Course Registration Fees* (Advance Rates Valid through February 1, 2013)

Advance Member:	$525
Advance Nonmember:	$575
Late/onsite Member:	$600
Late/onsite Nonmember:	$650

Reduce costs, improve quality, and increase throughput with a thorough understanding of casting furnaces.

This course is a comprehensive review of furnace technology and cast shop practices for improving efficiency, quality, and productivity while minimizing emissions and waste. Topics include: basics of combustion, heat transfer, burner technology, understanding preheated combustion air, reverberatory furnace design, metal circulation, furnace technology, fundamentals of fans and blowers, reduction of melt loss, refractory selection and installation, and emissions/baghouse issues. Speakers for each topic are experts in their field to help you understand and improve your operation.

Presentations

• “Basics of Combustion and Environmental Considerations.” The presentation will discuss the typical air/fuel combustion process with emphasis on ways to save fuel and minimize emissions.
• “Typical Burners Used in Aluminum Cast Houses.” Discussion on burner types with respect to furnace configuration, efficiency, productivity and emissions.
• “Blowers/Exhausters.” This presentation will cover the basics of fan design. It will give you the understanding of how to read a fan curve and where they come from. It will also cover the importance of density and how to calculate it. We will also go over the fan laws and how to use them correctly. This is great class for those who are new to fans and a great refresher for those who are not.
• “Dioxin and Furan Issues.” How dioxins are formed, how to avoid them, and solutions on how to deal with them when you do have them.
• “Refractory Selection for Aluminum Furnaces.” Refractory selection for the aluminum cast house and rotary furnaces are based on fundamental refractory properties. Refractory considerations involve not only product selection, but lining types, installation methods, and maintenance practices. Refractory brick and monolithic refractory products and construction considerations will be reviewed. Testing of refractories for metal contact applications is important in selection as operating conditions become more aggressive. New product technologies and recent developments in furnace lining dry-out modeling field results are reviewed.
• “High Efficiency Aluminum Melting in Reverberatory Furnaces and . . . True ROI.” This paper will expand on the “ranking of ROI” expenditures for aluminum furnaces: or, how to get the biggest “bang for your bucks” from quickest-to-slowest investment recovery. Efficiencies, ancillary equipment to enhance efficiency and refractory linings will be addressed.

The course is directed toward cast shop supervisors/managers, technical support, and engineers who work with casting furnaces.

Presenters

• Don Whipple, Bloom Engineering
• Jim Checkeye, Bloom Engineering
• Deanna Weaver, Robinson Fans
• John Sutton, Harbison-Walker Refractories
• David Edgerton, Dantherm