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APPLIED
ENERGY
Applied Energy 85 (2008) 516–527
www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy

Cogeneration technology for the metal-processing sector

A. Sala a, I. Flores b, J.M. Sala b, J.A. Millán b, I. Gómez b, L.M. López c,*
a
Accenture, Gran Vı́a 45, 48011 Bilbao, Spain
b
Department of Thermal Engineering, University of the Basque Country, Alda, Urquijo s/n, 48013 Bilbao, Spain
c
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of La Rioja, C/Luis de Ulloa, 20, E 26004 Logroño (La Rioja), Spain

Accepted 20 October 2007

Available online 14 January 2008

Abstract

Enclosed are the results of a feasibility study for a cogeneration facility at a company manufacturing large ship and off-
shore oil-platform chains. The sizing of the main cogeneration equipment has been based on the assumption that the main
energy demand is that needed to keep the quench bath at a temperature of 12 °C, thus compensating for the heat input
from the chain proper and furnace gases.
The main difficulty of the study has been to assess, with the maximum possible assurance and precision, the quench
water-flow rate, which at present is cooled down through the cooling towers and in the future through an absorption cooler
driven by the waste-heat present in the exhaust gases of a 1000 kW natural-gas engine. To this end, energy audits for each
furnace have been carried out, identifying and quantifying each energy flow. As a technique for energy saving and effi-
ciency improvement, cogeneration has been wide spread across all industrial sectors in Spain.
Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Cogeneration; Thermo-economy; Absorption refrigeration; Heat-treatment furnaces

1. Background

This study has been carried out at a manufacturing facility for large ship and off-shore oil-platform chains.
The production process begins with the procurement of steel bars from which chain links are made. These bars
are heated in furnaces to allow bending. After bending the link is welded. Later, as a function of the required
characteristics, the chain undergoes several heat-treatment operations (hardening, tempering, etc.) in the heat-
treatment furnaces. After this process and the required inspection and quality control, the chain is ready to go
to the market.
Average annual electric-power consumption is 8644 MWh. This power is used for machines, mainly arc-
welding machines, movers and lighting. Monthly power-consumption and energy distribution between peak
and flat hours, along with its cost is known through electricity invoices, and the average electricity cost is
5.65 c€/kWh [1].

*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 941 299 536; fax: +34 941 299 478.
E-mail address: luis-maria.lopez@dim.unirioja.es (L.M. López).

0306-2619/$ - see front matter Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2007.10.008
 A. Sala et al. / Applied Energy 85 (2008) 516–527 517

Nomenclature

h specific enthalpy (J/kg)

hwv latent heat (J/kg)
m_ mass flow (kg/s)
Q_ heat flow (W)
t temperature (°C)

Subscripts
ch chain
g combustion gases
rf refrigeration
v vapour
w water
1 inlet
2 outlet

The fuel used is natural gas, with a unit cost of 1.65 c€/kWh. Gas is used by the three heat-treatment fur-
naces, which represent the largest demand, bar heating furnaces and other small furnaces and hot water boilers
in the different plant buildings.
Table 1 shows annual electric power and natural-gas consumptions, as well as per-unit consumptions (per
kg of produced chain) of these energy types.

2. Proposed cogeneration plant

The feasibility of the cogeneration plant has been contemplated based on the fact that the main energy-
demand is for cooling quench-water [2]. The facility features three heat-treatment furnaces for homogenizing,
hardening and tempering.
Each furnace has the chain moving inside, pulled by rollers at the top. The furnaces are provided with
water-quench tanks at the bottom, where the chain is subject to a sudden temperature drop. A number of nat-
ural-gas burners are arranged along the furnace walls, so that the chain reaches the temperature required in
each case for the heat treatment (see details in Fig. 3).
The bath temperature is 38 °C. In order to keep said temperature constant, the heat transferred by the hot
chain and furnace gases into the bath is removed through cooling towers. Make up water is also required to
compensate for water evaporation. Fig. 1 shows the furnace water-circuit diagram.
The chain’s heat-treatment would be better performed if the quench water were at a temperature below
38 °C which would keep the temperature in the vicinity at 15 °C. This could be achieved by substituting
the existing cooling towers by an absorption cooling machine [3] with sufficient refrigeration capacity to
remove the heat transferred by the hot chain and furnace gases into the bath and cool-down quench water
from 18 °C to 13 °C and take it back to the furnace tanks (see Fig. 2).

