The Cascade e-ion is not for use as a stand-alone melting furnace. It is an add-on to a new or existing aluminum furnace. The model you require is our DRO-Cascade-eion-10 or DRO-Cascade-e-ion-3.5. This is an electrically powered 10kW or 3.5 kW add on. It’s, output should be directed at the surface of the liquid metal. Please think of it as an efficient gas top which also provides 10kW or 3 KW of heat. It is continuous. Given below are comparisons and ROI’s. Please verify with MHI should you have questions.
Dross savings = Energy Savings.
Approximate ROI. The savings is from dross reduction, therefore the ROI is tied to the total metal that is produced/processed. For example, if the price of 1 ton aluminum is $1000, then a 2% savings in dross is in $20 in savings. In one year if this furnace makes 100 tons, the savings is $2000. Of course it is likely that the secondary aluminum market sells at about $2000 per ton of processed metal. The calculations below are with $1000 per ton.
Most small scale aluminum plants process about 10 tons a day per furnace. Assume one year has 200 working days; this equals 2000 tons a year per furnace. At $20 a ton savings the savings per year is $40,000. For small furnaces in this category we would recommend the DRO-Cascade-e-ion-3.3. Duties and shipping extra. Easy to install.
If your furnace is for 50 tons per day @2% dross savings the savings per year is $200,000. Here we would recommend the DRO-Cascade-e-10 machine. Price is about $120,000. Duties and shipping extra.
Sometimes it has been reported that a gas fired furnace dross can be as high as 10%. This means the savings correspondingly would be about $200,000 to $1,000,000 per year. If the price is $2000/ton the savings range from $80,000 to $2,000,000 per year depending on the tonnage, model number and dross scenario. The ROI’s are attractive. For DRO models MHI has a never-down –policy which is very cost effective in ownership. This cost is typically within 10-15% of purchase price and far below the maintenance costs typically set aside for thermal equipment. MHIstandard warranty is 1 Year.
If employed well Energy efficiencies of 0.2kWhr/lb with no emissions can be expected in addition to low dross when the heat is also used for melting. However low dross is the primary benefit.
The units may be added to an existing holding furnaces or launder systems, to improve the dross-loss and simultaneously achieve higher production rates.
Three 6kW plasma devices
are shown in the picture attached to a furnace. Normally, one unit, can produce more than 10**20 ions every minute depending on the power.
For dross reduction choose one unit to start and add if more are needed. Easy to attach to a flat surface.
