​“Together, the rolling bearing manufacturer SKF Group and the hardening furnace manufacturer AICHELIN Service GmbH have investigated the operation of roller hearth furnaces at SKFs Schweinfurt site and developed a process to massively reduce CO2 emissions. Until now, most furnaces in the SKF hardening plant have been continuously burning so-called pilot burners to burn off exhaust gases from the furnaces as a precaution. The natural gas consumption on a prioritized furnace was 12,600 cubic meters per year, which corresponds to an energy consumption of around 145 MWh. SKF and Aichelin replaced the gas burners with electric spark plugs, with Aichelin taking care of the electrical conversions and the integration of the furnace safety and SKF manufacturing special brackets. As the conversion was carried out during the annual routine inspection thanks to well-planned co-operation, there was no additional downtime. The environment and global climate are grateful to the resourceful hardening shop team from SKF and the Aichelin hardening furnace experts and will be delighted if this example sets a precedent elsewhere.”

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