Temperature Setpoint Reduction in Paint Line Ovens
Abstract
Paint line represents 61% of manufacturer's total gas usage, cost, and scope-1 emissions
Curing temperature setpoint was increased over time
Improvineers worked with equipment and process experts to carefully coordinate a reduction in setpoint without impacting quality or throughput
Gas usage reduced by 140 MWh, saving $6,000 per year, and GHG emission reduced by 25 metric tonnes
Project Summary
A manufacturing company wanted to reduce energy costs, lower carbon emissions, and optimize natural gas consumption across its operations. Given the rising costs of energy and increasing sustainability commitments, the company recognized the need to improve the efficiency of its processes. To achieve this, they engaged Improv Engineers to conduct an in-depth analysis of energy consumption within their facility and identify areas for potential savings.
One of the key energy-intensive processes identified during the assessment was the paint line operation, which involves multiple stages to ensure high-quality surface finishing of metal parts. The process consists of:
Surface Preparation: Metal parts are first cleaned using a washing system to remove contaminants, oils, and debris.
Pre-Paint Drying: After washing, the parts move into a drying oven to eliminate moisture, ensuring proper adhesion of the paint.
Painting Application: The dried parts are then coated using a spray system.
Curing and Final Drying: Once painted, the parts enter a curing oven, where heat is applied to dry and harden the paint, ensuring durability and adhesion.
Ovens in Painting Lines
Both the drying oven and the curing oven operate using natural gas, making them the largest consumers of natural gas within the plant. Paint line represents 61% of total gas usage, cost, and scope-1 emissions. Given the substantial energy demand of these ovens, even minor efficiency improvements could yield significant savings.
During the assessment, technical discussions with the oven manufacturer and on-site operational staff revealed a major inefficiency: the temperature setpoints for both ovens were set higher than necessary. This misconfiguration led to excessive fuel consumption without adding any real benefit to the drying or curing processes. The company was essentially burning more natural gas than required, leading to unnecessary operational costs and increased CO₂ emissions.
To address this inefficiency, Improvineers proposed a targeted reduction in temperature setpoints for both ovens. The new temperature levels were determined through a combination of manufacturer specifications, industry best practices, and on-site testing to ensure they met all production quality and safety requirements.
The key considerations in implementing this change included:
Maintaining Drying and Curing Standards: Lowering the oven temperatures should not compromise the drying process for washed parts or the curing of painted components. Tests were conducted to confirm that the adjusted settings would still meet production and quality standards.
Operational Reliability: The modified temperature settings needed to align with the oven’s design specifications to avoid potential performance issues or delays in production.
Energy and Cost Savings Potential: A thorough analysis was conducted to quantify the expected energy savings, cost reductions, and environmental benefits.
After validating the feasibility of the temperature reduction, the adjustment was implemented, allowing the facility to begin realizing energy savings without requiring additional investments in new equipment or modifications to the existing process.
Results
Following the implementation of the optimized setpoints, the company achieved significant improvements in energy efficiency and cost savings, demonstrating the effectiveness of small yet strategic operational adjustments: Gas usage reduced 140 MWh saving $6,000 per year and GHG emission reduced 25 metric tonnes, improving profitability, minimal implementation cost of $1,500 USD, making this a low-cost yet high-impact improvement, and payback period of just 4 months.
Conclusion
This project highlights how simple yet strategic process adjustments can lead to substantial cost savings and environmental benefits without requiring major capital expenditures. By fine-tuning the temperature settings of their drying and curing ovens, the company was able to reduce energy consumption, lower operating costs, and decrease its carbon footprint while maintaining high-quality production standards.