Every foundry enterprise must first comply with the law and must meet emission standards to protect the environment.The requirement for particulate matter emission in the future is <20mg/m3.Ten years ago, environmental protection was not strictly required and it was thought that the standard could be met by replacing the cupola with induction furnace. As a result, the phenomenon of “one size fits all” of the cupola appeared in many places.In fact, induction furnaces are as contaminated as cupolas.The Foundry Association of China has investigated 456 induction furnaces and found that 105 of them have particulate matter emission above 40mg/m3, while FAW 30t cupola particulate matter emission is less than 5mg/m3 and S O2 is less than 5mg/m3.It is therefore important to note that the views discussed above are based on meeting emission targets.Due to the lack of correct understanding of the two smelting equipment and the immaturity of domestic manufacturing large hot air cupola technology, many foundries with large production use induction furnace to transform under the thought of “less trouble”.Fortunately, both the NDRC and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology have made the development of large hot air cupola a priority development project, negating the “one size fits all” of the cupola at the national level.
In the future, cupolas and induction furnaces will continue to coexist according to their characteristics.In addition to developing large-scale hot air cupola technology in China, the world’s smelting equipment manufacturing enterprises are striving to improve the energy utilization of smelting equipment, at the same time, improve the level of automation, digitalization and intelligence of equipment.
In addition to induction furnaces and cupolas, there are less than 10 coke-free cupolas and pure oxygen gas rotary furnaces operating in cast iron enterprises in the world, with a maximum capacity of only 8t, the total of which can be neglected.Promoting the application of such smelting equipment in China depends on the guarantee of gas supply and price locally.There is an imported 5t/h coke-free cupola and a homemade converter in China which are both out of service due to the rising gas price.
Worldwide efforts are being made to prevent the Earth’s temperature from rising too fast, mainly to reduce CO2 emissions.For this reason, only the relevant German authorities proposed that clean energy should be used instead of coal power after 2050, thus also proposed that coke-fired cupola be converted into electric furnace or coke-free cupola at that time.However, many industries, including the foundry industry in Germany, have raised doubts about whether coal power, which still accounts for about 60% by 2050, can not be used now, and whether coke is a by-product of coal chemical industry and should be applied.This is an issue that will be discussed 30 years later and written for your consideration.