www.americancombustion.com

Air Liquide ACI is a world leader combustion technology provider. The company designs, develops and commissions innovative solutions for the metals processing industry.

Since its creation in 1985, ACI has served hundreds of customers from the steel, stainless, copper, Aluminium and lead industry by conducting leading edge process energy optimizations and introducing innovative oxygen combustion tools.

Based on the expertise gathered from hundreds of similar projects, ACI’s engineers are supporting their customers into making the best choices, by selecting the most appropriate solutions to their needs.

ACI stands committed to provide its customers with experienced metallurgical process counselling and with state of the art technology, compliant with the highest standards of quality and safety.

ACI’s solutions for the Aluminium Industry

Based on its know-how in metallurgy, process control and oxy-fuel combustion, ACI first models the furnace performance and then calculates and guarantees the improved operating process.

ACI's most used Aluminium solution integrates the PyreTron™ air/oxy/fuel burner providing a high flame temperatures, an improved heat flux and a more efficient combustion, allowing to significantly increase melting rates.

Recent retrofit projects from traditional air-fuel burners to Pyretron™ burners have allowed ACI to measure, during the equipment acceptance test, production increases between +25% and +50% with fuel reduction -28% to -45%. The cost per lbs Aluminium produced was reduced by -25% up to -36%. No increases of metal yield losses were detected.

The actual figures for each furnace will depend on the burner efficiency, ratio, and process control of its existing air-fuel system. The cost of oxygen in comparison with fuel will greatly influence the actual cost savings. However, in today’s market, cost savings are always achieved as natural gas prices are twice that of oxygen.

The Pyretron system offers the flexibility to vary the ratios of combustion air and oxygen, in order to minimize oxygen consumption and optimize thermal performance. This provides significant operating cost savings, compared to traditional 100% oxy-fuel burners.

The fully automated PLC-based control system logic can be programmed to continuously optimize flame characteristics and to maximize system performance. The control system is equipped with self-diagnostic software for ease of maintenance. The operator interface provides for user-friendly operation.

Additional benefits of the Aluminium PyreTron™ system include:

• Improved modulating control of burner firing rate, air and O2 flow i.e improved turndown control.
• Incorporation of bath temperature thermocouple into temperature control loop, for automatic feedback control of burner firing rate.
• Tighter bath temperature control allowing for significant energy savings.
• Improved bath temperature control (elimination of high bath temperature excursions) allowing for improved yield (reduce oxidation losses)
• Improved control of air/fuel and oxy/fuel ratios resulting in lower excess air (O2) levels in furnace atmosphere, which contribute to energy savings and to increased yield.
• Increased melting rate which contributes to an increased yield.

Air Liquide ACI has also developed reliable means to measure the CO content on the exit fumes and to accordingly regulate the air, oxygen and fuel flows, so as to optimize the furnace energy usage and increase metallic yield.

The fuel and oxygen flow to the burner influences the flame chemistry, which affects the furnace atmosphere composition. A real-time fume composition measurement feeding the information to the PLC can control the system and maintain a suitable atmosphere composition inside the furnace and reduces the risk of Aluminium oxidation.

The PyreTron™ burner has been successfully used in over 200 installations in the steel, copper, brass, lead, Aluminium and incineration industries.

Air Liquide ACI LLC
200 Chastain Center Boul, Suite 295
Kennesaw, GA 30144, USA

Phone : +1 800 352-6322
e-mail: ACI.info@airliquide.com
web site : www.americancombustion.com

 

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