A PROMISE KEPT
29-04-2021
In 2015 we promised our Japanese customer who bought our very first ZPE® Zero Pollution Energy billet oven - an innovative and according to many, revolutionary billet heating system based on the principle using permanent magnets - that it would guarantee considerable energy savings, accurate billet homogenization and perfect tapering. And so it was: “our promise has been kept”.
The project to date, up to 2021, has achieved, through various improvements along the way, an excellent level of operational control. Even though it is suitable for heating any alloy, it is finding its main application in the production of profiles for the demanding automotive industry.
The system we offer manages the process right from the logs loading table to the introduction of the billet into the press, going from a cutting line that is fast and safe, ensuring repeatability and cut precision. An optional system for accurate temperature control completes the line.
The system is fully integrated and completely automated (no operator required).
As already stated, the quality obtainable is excellent, but the most striking fact of all is the very high energy savings to be obtained which consequently leads to a significant reduction in CO2 emissions.
Let's give an example: comparing the same production values obtained by our customer with the ZPE® Zero Pollution Energy and the parameters obtained from a traditional inductor system, both producing with 7 inch billets, leads to the values shown in the graphs below.
We leave the technical specialists from the sector to draw their own conclusions, both in terms of the production values and annual energy savings which can be obtained, on how important it has been to have maintained the promise we made in 2015.
The ZPE® Zero Pollution Energy system is easy to install, doesn’t require any foundations or elaborate cooling stations, pumps, tanks, heat exchangers, high or medium power transformers, insulation testers, capacitor banks, etc. None of these items are necessary, which result in significant cost savings which would otherwise be caused by these indirect investments.
REVAMPING SOLUTIONS
It is thanks to the simplicity of its installation that the ZPE® Zero Pollution Energy project lends itself perfectly to the replacement of traditional induction ovens, making them more or less obsolete and in any case uneconomical with their high energy consumption rates and high maintenance costs. In actual fact, for each unit replaced, the following components can also be eliminated: cooling units, transformers, wiring, filtration, pumps and piping, etc..
Another relevant note is that even maintenance is drastically reduced.
RESISTANCE TO INNOVATION
We know unfortunately how often technological innovations are considered more with scepticism rather than open mindedness. It is understandable how much this happens for those who are responsible for the production, maintenance and quality of extruded profiles, just as we know that our customers' customers are increasingly demanding. With our ZPE® Zero Pollution Energy system we are ready to fulfil all our promises regarding performance and reliability. For each of our customers, one last aspect, but not least, is the respect for the environment, where in this case the green concept fits in perfectly with the ZPE® Zero Pollution Energy technology. Green technology means not only producing clean energy, but it also entails saving as much energy as possible to grant the same production values.
A special thanks to our customer and my great friend Mr. Hiroyasu Kato, the first to believe in us, by purchasing and installing our first ZPE® Zero Pollution Energy.
Valerio Presezzi
Presezzi Extrusion President