Energy Efficiency Case Studies

ALCOA NORTH AMERICAN EXTRUSIONS PLANT

Spanish Fork

ALCOA In July 2000, the Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) at Colorado State University conducted an energy assessment at Alcoa’s aluminum extrusion plant in Spanish Fork, Utah. The purpose of the assessment was to identify, evaluate, and recommend the most significant opportunities to conserve energy, prevent pollution, and increase productivity at the facility, while at the same time reducing production costs and increasing profits.

Alcoa’s plant in Spanish Fork, Utah, produces extruded aluminum products for the automotive industry, electrical equipment, and miscellaneous other uses nationwide. About 300 employees are involved in processing 82 million pounds of extruded products annually. The plant operates 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 52 weeks per year.

Manufacturing at the facility includes both casting and extrusion processes. Process equipment, air compressors, lighting, office cooling, and miscellaneous loads use electricity to operate. Process furnaces for casting and extrusion, as well as space heating for the plant, use natural gas.

IAC recommendations were based on observations and measurements made in the plant. Specific and quantitative recommendations for cost savings, energy efficiency, pollution prevention, and productivity improvement were identified where possible. As of September 2002, the following recommendations had been implemented:

Recommendation	Annual Resource Savings	Annual Cost Savings ($)	Implementation Cost ($)	Payback (years)
Turn off melt burners while charging	23,455 MMBtu natural gas	74,960	1,050	0
Turn off saw blow-off hose when not in use	168,200 kWh	6,150	400	0.1
Reduce peak electric demand	600 kW	6,360	10,000	1.6
Reduce compressed air leaks	171,900 kWh	4,980	1,000	0.2
Install low-pressure blower for agitation of water quench tank	114,200 kWh	4,180	6,780	1.6
Minimize open time of melt furnace door	304 million Btu natural gas	1,260	500	0.4
Install dross press	198,600 lbs solid waste 238 million Btu natural gas	107,610	75,000	0.7
Increase chip recovery from extrusion saw	441,900 lbs solid waste	39,460	10,000	0.3
TOTALS	24,087 million Btu natural gas 454,300 kWh electricity 640,500 lbs solid waste	244,960	104,730	0.43

The measures implemented to date at the Spanish Fork plant have been estimated to reduce electric energy consumption by 454,300 kWh/year; reduce natural gas energy consumption by 24,087 million Btu/year; and reduce non-hazardous solid waste generation by 640,500 lbs/year. The total cost savings is estimated to be $244,960 per year, with an implementation cost of $104,730. Thus, the simple payback period was just over five months.

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