Reducing Energy Consumption through Energy Efficient Transformers for Steel Industry

Posted: Apr, 21 - 2010

Published: Apr, 22 - 2010

Format: application/pdf

No Of Pages: 7 pages

Language: English

Abstract

The steel industry is undoubtedly an important contributor to the US economy. However this industry has one major drawback, its heavy reliance on energy. The highest geographic concentration of steel mills in the US is in the Great Lakes region, including Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and New York, and it is these states that would benefit the most if the steel industry becomes energy efficient.

Though the steel industry consumes close to 1.5 quads/year of energy it has also been technologically improving to become energy efficient. In the last decade alone it has made great strides in this direction. But is the reduction in energy demand adequate? Most would think not, and that's what caused the slew of legislations, including making it mandatory for companies to install energy efficient transformers.

Increasing costs of energy, need to stay competitive, and pressure from government to cut down greenhouse gas emissions, has led the steel industry to explore ways to reduce its demand for energy.

This Whitepaper focuses on one way which is widely ignored as a cost effective method to reduce energy consumption in the industry, namely, the use of energy efficient transformers.

Due to its unique production methodology, the steel industry often requires customized transformers. Companies now have to choose between cheaper, less efficient transformers and expensive, more efficient transformers. This Whitepaper notes that while the initial cost of energy efficient transformers is more, it still has a lower Total Cost of Ownership. In the long run too energy efficient transformers produce annual savings that could run into thousands of dollars. This seems especially relevant with the steep rise in energy prices.

Pacific Crest Transformers has been manufacturing all types of customized transformers for the steel industry for nearly a century now. With its extensive domain expertise, Pacific Crest Transformers has the ability to offer its clients the best of breed solutions no matter how complex the need.

Introduction

The US has the largest steel industry in the world and the highest per capita demand for the metal in the world too. At the very core of steel manufacturing industry is its huge demand for energy. According to the American Iron and Steel Institute energy represents 20% of the total cost of producing steel.

The steel industry consumes close to 1.5 quads/year of energy and uses it both, to power plant operations, and as raw material for the production of blast furnace coke. The steel production process employed uses one of two processes, namely, the Basic Oxygen Furnace and the Electric Arc Furnace.

Processes in steel making which consume maximum amount of energy include, sintering, coke making, iron making, EAF steel making, casting, boilers, cogeneration, reheating, rolling and finishing. The production of molten steel involves process heating operations that consume large amounts of fossil fuels and electricity. Process heating accounts for more than 80% of the industry's total energy use. Forming processes use mainly electricity to drive casting machines, rolling mills, and other forming and finishing equipment.

With the rising cost of energy the steel industry has come under tremendous pressure to stay globally competitive.

About one-third of the steel industry's energy is derived from coal, a highly polluting fossil fuel,and is the reason for all the attention the process gets from environmentalist and the Department of Energy (DOE) alike. Amendments to the Clean Air Act of 1990 (CAA90), the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and a range of other legislations have had a major impact on the steel industry. The most costly fallout has been the requirement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

With pressure on the steel industry to cut down on its energy demand, numerous technological changes have been implemented, some of these are

• Coal-based, onshore, alternate iron making production
• Non-recovery coke production
• Direct smelting
• Thin strip casting
• Increased efforts to conserve energy in hot cast products
• Increased efforts to capture chemical energy in waste gases from processes
• Increased use of sensors in operations, to improve efficiency
• Implementation of the motor challenge program