The mining industry is one of the most energy-intensive manufacturing sectors. Furnaces are widely used across the world in different mining companies for the successful smelting of Gold and Silver metals. Induction furnaces are capable of saving energy in smelting processes when compared to other traditional furnaces. However, heat loss is a factor that mining companies have traditionally been known to overlook.
Although energy expenses are a significant concern for mining companies, many mining companies continue to use melting technologies that offer extremely poor energy efficiency. Thermal efficiency refers to the percentage of heat, which actually melts the metal. To calculate the extent of heat losses, there are many factors that mining companies should take into consideration. Many of these factors include furnace design, operator practice, and level of process control.
Induction Furnaces Vs Traditional Furnaces
To reduce the amount of heat loss, many mining companies replaced their traditional coal-fired cupola furnaces with induction furnaces, as they are cleaner and more energy efficient than other combustion furnaces. If compared with cupola, oil, and gas furnaces to induction furnaces offer greater flexibility for batching, a quieter working environment, closer process control, and better metal homogeneity.
Melting Time
With the installation of an induction furnace, mining companies can benefit from a higher melt rate and the mining site can undertake a number of batch melts in a shorter period of time, meaning the mining site is now highly efficient. Induction furnaces also have many other advantages, including:
Energy Conservation
Induction furnaces use a non-contact method of heating which is highly energy efficient, and allows the furnace to reduce the total energy consumption of melting metals. Also less energy is wasted, as induction furnaces do not use combustion to produce heat. This means the rate of heat loss is relatively lower in induction furnaces compared to traditional furnaces.
Higher Production Rates
Induction heating is a cleaner and more effective way of producing heat. This form of heating works very quickly and easily melts metals within a short period of time. Moreover, there is no start up time for induction melting, and there is no warm up or cool down cycle required.
