Energy-Saving Technology Opportunities and Investments of the Italian Foundry Industry

Leonardo Leoni, Alessandra Cantini, Filippo De Carlo, Marcello Salvio, Chiara Martini, Claudia Toro and Fabrizio Martini
Additional contact information
Leonardo Leoni: Department of Industrial Engineering (DIEF), University of Florence, Viale Morgagni, 40, 50134 Florence, Italy
Alessandra Cantini: Department of Industrial Engineering (DIEF), University of Florence, Viale Morgagni, 40, 50134 Florence, Italy
Filippo De Carlo: Department of Industrial Engineering (DIEF), University of Florence, Viale Morgagni, 40, 50134 Florence, Italy
Marcello Salvio: DUEE-SPS-ESE Laboratory, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), Lungotevere Thaon di Revel, 76, 00196 Rome, Italy
Chiara Martini: DUEE-SPS-ESE Laboratory, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), Lungotevere Thaon di Revel, 76, 00196 Rome, Italy
Claudia Toro: DUEE-SPS-ESE Laboratory, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), Lungotevere Thaon di Revel, 76, 00196 Rome, Italy
Fabrizio Martini: DUEE-SPS-ESE Laboratory, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), Lungotevere Thaon di Revel, 76, 00196 Rome, Italy

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 24, 1-29

Abstract: The foundry industry is regarded as one of the most energy-intensive industrial sector due to its energy consumption up to 9 MWh/ton of produced metal. As a result, many companies are trying to increase the energy efficiency of their foundry plants. Since many energy-saving technologies are proposed by manufacturers and the literature, choosing the most appropriate one is a difficult task. Moreover, being updated with the available energy-saving solutions is complicated because of the quick technology advances. Consequently, this paper aims at investigating the recent and future opportunities and investments for reducing the energy consumptions of the technologies of Italian foundry companies. Additionally, it aims at presenting a list of available technological solutions validated by Italian experts. To this end, the Energy Audits developed by 231 plants were analyzed to extract the implemented and planned interventions. Furthermore, the economic data available within the Energy Audits were studied to determine the advantages of a given technological solutions compared to the others. It emerged that the companies are strongly investing in increasing the efficiency of the auxiliary systems such as compressors and motors. The outcomes of this study can assist both researchers and energy managers in choosing the most appropriate energy-saving solutions.

Keywords: energy-saving technologies; foundry manufacturing plant; Italian overview; energy efficiency improvements (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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