

For decarbonizationDecarbonization of aluminumAluminum cast houses, measures for fuel switching and to reduce energyEnergy consumption for heating, with its associated emissions, are being evaluated. In that context, the case of electric plasma torchesPlasma torch is experimentally investigated as a solution to retrofit fossil fuel fired furnacesFurnace. This paper presents results of a test campaign on a furnaceFurnace equipped with a direct-current plasma torchPlasma torch able to operate with nitrogen, air, or argon as plasma working gases. The performance of the furnaceFurnace under varying plasma torchPlasma torch operating conditions (working gas, gas flow rate, power) is investigated and compared with the reference case of a 47 kW oxy-fuel burner running with natural gas. The results show that when operating with a plasma torchPlasma torch system the thermal profile and energyEnergy efficiency of the furnaceFurnace are equivalent or better than those obtained with an oxy-fuel system without significant differences in drossDross formationFormation and metal quality, hence proving the feasibility of the concept for both retrofit of existing furnacesFurnace and for new designs.