Table 1
Annual and per-unit energy consumption
Energy type Consumption and production Per-unit consumption (kWh/kg)
Electricity (kWh) 8,486,015 0.86
Natural gas (kWh) 5,467,000 0.55
Production (kg) 9,905,600 –
518 A. Sala et al. / Applied Energy 85 (2008) 516–527

Fig. 1. Furnace water-circuit diagram.

Fig. 2. Diagram of water circuit with absorption cooler.

As the measurement of the refrigeration effect is impossible in practical terms, an assessment of the cooling-
water flow is required. As this is not available, it has been calculated indirectly using energy balances for all the
furnaces, as described in the following section [4].
 A. Sala et al. / Applied Energy 85 (2008) 516–527 519

The above procedure poses the difficulty that the heat transferred by the chain into the quench water is used
partly to heat up the water and partly to evaporate it. On the other hand, when performing the furnace’s
energy-balance, apart from the air water-vapour and the water-vapour formed in the combustion, the water
vapour from the bath must be taken into account in the gas composition as the gas analyser does not assess the
water vapour from the bath [5].

3. Energy audit of hardening furnace

During the various visits paid to the facility, several measurements of the furnace’s exhaust-gases as well as
furnace’s surface-temperatures were taken. Energy balances have therefore been performed for all furnaces
and their efficiencies assessed. Every loss term has also been quantified.
Appropriate pump and cooling tower performance analyses have likewise been performed. The main pur-
pose of these analyses has been to determine the amount of quench-water flow evaporated in the furnaces, as
well as the amount of water flow evaporated in the cooling towers and the circulating-water flow rate. The
final values obtained are shown in the cooling-water circuit diagram of Fig. 1.
The energy analysis carried out for one of the furnaces, the hardening furnace, is presented as an example.
Similar analyses have been performed for the other two heat-treatment furnaces. The company has provided
data on the amount of treated chain and fuel consumption over one representative day of furnace operation,
as well as the annual energy consumption and production (see Table 1). Several additional measurements have
also been carried out (flue-gas analysis, surface temperature sampling, etc.) to complete the energy balances.

3.1. Furnace description

The hardening furnace has the shape of an upside down U, measuring approximately 15 m in height and is
composed of two hollow vertical cylindrical bodies, connected through an upper rectangular cross section
body.
The chain to be heat treated in the furnace enters one end goes through a complete run, rising along one
side and moving downwards along the opposite side, being pulled and guided by a roller at the upper part. In
this way, the chain is progressively heated up and kept at the right temperature inside the furnace prior to
being introduced into the water tank, where the hardening process is undertaken. The water tank is situated
at the bottom of the ‘‘lowering” column: it also serves as a furnace seal.
The energy needed to heat up the chain comes from three natural-gas burners. The first burner (of power
Q_ 1a ) is placed in the main combustion-chamber, located next to the chain outlet base and has two furnace
inlet-gas ducts, placed at different elevations. Thus, the gas flows counter current to the chain. A second bur-
ner (of power Q_ 1b ) is placed above the second gas-inlet in the chain lowering column, to aid the progressive
heating of the chain. The third burner (of power Q_ 1c ) is placed at the upper part of the rising column.
After completing their run in the furnace, the gases exit through the flue, the inlet of which is placed next to
the chain’s inlet-section. The furnace features a circulation circuit to direct the hot gases to the combustion
chambers of the first two burners, which, with a proper control system, allow a better use of energy to be
achieved prior to exiting into the atmosphere.
Out of all furnace auxiliary installations, special mention should be made of the cooling circuit of the chain-
pulling roller due to its contribution to the energy-balance. It is a closed circuit, with the required flow for
cooling the roller and the drive shaft components inside the furnace, being in contact with the chain and
the hot gases, to avoid damage.

3.2. Measurements

Two flue-gas analysis and furnace surface temperature measurements have been performed on two different
occasions to assess the different loss terms. The following equipment was use:

 Testo combustion analyser, model 350

 Kane May contact temperature-probe, model KS1
520 A. Sala et al. / Applied Energy 85 (2008) 516–527

Data obtained with the analyser are shown in Table 2, and the surface temperatures are in Table 3.
Sixteen measurement points have been chosen so as to embrace all the different zones of the furnace
surface.

