Cast-iron measures

• Company instals a more efficient burner system for preheating casting ladles
• Energy savings come to around € 29 000 a year

The German casting company ACO Guss GmbH, with about 300 employees, produces parts for railway technology, mechanical engineering, and utility vehicles. Besides continuous casting processes, the company manufactures components of grey cast spheroidal graphite iron.

For the casting processes, the company uses cylindrical and rectangular transport ladles for materials preheated by conventional flame burners. The ladles were heated for 3-4 hours every day.

To make the process more energy efficient ACO Guss decided to replace some of the burners (two for the cylindrical and one rectangular) and install a porous burner system, a technology which is designed specifically for preheating casting ladles.

Key results

With the new system, it is possible to heat the ladles up to the necessary temperature, but also to dry the used ladles and prepare the materials for onward steps. The measure saves energy, materials, and processing time. It also reduces CO2 emissions by 324 tonnes equivalent per year. The energy cost savings alone come to around € 29 000 annually, which means a payback on investment of 2.2 years.