Case study

Ferry Capitain: dust emission monitoring in a foundry
Foundry | QAL 991, Dust Tools
Ferry Capitain, a member of the CIF group, is located in Joinville, France. The group has 1300 employees, 8 production sites throughout the world and has a turnover of 180 M€, 80% of which is exported.

The company, founded in 1831 by Auguste Capitain and André Citroën, produces industrial ironwork. It specializes in large cast iron and steel parts (open gears, drives, molds, etc.) and provides turnkey solutions to a wide range of industries such as the steel industry, energy production, aeronautics, tunnelling, etc.

One of the flagships of the production tool is a milling/cutting machine that can machine parts with a diameter of up to 16 meters. The site, which has 350 employees, houses a foundry, a machining workshop as well as a design office and an in-house test laboratory. It is equipped with 7 induction furnaces and has an annual production capacity of 10,000 t.

Ferry Capitain is fully committed to environmental protection. The company has implemented a comprehensive recycling program at its sites. It is also ISO 14001 certified for environmental management and ISO 5001 certified for energy consumption reduction.

Interview with Mr.Najel, Maintenance and New Projects Manager, Ferry Capitain.

In what context did you call on ENVEA?

Joinville is a listed industrial site for Environment protection (ICPE), subject to Authorisation. Our dust emissions (metals and silica) must comply with the BREF Smitheries and Foundries. Consequently, they must be reported to the regional Environmental Protection Agency (DREAL) every month with an ELV of 15 mg/m³ to be respected.

We were equipped with dust analyzers that required extensive maintenance and monitoring, including continuous purging of the instrument air. Following a breakdown, we had to find solutions quickly. We therefore called in an air quality analysis laboratory to regularly check the stacks’ emissions and their regulatory compliance. At the same time, I searched for a supplier on the internet to replace the analyzers as quickly as possible. I found information on the ENVEA website that suggested that their solutions would meet our needs and I made an online request. It all started from there, I didn’t know the company at all before my search.

What solutions have you put in place?

The ENVEA sales engineer quickly contacted me to discuss our expectations, technical and regulatory constraints. He proposed a solution including QAL 991 analyzers with ElectroDynamic® technology – QAL1 certified – which do not require compressed air purging and whose routine maintenance is almost non-existent. This was a perfect fit for our needs, including savings on the overall cost of ownership. The system includes a centralized control unit (ProController), which is sufficient for a site with multiple stacks, which is our case.

It also includes the Dust Tools software platform that retrieves data and manages reporting to the DREAL.

The complete system and the real-time monitoring are useful for us in two ways: to manage the regulatory compliance of our emissions, but also to anticipate maintenance related to potential filter failure.

The sales engineer made things simple in every way
Mr. Najel, Ferry Capitain.

How did the contact with ENVEA go? Are you satisfied with the proposed solution?

Given the constraints we had – short response time, harsh environment – I am particularly satisfied with the collaboration with ENVEA. The sales engineer made things simple in every way. In the end, it took only four months from the time I searched the internet, which was in the middle of summer, until the dust analyzers were commissioned. We were thus able to limit the costs associated with the external laboratory service.

In order to save time in terms of installation, we took care of the metal working and wiring ourselves. The training of the ENVEA technician, particularly in the setting of the Dust Tools software, completed the process and enabled us to quickly master the set-up of the required warning thresholds.

Based on this first acquisition and the positive results, we equipped the rest of the factory with the same ENVEA QAL 991 dust analyzers.

Installation details:

  • QAL 991 dust analyzers, QAL1 certified according to EN 15267-3, on one of the lowest ranges on the market and ProController housing
  • Dust Tools for data analysis and export
Credit : Ferry Capitain

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