3.3. Furnace’s energy-balance excluding the bath tank

The energy-balance has been performed on the control volume limited by the following surfaces:

 Chain entry into the rising column section.

 Chain exit section, immediately prior to immersion in the water tank at the bottom of the lowering column.
 Combustion chamber’s fuel and air-inlet section.
 Flue-gas exit to atmosphere section.
 Furnace’s outside surface.

The most significant hardening furnace heat-flows are described below and schematically represented in
Fig. 3.

Inputs
 Q_ 1 : energy flow supplied by the combustion of the natural gas.
Q_ 1 ¼ Q_ 1a þ Q_ 1b þ Q_ 1c

Table 2
Measurement results
Measurement 1 Measurement 2
tG (°C) 520 545
% O2 12.5 8.5
% CO2 4.9 7.1
k 2.43 1.68
ppmCO 53 55
ppmNO 69 77

Table 3
Furnace’s surface-temperature
Point Surface temperature (°C)
1 147.0
2 164.8
3 137.0
4 115.0
5 80.0
6 109.5
7 72.5
8 65.9
9 83.3
10 58.8
11 75.1
12 78.8
13 84.5
14 62.0
15 74.5
16 123.4
 A. Sala et al. / Applied Energy 85 (2008) 516–527 521

Fig. 3. Hardening furnace.

Outputs
 Q_ 2 : load (chain) heat-up energy.
 Q_ 3 : energy loss through flue gas.
 Q_ 4 : energy loss through furnace walls.
 Q_ 5 : heat loss into quench water-bath.
 Q_ 6 : heat loss into roller cooling circuit.
 Q_ 7 : opening energy-loss.

3.3.1. Energy supplied to furnace

This has been calculated based on data provided by the company regarding the hardening furnace’s fuel
(natural-gas) consumption during one working day in steady operation.
According to the gas utility company, the mean natural-gas lower heating value is 37.62 MJ/N m3. As the
gas consumption is 2753.4 N m3 per day, so that heat power supplied by the fuel is

Q_ 1 ¼ 1199 kW
522 A. Sala et al. / Applied Energy 85 (2008) 516–527

3.3.2. Load heat-up energy

During the working day, 64 t of chain were treated in the furnace, heating the chain from 30 °C to a max-
imum temperature of 850 °C. The mean temperature rise of the material has been established as 820 °C.
Therefore the thermal energy supplied to the chain is
Q_ 2 ¼ 359 kW

3.3.3. Energy loss through the flue gas

In order to determine the energy loss through flue gas, an analysis has been carried out to obtain its com-
position and temperature. As mentioned above, measurements were taken using a TESTO 350 flue-gas ana-
lyser with the furnace in steady operation. These losses were calculated using the measured flue-gas
composition and temperature and Le Chatellier’s principle was applied to each of the components. As a result,
the energy loss through the flue gas is obtained as
Q_ 3 þ Q_ 7 ¼ 703 kW

3.3.4. Heat loss through the furnace walls

In order to determine the heat loss through the furnace walls into the atmosphere, temperature measure-
ments at sixteen different points of the furnace surface were taken to calculate the heat transfer by radiation
and convection.
All four external furnace enclosure faces have been considered as walls, and temperature readings at each of
the five furnace-structure levels were taken when accessible. The final value obtained was
Q_ 4 ¼ 93 kW

3.3.5. Hardening furnace’s energy-balance and efficiency

From the energy-balance, it can be seen that the heat transferred to water tank and heat into the chain drive
roller cooling circuit is
Q_ 5 þ Q_ 6 ¼ 74 kW
Taking into account the cooling-water-flow rate and the cooling-tower inlet and outlet water temperatures,
Q_ 6 ¼ 22 kW, and the rate of heat transfer into the water tank is Q_ 5 ¼ 52 kW.
Table 4 shows the furnace’s energy-flows, as well as their percentages of the energy input. Finally, the fur-
nace efficiency is
Q_ 2
g¼ 100 ¼ 30:0%
Q_ 1

3.4. Overall furnace energy-balance including the water tank

The control volume now includes not only the furnace but also the water tank. Therefore, inlet and outlet
flows in this case are the flows shown in Fig. 4. The purpose is to determine the tank’s inlet and outlet mass-
flow rate.

