Perfect conception, dimensioning and planning of melting plants

Perfect conception, dimensioning and planning of melting plants

“How large does our melting plant have to be?” “How can I increase productivity?” “Which extensions pay off fastest?” – These are questions that foundry operators often ask themselves. And these are important questions, as they often mean high investments or can lead to an increase in yield. ABP has developed the Meltshop Designer to design, dimension and plan a melting plant to perfection.

With this ABP proprietary development from System Engineering, we determine which solution is the best for our customers when it comes to the flow of material in the foundry. Our experts can develop simulations for different foundry situations, show variations in furnace design, and include different configurations from ladles to the filling of the molding line. Whether the customer is interested in the current production environment or the variations for future melting processes, the fundamental goal is to find the bottleneck in the simulated environment that could disrupt production – in other words, to optimize processes and operations.

Best practice

A practical example: a melting plant is designed for a production of 10 tons per hour, but only reaches 8 tons per hour. With the help of the Meltshop Designer, we at ABP were able to simulate the actual condition – and found that the ladle transport did not meet the required production volume. Based on the simulation, we were able to give the customer advice on how to improve his production environment.

A further example: a customer was planning to buy three furnaces. We were able to simulate via the Meltshop Designer that he would already achieve the desired production quantity with a tandem furnace and that he should plan the third furnace better as a potential extension so he could save these funds for the time being.

What makes the Meltshop Designer so valuable is its variability. We can simulate all materials by accessing a large database or by incorporating new materials. It is also possible to simulate various one-off or periodic events, such as the limitation of the power supply, a fairly common problem where energy providers reduce the power supply at certain times when more power is being drawn from other parts of the grid.

Evaluation of our simulations

Initially, the evaluation from our simulations consists of many numbers. How high is the energy consumption? What quantities were produced? Of course, we can also provide these bare figures to the customer, but the actual added value only arises from the analysis by our ABP experts, who analyze the information from the  data. When they set up the simulation, it always includes a presentation for the customer, from which recommendations for action are then derived.

Of course, the Meltshop Designer is constantly subject to further development. It is currently available for the foundry market, but also for the steel market in the future. The adjustments for this are already being planned. Further plans are also underway to include other plants in the simulation, even competitor furnaces, always with the aim of achieving the best results for the customer.

Info

Please contact us if you have any questions:
Patrick Lück, ABP Induction Systems GmbH
Sales Engineer Liquid Metals
Phone: +49 231 997 2300
Cell: +49 151 22610238
patrick.lueck@abpinduction.com