Do the Ludhiana forging profile's cluster totals agree with its 100 to 170 litres of furnace oil a tonne?

Not quite, on one pairing. The profile's cluster oil of 40,200 tonnes over 372,000 to 492,000 tonnes forged is 82 to 108 kg a tonne, and on that pairing its typical units work out at 100 to 125 kg. At 0.95 kg a litre that is about 86 to 132 litres, below the 150 to 170 for micro units.

What the profile says

• Specific energy consumption (SEC) of an oil-fired forging furnace: 100 to 170 litres a tonne. Micro units 150 to 170, medium units 100 to 130.
• Cluster oil for 2016: 40,200 tonnes, plus 525 kilolitres (kL) of diesel.
• Output: 1,640 tonnes a day, 492,000 a year, of which about 25% is from about 10 large units. The profile's own text calls 1,240 tonnes a day (372,000 a year) the total production in the cluster. The split into 500 micro, small and medium units is my sum of its categorisation table (150 x 20 + 300 x 60 + 50 x 200 = 31,000 tonnes a month).
• Typical units (a year): micro 30 tonnes of oil; small 85; medium 240. The typical energy table lists no production. The 20, 60 and 200 tonnes a month come from the separate categorisation table of average production, and pairing the two tables is my assumption.

The arithmetic, in kilograms of oil

• Cluster: 40,200 / 492,000 = 82 kg a tonne; 40,200 / 372,000 = 108 kg a tonne. The profile does not say whether the large units are in the oil total.
• Typical micro unit: 30 tonnes over 240 tonnes forged a year is 125 kg a tonne. Small: 85 / 720 = 118. Medium: 240 / 2,400 = 100.
• To compare with litres I use 0.95 kg a litre. That is an example density, not the profile's; use your supplier's. The profile itself equates 0.15 tonnes of oil equivalent a tonne with 150 litres a tonne, about 1 kg a litre. It gives about 86 to 114 litres for the cluster and 105, 124 and 132 litres for medium, small and micro units.

How to read the gap

The micro unit in the typical table comes out at about 132 litres a tonne, under the 150 to 170 the text gives for micro units. The cluster total is below the micro range and sits near the medium range. The profile gives no range for small units. I cannot tell from the profile which figure is off, or whether the typical units are simply well run. The table's kilograms are the profile's own tonnes; only the litres depend on my density.

What to use

1. Use your own number: litres of furnace oil used in a month, from invoices and tank dips, divided by tonnes of billet heated.
2. Hold it against the 100 to 170 range as a wide guide, not a pass mark.
3. If a lender or buyer cites the profile, quote the range and the year, 2016.

Your unit against the profile

• 9,000 litres in a month on 70 tonnes heated = 129 litres a tonne
• At 0.95 kg a litre: 9,000 x 0.95 = 8,550 kg; 8,550 / 70 = 122 kg a tonne
• Profile's typical small unit: 118 kg a tonne, so this unit is 3% above it

Your litres and tonnes are an example. The 0.95 density is an example; use the one on your invoice.

What Senseible does here

Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into monthly records, so you have your own litres and kilowatt hours to hold against the profile's. It does not check a published report for you.

• Ludhiana forging: furnace oil per tonne
• Forging furnace fuel per tonne benchmark
• Furnace oil litres to kilograms
• How to calculate specific energy consumption

Sources: The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Cluster profile: Ludhiana forging industries (SAMEEEKSHA)

Last reviewed 2026-11-05. All production, oil and range figures are the profile's for 2016. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency's 2019 guidelines give a lower 70 to 100 litres a tonne for forging furnaces; this page tests only the profile. Only the litre conversion and the pairing of the two tables are my assumptions.