The development of emission standards for the EU (Euro 1 to Euro 5) indicates a significant decrease in pollutant emissions since the beginning of the 1990s:

All in all, the automotive industries are subject to very harsh and demanding regulation concerning fuel consumption and CO₂-emissions. The goal of preventing the emission of CO₂ on the basis of the „Integrated Approach“ wherever possible and cost-efficiently still persists.“ (Annual Report VDA 2009) The automotive industry is affected both directly as an energy user and indirectly by the expected increase in price for energy and energy-intensive pre-products. Many small and medium-sized combustion plants at the automotive industry’s production sites are run in order to generate thermal heat for production processes and waste air purification.

Information paper

Are Fibres Representing a Potential
Hazard to the General Public Released from
Catalytic Converters/Diesel Particulate Filters
into the Environment?

download

VDMA Publication, May 2009

Operators of industrial furnaces are some of the largest energy consumers in Germany. They pay energy suppliers about 30 billion euros per year. A tenth of this sum is for electricity, the rest for gas. 40% of the energy consumed by German industry is for industrial furnaces. In 2005 energy consumption totalled 270 TWh (Terawatt-hours). This equals the annual consumption of 14 million private households.

CO₂-emissions are reduced by 1.07 m3 with every m3 of natural gas. Saving 1kg of domestic fuel oil means reducing CO₂-emissions by 1.60 m3. The reduction in the consumption of electric energy is also visible in the CO₂-balance of the energy suppliers, as producing energy means producing 520 g of CO₂ per kWh (German energy mix).

Energy costs are rising and will continue to do so. Electricity prices for the German industry have skyrocked by 60% since 2000 and gas prices have increased by no less than 250% since 1999. For manufacturing industries, energy consumption is increasingly proving to be an increasingly critical factor with regard to their competitiveness. From a business management point of view, checking the energy efficiency of industrial furnaces has become more important than ever.

From a technical and economic perspective, evaluation and/or comparison of industrial furnaces is possible based on degrees of efficiency.

Construction and energy loss

Depending on the temperature inside the furnace, its walls will be composed of one ore more layers of refractory materials, insulation material and blocking air layers. The choice of these refractory materials is made according to technical criteria but also from an economic perspective.

Distillation Heater in a Refinery in Northeast France

Potential cost savings and a environmental impact deriving from improved insulation as well as the high cold face temperatures (average 120 °C) prompted the decision to replace the existing insulation with an AES wool product.

Characteristics of the AES insulation:

Being discontent with the durability of furnace rollers five years development time in a plant of Thyssen Krupp in Duisburg (Germany) have led to a process of improvement resulting in an optimised insulation using High Temperature Insulation Wool products.

Transporting slabs through the roller hearth furnaces severely damaged the insulation of the rollers by concussion and high temperatures reaching 1.200 °C. Preliminary experiments were started by own initiative. Different fibrous materials with different structures and density were used then.

Supported by ECFIA experts the idea was brought to perfection five years later. It was then progressively implemented on the rollers.

Advantages of the improved HTIW insulation:

The countries of the European Union are currently the global leaders in the development and application of renewable energy. Promoting the use of renewable energy sources is important both with regard to the reduction of the EU’s dependence on foreign energy imports, and in meeting targets to combat global warming.

Renewables targets

In March 2007 EU leaders reached agreement in principle that 20% of the bloc’s energy should be produced from renewable fuels and by the year 2020 as part of a drive to cut CO₂ emissions. Renewables currently account for less than 7% of the EU energy mix. In a special report, the European Parliament said that to give the legislation teeth, it should contain binding renewable energy targets for particular sectors — electricity, heating and transport — rather than just a general goal.

Renewable energy sectors where HTIW or HTIW products are used in the production process or actual application