Southwest Energy Efficiency Project

Alcoa North American Extrusions Plant
Spanish Fork, Utah

Alcoa North America Extrusions In July 2000, the Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) at Colorado State University conducted an energy assessment at Alcoa’s aluminum extrusion plant in Spanish Fork, Utah. Through the Department of Energy, the IAC has been providing free energy audits for small- and medium-size manufacturing facilities in the region since 1984. The purpose of the assessment was to identify, evaluate, and recommend the most significant opportunities to conserve energy, prevent pollution, and increase productivity at the facility, while at the same time reducing production costs and increasing profits.

Alcoa’s plant in Spanish Fork, Utah, produces extruded aluminum products for the automotive industry, electrical equipment, and miscellaneous other uses nationwide. About 300 employees are involved in processing 82 million pounds of extruded products annually. The plant operates 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 52 weeks per year.

Manufacturing at the facility includes both casting and extrusion processes. Process equipment, air compressors, lighting, office cooling, and miscellaneous loads use electricity to operate. Process furnaces for casting and extrusion, as well as space heating for the plant, use natural gas.

IAC recommendations were based on observations and measurements made in the plant. Specific and quantitative recommendations for cost savings, energy efficiency, pollution prevention, and productivity improvement were identified where possible. As of September 2002, the following recommendations had been implemented.

Recommendation	Annual Resource Savings	Annual Cost Savings ($)	Implementation Cost ($)	Payback (years)
Turn off melt burners while charging	23,455 MMBtu natural gas	74,960	1,050	0
Turn off saw blow-off hose when not in use	168,200 kWh	6,150	400	0.1
Reduce peak electric demand	600 kWh	6,360	10,000	1.6
Reduce compressed air leaks	171,900 kWh	4,980	1,000	0.2
Install low-pressure blower for agitation of water quench tank	114,200 kWh	4,180	6,780	1.6
Minimize open time of melt furnace door	304 million Btu natural gas	1,260	500	0.4
Install dross press	198,600 lbs solid waste 238 million Btu natural gas	107,610	75,000	0.7
Increase chip recovery from extrusion saw	441,900 lbs solid waste	39,460	10,000	0.3
TOTALS	24,087 million BTu natural gas 454,300 kWh electricity 640,500 lbs solid waste	244,960	104,730	0.43

The measures implemented to date at the Spanish Fork plant have been estimated to reduce electric energy consumption by 454,300 kWh/year; reduce natural gas energy consumption by 24,087 million Btu/year; and reduce nonhazardous solid waste generation by 640,500 lbs/year. The total cost savings is estimated to be $244,960 per year, with an implementation cost of $104,730. Thus, the simple payback period on average was just over five months.

© 2002-2008 Southwest Energy Efficiency Project
2260 Baseline Rd. Suite 212, Boulder, CO 80302
(303) 447-0078 fax: (303) 786-8054 info@swenergy.org

Last Updated: 01/28/2008

Alcoa North American Extrusions Plant Spanish Fork, Utah

Alcoa North American Extrusions Plant
Spanish Fork, Utah