Aluminum Extrusion & Profile Manufacturing worked example

Aluminum Billet Preheat Energy Cost with billet preheat furnace load of 1,100 kW: a worked example

This scenario runs the aluminum billet preheat energy cost calculation on the strong side: billet preheat furnace load of 1,100 kW, with every other input held at its documented default. a process engineer or estimator needs to estimate billet preheat energy cost for an extrusion run

The inputs for this scenario

  • Billet preheat furnace load: 1,100 kW (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 420)
  • Billet preheat runtime: 6 hr (unchanged)
  • Electricity rate: 0.11 $ / kWh (unchanged)
  • Billets processed: 96 billets (unchanged)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Billet preheat energy used = billet preheat furnace load × billet preheat runtime) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 726 $ for billet preheat energy cost, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 6,600 kWh for billet preheat energy used.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 7.56 $ / billet for preheat energy cost per billet.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 121 $ / hr for billet preheat energy cost per hour.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where billet preheat furnace load sits at 420 kW and the headline result is 277 $, this scenario comes in 162% above the baseline at 726 $.
  • Use it to benchmark preheat energy, evaluate furnace or rate changes, and feed an accurate energy cost into your per-pound profile cost. Treat this as a target state: the delta against the baseline quantifies what the improvement is worth before you commit to chasing it.

Results at a glance

  • Billet preheat energy cost: 726 $ (headline result)
  • Billet preheat energy used: 6,600 kWh
  • Preheat energy cost per billet: 7.56 $ / billet
  • Billet preheat energy cost per hour: 121 $ / hr

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Aluminum Billet Preheat Energy Cost calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.