ECOQUENCH is a two-year collaborative European research project. years of duration, under the 7th Framework Program, led by the British research institute ISRI, and in which the Institute Tecnológico de Aragón (ITA) participates as a technological partner.
The objective of the project is to develop an advanced system of computer-controlled energy extraction for application to the spray hardening process for aluminum extrusions, with an advanced control of the cooling rate and cooling conditions and dimensional, integrating it all with a heat recovery system. and reuse for other steps in the manufacture of the profiles. aluminum.
The project’s goal is to recover up to 50% of the energy used in the project. released during the profile cooling stage, for reuse in the thermal aging process of the material and simultaneously reduce the scale generated in the profile during this stage by a 25%.
ITA’s collaboration in the project is mainly focused on the characterization of the quenching media used in the quenching process. heat treatment and in the design of the heat exchanger system that allows its recovery and reuse in other processes.
For the characterization of the quenching media, the following will be carried out empirical studies for the determination of fundamental parameters such as density, viscosity, cooling rate ratio, thermal degradability, stability, etc.
In addition, aluminum profiles will be analyzed under different heat treatment conditions depending on the medium used, residual stress measurements, residual stress characterization, residual stress measurements, and dimensional, chemical, mechanical and microstructural properties.
For the design of the energy storage system, the following will be applied methodology developed at ITA for robust design, employing methodological tools such as QFDI, TRIZ, Ecodesign, LCA, DOE, RAMS, FMEA, QFD, etcetera.
