Novelis Italia from Pieve, Italy, has placed an order with Hertwich Engineering, Austria, for the supply and erection of an Ecomelt scrap melting furnace of the PS-80-type with preheat shaft. The new furnace plant will increase the recycling rate at Novelis from 34% to 80%.
At temperatures below 650 degree Celsius, hot-air flow in the preheat shaft heats the aluminum scrap, thus minimizing the oxidation of the material.
The Ecomelt furnaces operate particularly economically when used for melting scraps which contain organic substances: as result, gas consumption is reduced to 400kWh/t, and thus significantly below that of conventional melting furnaces. That saves energy costs and lowers the CO2 emissions. In addition, the metal loss falls to below 3% thanks to use of the immersion melting process.
The Ecomelt furnace at Novelis is scheduled to go into operation in December 2012