What does a 750 kg induction furnace do to coke use and CO2 in brass melting?
The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) report for Jagadhri swaps 150 tonnes of coke a year for 375,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) in a 750 kg induction furnace. Recounted with today's factors that cuts about 200 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) a year, not the report's 104. Payback is 1.23 years at the report's prices.
What the report sets against what
- Today: a 600 kg pit furnace on 80 kg of coke a melt, at Rs 22 a kg.
- Proposed: a 750 kg induction furnace on 250 kWh a melt, at Rs 4.5 a kWh.
- Induction pattern in the report's annexure: 5 melts of 750 kg a day for 300 days, so 1,125 tonnes of brass a year. The 150 tonnes of coke is the same 1,125 tonnes melted in 600 kg pit melts.
- Result: 150 tonnes of coke replaced by 375,000 kWh a year, a saving of Rs 16.12 lakh on a project cost of Rs 19.85 lakh.
Per tonne of brass
Coke: 80 kg for 600 kg is 133 kg a tonne. Induction: 250 kWh for 750 kg is 333 kWh a tonne. The 500 kg furnace in BEE's other Jagadhri report needs 350 kWh a tonne, so the larger furnace uses a little less per tonne. It also suits units melting about 2,500 kg a day or more.
Why the CO2 here is higher than the report's 104 t
The report does not show how it got 104 t, and it dates from 2010. With the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2006 default for coke and the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) grid factor for financial year (FY) 2025-26, the coke avoided exceeds the power added by about 200 t of CO2. Name both factors when you quote the figure.
Checks before you commit
- Power supply. The report says Jagadhri has intermittent power and that a power cut can leave metal solid in an induction furnace, damaging it. Check outages and your contract demand first.
- Unburnt coke. The report records about 20 kg of coke left unburnt after each 600 kg melt. If that is reused in the next melt, real coke use is lower than 80 kg and the saving shrinks.
- Prices. Rs 22 a kg and Rs 4.5 a kWh are the report's prices from 2010. Use today's bills.
CO2 on the report's own totals
- Coke avoided: 150 t x 3.02 t CO2 per t = 453 t CO2
- Power added: 375,000 kWh x 0.675 kg CO2 per kWh = 253 t CO2
- Saved: 453 minus 253 = about 200 t CO2 a year, against 104 t in the report
- Per tonne of brass: 133 kg coke x 3.02 = 403 kg; 333 kWh x 0.675 = 225 kg; saved about 178 kg
Coke at the IPCC 2006 default (107,000 kg CO2 per terajoule at 28.2 gigajoules per tonne) and grid at CEA's FY 2025-26 factor.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads your electricity bills into monthly records with CO2 for the power. For coke, apply the factor above to your tonnes. The green loan check shows what a lender asks for on a furnace loan.
Sources: BEE, Detailed project report: induction furnace for brass melting, 750 kg, Jagadhri brass and aluminium cluster (2010, SAMEEEKSHA), IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy, Tables 1.2 and 2.3, CEA CO2 Baseline Database, version 22.0
Last reviewed 2026-11-04. Report figures are from a BEE SME programme project report; costs and paybacks are at the report year's prices. Re-check the grid factor when CEA publishes a new edition.