Towards an efficient manufacturing process of automation components in Aluminium

The ALePRE project, "New ALuminium engine blocks and brake discs e-manufactured using PREssure-based technology", considers the migration towards an efficient use of materials and energy in the manufacturing process of automation components in Aluminium following the strategy of producing light products, in accordance with the European automation vehicle manufacturing paradigm of diminishing the weight of vehicles in order to reduce CO2 emissions to the atmosphere.

The project is led by FAGOR EDERLAN, S.COOP and the following Basque entities participate in it: AURRENAK, S.COOP., TRATAMIENTOS TÉRMICOS TEY, S.L., FOSECO ESPAÑOLA, S.A., BEFESA, S.A., JOSÉ LUIS SANTILLÁN, S.A., SINDOSA, S.L. and the BASQUE ENERGY CLUSTER. The RVCTI, IK4-IKERLAN, IK4-TEKNIKER and EDERTEK S.COOP centres are also participating in the project. It began on 16th April 2015 and will end on 31st December 2017 and it has an associated budget of 5 million euros.

The challenge consists of developing aluminium injection technologies that offer the highest quality, shorter cycle times, reduced consumption of materials and lower energy consumption.

In order to reduce energy consumption in the LPDC process, FAGOR EDERLAN in conjunction with IK4-IKERLAN has set up an energy efficiency team to collect and analyse energy consumption data at its plant.

The process has been divided into various modules that group together equipment with similar functions (melting, moulding, heat treatment, machining, quality control, etc.) and the individual machinery in which it is possible to quantify energy consumption has been identified for each module. Due to the fact that the energy consumption of the process is closely linked to its productivity, the input and output materials in each of the different phases have also been taken into account, as well as their flow between the equipment. The data available at the LPDC plant has been collected, ad-hoc measurements have been taken and the values have been estimated in those cases in which no data is available. The different sources of the data that has been used in the analysis are detailed below:

• Energy consumption monitoring system implemented at the LPDC plant: automatic reading of gas and electricity consumption data with diverse breakdowns, from individual equipment (gas from the melting furnace) to grouped data for several pieces of machinery (electricity for moulding), with sampling times of a few minutes
• Production register system in the company ERP with aggregate values for shifts (8 hours)
• Ad-hoc measurements for certain equipment (e.g. moulding, heat treatment, etc.) during a significant period of time which enables a typical repetitive pattern to be obtained
• Data estimates in accordance with the nominal values and cycle times (e.g. refrigeration flows in moulding)

Following the analysis of this energy consumption data at the LPDC plant, the modules or phases with the highest energy consumption have been identified. The phases with the highest energy consumption include those which use gas in their heating process: melting and heat treatment. In these phases, the combustion gases provide the materials with heat and these gases still have usable sensible heat after doing so.

The energy efficiency team set up by FAGOR EDERLAN and IK4-IKERLAN has explored the possibility of recovering the heat available from these gases for use in other phases of the process and hence improve the energy efficiency of the process. From the different heat reuse options, heat from the solution heat treatment smoke has been selected for using it in the ageing heat treatment.

The design and dimensioning of the heat recovery system is currently underway and its assembly and first experimental tests will be carried out throughout 2017.