# How much of a wire drawing cluster's carbon comes from furnace oil annealing?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/durgapur-wire-drawing-furnace-oil-annealing

Two thirds, if you take the cluster table in TERI's 2024 Durgapur study: furnace oil 38,306 t of 57,468 t CO2. Its own per tonne figures say far less: at 8 kg of oil and about 220 kWh a tonne, power is about 85% of a drawing unit's CO2. Your oil invoices settle it.

## The cluster

- About 12 wire units drawing rod from local mills into hard bright, barbed and binding wire, mesh and nail wire.
- 9 units of 2,000 to 8,000 t a year make 67,500 t; 3 units of 8,000 to 15,000 t make 42,750 t; 110,250 t in all.
- Annealing furnaces run at 700 to 900 C on furnace oil or electric heat; galvanizing zinc baths sit at 440 to 470 C, mostly oil fired.
- Electricity: 24.26 million kWh, about 220 kWh per tonne, right inside TERI's 200 to 240 range for drawing.

## Where the two figures part

TERI puts wire drawing at 8 kg of furnace oil a tonne and galvanizing at 30 kg. Across 110,250 t that is roughly 900 to 4,200 t of oil a year. The cluster table instead shows 0.01 Mt, about 10,000 t, and 13,296 toe. One of the two is off by several times, and it decides whether oil is a sixth of your CO2 or two thirds of it.

## Work out your own split

1. Add a year of furnace oil invoices in litres and multiply by 2.97 kg.
2. Add a year of electricity units and multiply by 0.675 kg.
3. Divide each by tonnes of wire dispatched; galvanized and black wire separately if you make both.
4. If oil is under a fifth of the total, look at the drawing motors before the annealing furnace.

## Does electric annealing cut CO2?

TERI recommends replacing oil fired annealing with electric heating, for even heat, a cleaner shop floor and lower emissions. On today's grid the CO2 gain is not automatic. At 8 kg of oil a tonne the oil emits about 25 kg CO2; the same 25 kg buys only 37 kWh at 0.675 kg per kWh, while the oil carries about 93 kWh of heat. Electric annealing wins on CO2 only if it needs under about 37 kWh a tonne or runs on renewable power. Measure kWh per tonne on a trial before you claim the saving.

## CO2 per tonne of wire (estimate)

- Drawing power: 220 kWh x 0.675 = 148.5 kg
- Annealing oil: 8 kg / 0.95 kg per L = 8.4 L x 2.97 = 25.0 kg; drawn wire total 173.5 kg, oil 14%
- Galvanized wire adds 30 kg oil = 93.8 kg and 12.5 kWh = 8.4 kg; total 275.7 kg, oil 43%
- CBAM counts the direct oil CO2 plus the rod's embedded emissions, not your electricity

Production, per tonne consumption and the cluster table from TERI's Situation Analysis of Durgapur Secondary Steel Cluster (2024). Oil density of 0.95 kg per litre is a typical value; your invoice may state the actual. Furnace oil 2.97 kg CO2 per litre; CEA FY 2025-26 grid factor. Wire rod's own footprint not included.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads furnace oil invoices and electricity bills into CO2 per tonne of wire, with oil and power on separate lines, so you can see your real annealing share before choosing a furnace.

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Sources: [TERI, Situation Analysis of Durgapur Secondary Steel Cluster, 2024 (SAMEEEKSHA)](https://sameeeksha.org/pdf/Situation%20analysis%20report%20_%20Durgapur.pdf), [Regulation (EU) 2023/956 establishing CBAM, consolidated](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/956/2025-10-20), [CEA, CO2 Baseline Database for the Indian Power Sector, version 22.0](https://cea.nic.in/cdm-co2-baseline-view?mappingId=234&lang=en)

Last reviewed 2026-11-01.