Technology, equipment and technical services
The performance of industrial enameling furnaces may gradually decline over time.
This may result in higher energy consumption (read increased enameling cost) and reduced quality of the coated surface.
In extreme cases the enameling furnace may even unexpectedly break down, because insulation has been damaged and/or worn out.
Therefore we suggest regular inspections & thermal imaging to identify major heat bridges and other spots with possible insulation issues.
DTC may conduct energy audits to identify possible energy savings at your vitreous enameling plant, thanks to our broad knowledge and hands-on experience with industrial enameling processes & equipment since 1984.
Continue reading “Energy audits for industrial vitreous enameling plants”
The European Energy Efficiency Directive (2012/27/EU), also known as the EED, was established in 2012.
The aim of this Directive is to help to realise the European target set in 2007 to reduce European energy consumption by 20% by 2020.
This should contribute to a reduction in greenhouse gas and air pollutants, to a decrease of energy costs, and to lower dependence on import of fossil fuel.
Continue reading “European Energy Efficiency Directive”
Porcelain (vitreous) enameling is a relative complex coating process with many steps & dito variables.
This complexity makes it very well suited for continuous improvement initiatives.
Depending upon the selected enameling process, industrial porcelain enameling (UK: vitreous enamelling) may generate the following emissions :
Depending upon local legislation, precautions should be taken to avoid, reduce and/or treat the above mentioned emissions.
Emission avoidance
The easiest way to avoid emissions is to select the most environmental friendly enamel process.
Emission reduction
Once the enameling plant has been installed then it is usually not easy to change the enamel process.
Instead improving process efficiency and in-house recycling should help to reduce the overall emission.
Examples of waste reduction initiatives are the introduction of cascade rinsing
at pretreatment plants and switching for wet spraying to electrostatic dry powder application.
Emission treatment
Depending upon the local legislation, it may be necessary to treat unavoidable emissions.
Some examples of emission treatment are in-house waste water treatment plants, fluorine scrubbers, etc.
Energy savings
Industrial porcelain enameling projects & operations have furthermore a strong focus on saving of energy.
This aspect, which may result in optimizing the energy consumption of various equipments & re-utilization of waste heat, is driven by the global trend of continuous increasing energy cost. [More..]
Energy is usually the fourth biggest operational cost for an industrial enameling plant after respectively amortization of equipment, enamel consumption & labor cost.**
For this reason it is important to pay attention to the energy consumption of various enameling machines when purchasing new equipment and to consider investments in energy saving measures and/or heat recovery equipment for existing equipment.
Last-but-not-least it is important to keep your enameling equipment in a good condition by regular preventive maintenance and operation with the appropriate settings.
Below a short presentation about energy savings at industrial enameling plants
** In countries with relative low labor cost, energy might even be the third biggest enameling cost.
A clean furnace atmosphere is important for obtaining good enameling results.
Elevated concentrations of CO2 and/or H2O may slow down the emission of gases from the metal substrate thru the enamel layer during the fusion stage and under certain unfavorable circumstances result in enameling defects such as pinholes & fish-scales.
CO2 & H2O may accumulate inside the furnace, if the combustion system is leaking and/or the forced abstraction of combustion gases is not sufficient.
Regular furnace inspections and maintenance are therefore strongly recommended. Continue reading “Enameling furnace atmosphere”