Gas-Fired Furnace or Electric Furnace for Rock Wool Production Lines in Russia? How to Choose?

When building a rock wool production line in Russia, the choice between a gas-fired furnace and an electric furnace mainly depends on local natural gas resource endowment, electricity price levels, environmental protection policies, and production line scale. Both heating methods have their own advantages and disadvantages, and the specific analysis and selection logic are as follows:

I. Core Advantages and Applicable Scenarios of Gas-Fired Furnaces

1.Outstanding Cost Advantages (in Resource-Rich Areas)

Russia is a major country in the world in terms of natural gas reserves and output. Most industrial zones (such as the Urals, Siberia, and the Volga River Basin) have sufficient natural gas supply and low prices. The fuel cost is much lower than the electricity price. The melting process of rock wool production consumes extremely high energy, and the unit price advantage of natural gas as fuel will be directly converted into a significant reduction in production costs.

2.High Heating Efficiency and Strong Production Capacity Adaptability

The flame heating of gas-fired furnaces directly acts on cupolas or tank furnaces, with fast heating speed and stable melting temperature (rock wool production requires a high temperature of about 1450℃). It is suitable for large-scale, continuous rock wool production lines (e.g., annual production capacity of more than 50,000 tons) and can quickly reach the designed production capacity.

3.Relatively Low Initial Equipment Investment 

The furnace structure and combustion system of gas-fired furnaces are technically mature. The equipment procurement and installation costs are lower than those of electric furnaces of the same scale, which is more friendly to projects with high sensitivity to capital investment.

Limitations

lIt relies on natural gas pipelines. If the project site is not covered by natural gas pipelines, the cost of laying special lines will increase significantly.

lIt has high environmental protection requirements, and supporting desulfurization, denitrification, and dust removal equipment is needed to meet Russia's atmospheric pollutant discharge standards.

lNatural gas prices are subject to volatility risks, affected by the international energy market and domestic policies.

II. Core Advantages and Applicable Scenarios of Electric Furnaces

1.Excellent Environmental Performance and Strong Policy Adaptability

Electric furnaces use electricity as energy, with no combustion exhaust gas emissions during the production process, only a small amount of dust generated by raw material melting needs to be treated, and the environmental protection control cost is low. If the project is located in an ecologically sensitive area (such as near cities or nature reserves), or if Russia introduces stricter carbon emission policies in the future, electric furnaces will have better compliance.

2.Flexible Site Selection, Not Restricted by Gas Sources

As long as there is a stable power grid supply, electric furnaces can be built in any area, especially suitable for remote areas with scarce natural gas resources or no pipeline coverage (such as parts of the Far East).

3.Convenient Operation and Precise Temperature Control

The temperature control of electric furnaces is realized through power regulation, with higher precision, which can reduce the unstable quality of rock wool products caused by temperature fluctuations. At the same time, there is no fuel storage and transportation link, making production management simpler and safety risks lower.

Limitations

lThe cost is greatly affected by electricity prices. If the local industrial electricity price is high, the long-term operation cost will be far higher than that of gas-fired furnaces.

lThe initial investment is high. The equipment procurement and transformer capacity expansion costs of high-power electric furnaces (e.g., capacity above 1000kVA) are relatively high.

lThe energy conversion efficiency is slightly lower. There is a certain loss in the process of converting electric energy into heat energy, and the energy consumption per unit product is slightly higher than that of gas-fired furnaces.

III. Core Steps for Selection Decision-Making

1.Calculate Local Energy Unit Prices

Prioritize the investigation of the wholesale price of industrial natural gas (including pipeline transportation fees) and industrial time-of-use electricity prices at the project site, and calculate the energy consumption cost per unit product of the two methods (the melting process of rock wool requires about 0.3–0.5 GJ per ton of product). The method with lower cost is preferred.

2.Evaluate the Stability of Energy Supply

Natural gas: Confirm whether there is an existing pipeline connection. If not, measure the one-time investment and cycle of laying a special line.

Electricity: Confirm whether the power grid can meet the high-power demand of the electric furnace, whether capacity expansion is required, as well as the power outage frequency and the cost of backup power supply.

3.Match the Production Line Scale

Large-scale production lines (≥50,000 tons/year): When natural gas resources are sufficient, gas-fired furnaces are preferred to amortize equipment costs.

Small and medium-sized production lines (＜30,000 tons/year): If electricity prices are advantageous or gas sources are insufficient, electric furnaces can be selected with higher flexibility.

4.Consider Environmental Protection and Policy Risks

Pay attention to Russia's carbon tax, environmental protection subsidies and other policies. If a carbon tax is implemented in the future, the zero-carbon emission advantage of electric furnaces will be more obvious.

IV. Summary and Recommendations

lPriority to Gas-Fired Furnaces: If the project is located in natural gas-producing areas in Russia, such as European Russia, the Urals, and Western Siberia, and there is pipeline access, gas-fired furnaces have significant cost and efficiency advantages and are the most cost-effective choice.

lPriority to Electric Furnaces: If the project is located in remote areas with scarce gas sources (such as the Far East), or in environmentally sensitive areas, and preferential industrial electricity prices can be obtained, electric furnaces are more suitable for long-term development.