Table 4
Energy-balance summary
Energy flow Input (kW) Output (kW) Percentage (%) of input
Q_ 1 : heat-flow supplied to furnace 1199 100.0
Q_ 2 : chain heat-up energy 359 30.0
Q_ 3 þ Q_ 7 : heat loss through flue gas and openings 673 58.6
Q_ 4 : furnace wall heat loss 93 7.7
Q_ 5 : heat loss into water tank 52 2.7
Q_ 6 : heat loss into roller cooling circuit 22 1.0
 A. Sala et al. / Applied Energy 85 (2008) 516–527 523

Fig. 4. Hardening furnace and water tank.

From the energy-balance equation:

Q_ 1 ¼ Q_ 3 þ Q_ 7 þ Q_ 4 þ Q_ 6 þ m_ ch ðhchð40  CÞ  hchð30  CÞ Þ þ ðm_ w2 hwð38  CÞ  m_ w1 hwð26  CÞ Þ ð1Þ

3.5. The hardening-furnace-tank’s mass-and-energy balance

The control volume considered is the furnace pond, with inlet and outlet flows shown in Fig. 5. Mass and
energy balances in this control volume are used to calculate the amount of water evaporated inside the hard-
ening furnace.
The following equation is obtained from the energy-balance:
Q_ 5 þm
_ ch ðhchð850  CÞ  hchð40  CÞ Þ ¼ m_ w2 hwð38  CÞ  m_ w1 hwð26  CÞ þ m_ v hwv ð2Þ
where hwv=2406 kJ/kg, the latent heat at 40 °C.
Satisfying the water mass-balance equation leads to
m_ w2 ¼ m_ w1  m_ v ð3Þ

These two equations together with the energy-balance equation (Eq. (1)), constitute a system of three equa-
tions and three unknowns, resulting in a flow rate of water evaporated in the furnace m_ v ¼ 46:8 kg=h, and the
mass flow rate at the tank’s outlet being m_ w2 ¼ 7:2 kg=s.
524 A. Sala et al. / Applied Energy 85 (2008) 516–527

. .
m v ⋅r Chain
(850ºC) Q5

Chain
(40ºC)

Water
Water
(38ºC)
(26ºC)

Fig. 5. Hardening furnace tank.

3.6. Required refrigeration effect

Similar analyses have been carried out for the other furnaces (homogenizing and tempering), so obtaining the
water flow rates shown in Fig. 1, therefore m_ w2 ¼ 7:2 kg=s for the hardening furnace and m_ w2 ¼ 5:5 kg=s for the
tempering furnace, which makes a total of 20 kg/s. The above stated information allows one to assess the required
refrigeration effect and therefore select the cooling machine for the future cogeneration plant. Thus, according to
the values in Fig. 1, the refrigeration effect required is Q_ rf ¼ 20  4:18  ð38  26Þ ¼ 1003 kW.
Based on the selected temperatures, i.e. 18 °C for the tank’s water outlet and 13 °C for the inlet, the new
water flow rates required for each furnace are 17.5 kg/s, 17.3 kg/s and 13.2 kg/s for the homogenization, hard-
ening and tempering furnaces respectively, i.e. in total 48 kg/s as shown in Fig. 2.

4. Proposed cogeneration plant

This consists of a 1944 kW natural-gas reciprocating engine and 1000 kW absorption cooler to cool a
stream of 48.4 l/s of water from 18 °C to 13 °C (please refer to Fig. 6). Table 5 shows data for the selected
engine [6].

Gases Gases
410ºC 120ºC
3.3 kg/s 3.3 kg/s

1,944 kWe Water Water to

from
furnace
furnace
18ºC 13ºC
G 1 Engine Jenbacher

3
54 m /h
100ºC Absorption
3 cooler
54 m /h 1,000 kW
91ºC 158 m /h
3 3
158 m /h
90ºC 95ºC

3
158 m /h
87,9ºC

Fig. 6. Cogeneration system.

