Source: Light Metal Age
When an extrusion plant in Ohio began to experience production stoppages and higher temperature variability in their 7 inch press line, they sought out an upgrade with a new induction heating furnace. This article highlights the technical components of the new furnace, revealing its upgrade as an important step in ensuring the efficient production and delivery of high quality aluminum extrusions.
An Excerpt:
The furnace replacement project had several clear objectives—significantly improve process reliability, provide accurate temperature uniformity, and ensure high energy efficiency. In addition, the furnace needed to be installed during GEI’s 2024 Christmas shutdown.
Several furnace concepts were investigated during the course of the project. GEI’s preferred method, from a process control perspective, would have been to retain and modify the induction coil of the original furnace and also add a new induction furnace to apply a temperature taper to the billet. In this scenario, the original coil would be used to apply the base temperature, while the new furnace would be responsible for accurately tapering the billet.
Unfortunately, this concept proved to be impractical for several reasons . . .
Click here to read the entire article by Light Metal Age.
