Reducing costs and increasing productivity in metal processing

Mitsubishi Electric: Reducing costs and increasing productivity in steel processing

Energy-intensive industries face major challenges: energy costs, CO2 prices and shortages of skilled workers, to name just a few. The metal processing industry has been particularly affected by this and is a large consumer of electricity. With the help of modern drive technology from Mitsubishi Electric, an impressive return on investment (ROI) can be achieved here through cost savings and increased productivity.

In order to remain competitive in the global market, the European steel recycling industry must face economic challenges. Shredders, conveyor belts and exhaust air treatment are real energy guzzlers. For example, existing systems can be easily replaced with low-maintenance frequency converters and three-phase asynchronous motors. For a lasting effect. This results in savings in energy, wear and maintenance costs. This increases productivity and availability and significantly increases the efficiency of the system as a whole. Also thanks to the technology of driving from Mitsubishi Electric.

Production increased by 30 percent, energy consumption decreased by 20 percent

“I can immediately say about the potential savings in energy costs: 7 to 10 percent for the main shredder,” promises Thomas Droth, Business Development Manager at Mitsubishi Electric. “With the additional improvement of modern control technology and energy recovery, productivity can be increased up to 30 percent and energy consumption can be reduced by almost 20 percent. Depending on the system condition and cost development, the investment can pay for itself in less of one year.

Through load management, modern medium and low power inverters from Mitsubishi Electric can reduce load peaks, reduce energy consumption and at the same time ensure the stability of the energy supplier grid. Flexible control via TMdrive or the FR-A800 and FR-F800 series enables high drive utilization in system areas without overloading and system operation at optimal frequencies. Last but not least, the service life of system components benefits from this.

Along with its Asset Portal, Mitsubishi Electric also offers solutions for recording and analyzing operational data. This information can be used to improve processes, enable remote maintenance and perform predictive maintenance to prevent system downtime. “In this way, Mitsubishi Electric also supports its customers with digitalization,” continued Droth.

A cornerstone for a sustainable circular economy

Several steel recycling projects have already been successfully implemented; “We are already using our drives in a major steel shredder manufacturer. The partnership is a big win for the industry,” reports Droth. And the steel recycling market is huge. 48 percent of the 40 million tons of crude steel produced in Germany was already made from recycled steel in 2021.

The explosion of costs not only creates problems for companies, but also challenges the profitability of the industry as a whole. With intelligent products and energy and cost saving solutions, Mitsubishi Electric contributes to the future possibilities of metal recycling, which in turn is the basis of a sustainable circular economy.

Read also: CO2 analysis for industrial plants: This is how emissions can be reduced.