William Cook Energy Efficiency Feasibility Study

威廉·库克是一家具有前瞻性的公司，它希望以可持续和环保的方式采取行动，将能源损失降至最低，并从炉子中回收废热。威廉·库克的谢菲尔德工厂专门为国防、铁路、建筑以及石油和天然气等不同行业制造铸件和特种合金及高温合金。铸造过程是非常耗能的，因为它需要熔化金属和合金。该工地经营着许多电感应炉和燃气重型铸造炉，每年都要消耗大量的天然气和电力。炉子内的温度约为1,200摄氏度，炉子中大量的高级热量以热烟道气体的形式损失到大气中。在IETF可行性研究的第一阶段应用中，我们将寻求通过回收废气中的废热来提高场地的能源效率并减少其环境足迹，用于各种可能的用途，如有机朗肯循环(ORC)发电、预热燃烧空气、预热原料、生产热水和蒸汽，以及使用吸收制冷进行快速冷却。可行性研究将确定该场地的最佳技术和财务解决方案。稍后，在IETF的第二阶段，我们会寻求从拨款中获得额外的财政资助，以部署所选的技术解决方案。这项计划极具创意，因为它需要废热回收和利用、传热学、热力学等方面的知识和专业知识，以及热能利用技术的经验。它还需要特殊的测量和监测设备。因此，威廉·库克与谢菲尔德哈勒姆大学的哈勒姆能源公司合作，领导这项研究。

William Cook is a forward-thinking company which wants to act in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner by minimising its energy losses and recovering waste heat from its furnaces. William Cook's Sheffield site specialises in manufacturing cast components and specialist alloys and superalloys for various sectors such as defence, rail, construction and oil and gas. The casting process is very energy intensive as it requires melting of metals and alloys. The site operates a number of electric induction furnaces and gas-fired heavy foundry furnaces which consume a significant amount of gas and electricity every year. The temperatures inside the furnaces are about 1,200oC and a significant amount of high-grade heat from the furnaces is lost to the atmosphere in the form of hot flue gases. In this Phase 1 IETF application for feasibility study, we will be looking to improve the site's energy efficiency and reduce its environmental footprint by recovering waste heat from the exhaust gases for a variety of possible uses such as producing electricity by Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC), pre-heating combustion air, pre-heating of feedstock, production of hot water and steam and rapid cooling using Absorption Chilling. The feasibility study will determine the best technical and financial solutions for the site. Later, in Phase 2 of the IETF, we will be looking to secure additional financial support from the grant for the deployment of the chosen technical solution.The project is innovative as it requires knowledge and expertise in waste heat recovery and utilisation, heat transfer, thermodynamics, etc. as well as experience of heat utilisation technologies. It also requires special measuring and monitoring equipment. William Cook have thus partnered with Hallam Energy at Sheffield Hallam University to lead this study.