Energy efficiency – potential options for industrial furnaces

The subject of energy efficiency, and how to increase it, is becoming more and more significant for industry and will be one of the challenges facing it in the coming years. This applies in particular to the energy-intensive sectors. The driving forces behind this development are social and political pressure on the one hand, while on the other hand, ever-increasing energy costs are also fuelling the subject. For this reason, energy costs are increasingly becoming a substantial location factor. The main obstacle when it comes to implementing concrete measures for increasing efficiency is presented by the high investment costs associated with them. However, the complexity involved in analyzing interlinked systems in a production plant also makes it more difficult to search for the optimal solution. In many cases though, even small measures requiring correspondingly small investments can bring about a measurable improvement. The following article attempts to illustrate the wide range of technical options available specifically for gas-fired industrial furnaces. At the same time it should be pointed out that there is no ready-made solution. Individual and comprehensive investigation must always be carried out to determine which approach offers the best results in terms of costs and benefits for each individual case.