 A. Sala et al. / Applied Energy 85 (2008) 516–527 525

Table 5
Engine data
Engine data
Electric power 1944 kW
Electrical efficiency 41.3 %
Exhaust gases
Flow rate 3.3 kg/s
Temperature 410 °C
HT water
Flow rate 54 t/h
Inlet temperature 91 °C
Outlet temperature 100 °C
Heating rate 564.6 kW
LT water
Flow rate 97 t/h
Inlet temperature 35 °C
Outlet temperature 40 °C
Heating rate 601 kW

The 564.6 kW of the HT circuit is used to heat the water in the secondary circuit of a heat exchanger, which
then is brought to a heat-recovery exchanger where the water is heated to 95 °C, using the engine’s exhaust-gas
energy (1043 kW), cooling gases to 120 °C [7]. This hot water flow is used to drive a LiBr–H2O absorption
cooler, whose capacity is sufficient to cool a stream of 48.4 l/s of water from 18 °C to 13 °C, with a refriger-
ation effect of 1000 kW (see Fig. 6). Absorption-cooler data are shown in Table 6 [8].
Cooling is required during the furnace operation i.e. 4128 h/year. Furthermore, during outages of the heat-
treatment furnace, bar heating furnaces operate for 928 h/year using the engine’s exhaust gas energy through a
heat-recovery system.
The engine’s electric-power exceeds the power requirements by many hours a year, so that the new oper-
ating conditions imply not only that the need for outside electric-power would be reduced, but also that sur-
plus electricity could be sold to the grid.
Table 7 shows the comparison between the present and future situations regarding the purchase and sale of
electric power. The increase in electric-power consumption under the cogeneration situation with respect to
the former situation is due to the cogeneration plant’s auxiliary- system power-consumption.
Table 8 shows the cost of electricity and natural gas under the former situation compared with those for the
cogeneration situation. The table also shows the cost of maintenance and net savings expected.

Table 6
Absorption-cooler data
Absorption-cooler data
Type LiBr–H2O
Number of stages 1
COP 0.78
Cold water circuit
Flow rate 48.4 l/s
Inlet temperature 18 °C
Outlet temperature 13 °C
Power 1000 kW
Hot water circuit
Flow rate 43.8 l/s
Inlet temperature 95 °C
Outlet temperature 87.9 °C
526 A. Sala et al. / Applied Energy 85 (2008) 516–527

Table 7
Electric-performance comparison
Electricity Present situation (kWh) Cogeneration situation (kWh)
Energy consumption 8,486,015 8,780,881
Energy generated in-house – 9,828,864
Purchase of energy 8,486,015 3,182,200
Sale of energy – 4,230,183

Table 8
Costs and savings
Present situation (€) Cogeneration situation (€)
Cost of electric energy 553,348 207,502
Cost of natural gas 807,110 1,155,527
Sale of electricity – 307,064
Cost of maintenance – 70,887
Expected savings – 233,606

As the required investment amounts to 1,378,275 €, the pay-back period will be 5.9 years. At a discount rate
i = 4%, and given the constant amortization during the first ten years of operation, the net internal rate-of-
return is 7.2%. Although the rate of return is not excessively high, consideration must be given to the fact that,
with reduced water temperature in the tanks, the chain’s heat treatment is performed under optimal condi-
tions, thereby directly increasing final product quality. That is the reason why the company has decided to
proved with the cogeneration plant and undertake the investment [9].

5. Conclusions

The technical and commercial feasibility of cogeneration projects has been proven for this type of industrial
process which these energy saving and efficiency improvement technologies had not been considered previ-
ously. Therefore, the design heat-demand has been the refrigeration effect required to cool the water leaving
the treatment furnace tanks from 18 °C to 13 °C through an absorption cooler. This means that not only the
possibility of cogeneration can be considered but a better quality end-product is also obtained, as the quench-
ing operation is more efficient.
The refrigeration effect is produced by a 1 MW absorption-cooler driven by hot water produced by the heat
recovered from the HT circuit of a 1900 kW natural-gas reciprocating engine and exhaust gas recovery system.
One of the greatest difficulties encountered in the project has been to determine precisely the refrigeration
effect required, for which the water-flow rate, also the related amount of water evaporated in the furnaces, was
needed. In order to obtain this value, appropriate furnace energy-balances were carried out and different con-
trol volumes considered, which meant that efficiencies and heat losses could be calculated, along with the
desired water-flow rate.

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