Some melters operate with a constant negative furnace pressure of 0.15” WC or worse. This is a huge amount of waste, in fuel, productivity, margin, and emissions.
With our IPCU, the simplest, lowest maintenance, most reliable pressure control unit on the market. Our revolutionary design uses a circular refractory sleeve to create a circumferential air blade, controlling the draft from the melter using our 360-degree air knife, by raising and lowering the sleeve as the furnace pressure changes. The fixed bottom sleeve is engineered with a limiting orifice specific to a melter effluent volume. Our IPCU manages furnace pressure by modulating the upper sleeve up and down, depending on the measured pressure. Key here is the use of ambient air, not a damper, to manage the pressure in the melter. Air, not a refractory casting, holds back the furnace pressure. When furnace pressure drops below setpoint, our IPCU lowers the upper sleeve to maintain setpoint pressure. False air is the culprit behind negative pressure and destroys melt efficiency, wastes fuel, creates unnecessary CO2, and lowers productivity. Since ambient air suppresses the furnace’s effluent, the refractory last years, not months.
Tailor Made fit: Our team of senior engineers with decades of experience in aluminum refining commercialize solutions. Invite us to model your melter(s) and offer a solution, complete with a cost/benefit analysis. Our IPCU can be retrofitted on an existing melter or on a new melter, with air-fuel or oxy-fuel combustion. No furnace is too small or too large for our IPCU.
Cost Savings: Have you ever considered the true cost of false air in any of your melters? The table below estimates the economic impact negative furnace pressure can cost an aluminum refining operation: additional fuel, slower production, and creation of unnecessary CO2. Our IPCU is a tool you can use to move the needle on your year-end bottom line as well as carbon management. “If you are not watching your pennies, you may not have dollars to count at the end of the year.”
Integrated Pressure Control Unit
The IPCU manages furnace pressure by modulating the upper sleeve up and down, depending on the measured pressure. When the furnace pressure drops below setpoint, our IPCU lowers the upper sleeve to maintain setpoint pressure. False air is the culprit behind negative pressure and destroys melt efficiency, wastes fuel, creates unnecessary CO2, and lowers productivity. The IPCU includes a fixed limiting orifice lower section, a sliding upper sleeve, a fixed top hat with limiting orifice, all refractory lined, a 3-phase electrical motor, and a worm drive actuator.
- Continuous pressure measurement
- Furnace Pressure Control
- Reliable Design
- Ultra-low maintenance
- Hands-off operation
- Tailor-made fit
