- Fonderie Poitras
Fonderie Poitras saves with induction
With customers the likes of General Motors, Caterpillar and Ford, Fonderie Poitras had every reason to want to meet orders more efficiently.
Hydro-Québec experts recommended a crucible-type low-frequency induction furnace. The president and CEO agreed it was the best option. Compared to competing technology, electromagnetic induction (EMI) provides greater, more stable energy efficiency, more rapid and uniform heating and simplified maintenance. What's more, it's non-polluting.
Experts from Hydro-Québec's energy technologies laboratory (LTE) helped define the furnace's operating parameters so that it saves energy while providing for better management of the power demand. Since the furnace is easier to maintain and more ecological, it also reduced operating costs and improved employee working conditions!
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System description
The operating principle of induction heating consists of placing an electrical conductor such as steel, aluminum or cast iron in a fluctuating electromagnetic field. The eddy currents inducted in the metal cause it to melt without coming into contact with the energy source, thus minimizing losses and making it possible to achieve a very high power density.
- Stelfil
Stefil saves on sludge with green technology
Stelfil, a major manufacturer of galvanized steel wire, was spending thousands of dollars each year shipping and landfilling residual sludge contaminated with lead and zinc. The company needed technology that would help it drastically cut the weight of this sludge and comply with environmental standards.
Since the sludge was 50% water, a promising approach was to find an efficient and economical way of drying it. After conducting a technical and economic study, Hydro-Québec recommended that the company opt for a heat pump.
With this pump, Stelfil reduced by 40% or 150 metric tons the weight of sludge for disposal, which represented savings of over $50,000 a year in handling, shipping and landfill. Besides meeting its environmental commitments, Stelfil is reaping another benefit from this impressively energy-efficient drying system: the pump recovers 98% of the thermal energy!
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- Nexans
Nexans turns wastes into profits
Nexans was looking for technology to help it better rinse the copper wire it manufactures while treating and recycling wastewater acid. It also wanted to remain in compliance with environmental standards for effluents and water consumption.
Nexans first had to find a way to get the demineralized water it needed for its rinsing system. Following recommendations by Hydro-Québec experts, the company implemented a reverse osmosis system.
With Hydro-Québec's continuing help, the company then launched the second phase of the project, designed to recover and recycle acid from rinse water using a mechanical compression evaporation system comprised of corrosion-resistant polymer heat exchangers. A major dividend was the system's energy consumption: 50 times less than a conventional single-effect evaporator of equivalent capacity!
Thanks to electrotechnology, Nexans improved the quality of its product and cut operating costs. The project was a total success!
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- Mector
Metcor goes electric for heat-treatment precision
To diversify its operations, Metcor wanted to add an aluminum heat-treating line and a vacuum furnace for treating steel.
The company thus consulted Hydro-Québec experts who helped study alternatives from the energy standpoint without neglecting a host of other parameters: temperature uniformity, durability, service life, initial outlay, and operating and maintenance costs.
With the facts in hand, Metcor opted for electrical facilities, including a heat-treatment line (a soaking furnace and two aging ovens) as well as two vacuum hardening furnaces with quick quenching.
Equipped with clean, non-polluting electrical facilities, Metcor now enjoys several major benefits:
- greater uniformity and more precise control of furnace temperatures
- reinforcement of metallurgical properties by vacuum hardening
- lower rejection rates
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- Les Trempeurs Thermetco
Trempeurs Thermetco fills vacuum in heat treatment
Trempeurs Thermetco had already called upon Hydro-Québec in 1989 to implement a new electric resistance furnace. So when it came time for a vacuum furnace, they knew who to turn to!
An electric vacuum furnace is used to heat treat steel products that must meet particularly stringent hardness, strength and precision criteria. Since operating parameters are under tight computer control, it ensures consistent quality and precision.
Compared to conventional systems, the vacuum furnace pollutes much less and is much more reliable. Since parts no longer need be quenched in an oil bath, the risk of deformation is also reduced. The company is thus reaping multiple benefits.
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System description
Parts to be treated are first cleaned in a degreaser then placed in a double-wall furnace where a vacuum is created to eliminate the last remaining impurities. The furnace is then raised to the desired temperature using electric resistances. Finally, a powerful turbine injects an inert gas into the furnace chamber to quench the parts quickly.
- Alphacasting
Alphacasting: Innovation shapes futures profits
Located in the Borough of Saint-Laurent, Alphacasting specializes in ferrous and non-ferrous precision metal casting. Since it began operations in 1991, the foundry has developed an investment casting process enabling it to produce intricate thin-wall titanium parts with high structural integrity.
Alphacasting would not have achieved this feat without the collaboration of Hydro-Québec, the École Polytechnique de Montréal and the Centre intégré de fonderie et de métallurgie (CIFM - integrated foundry and metallurgy centre). The experts at Hydro-Québec's energy technologies lab in Shawinigan recommended high-end electric vacuum melting furnaces and participated in the development of suitable melting and investment casting processes. By fine-tuning the parameters, they succeeded in cutting the melting cycle down to 45 minutes. They also helped build a thermodynamic model of potential reactions between molten titanium and various kinds of crucibles.
By specializing in titanium alloy casting, Alphacasting has become more competitive and its sales have flourished. The company is the first in Canada to produce intricate parts with high structural integrity.
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