Energy and Technolgy Assessment of Zinc and Magnesium Casting Plants, Technical Report Close-out, August 25,2006

Abstract

Twin City Die Castings Company of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Twin City Die Castings Company was awarded project No. DE-FG36-05GO15097 to perform plant wide assessments of ten (10) die casting facilities that produce zinc and magnesium alloy castings in order to determine improvements and potential cost savings in energy use. Mr. Heider filled the role of team leader for the project and utilized the North American Die Casting Association (NADCA) to conduct audits at team participant plants so as to hold findings specific to each plant proprietary. The intended benefits of the project were to improve energy use through higher operational and process efficiency for the plants assessed. An improvement in energy efficiency of 5 – 15% was targeted. The primary objectives of the project was to: 1) Expand an energy and technology tool developed by the NADCA under a previous DOE project titled, “Energy and Technology Assessment for Die Casting Plants” for assessing aluminum die casting plants to be more specifically applicable to zinc and magnesium die casting facilities. 2) Conduct ten (10) assessments of zinc and magnesium die casting plants, within eight (8) companies, utilizing the assessment tool to identify, evaluate and recommend opportunities to enhance energy efficiency, minimize waste, and improve productivity. 3) Transfer the assessment tool to the die casting industry at large.