A supplier of plasma-based heat and surface treatment solutions to the metals industry has delivered a high-speed annealing line for precision stainless steel and nickel alloy tubes for a producer of small size precision tubing.
Global aluminum producer Aleris recently announced the opening of its aluminum automotive body sheet production facility in Lewisport, Kentucky, which includes heat treatment and finishing capabilities, as well as a wide cold mill, and two continuous annealing lines. The company, which is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, launched the project in 2014 in response to the automotive industry’s demand for broader aluminum use in the production of lighter, more fuel-efficient vehicles. The Lewisport facility began shipping automotive products to customers in November.
Lewisport is Aleris’s first site in North America that is equipped with aluminum auto body sheet finishing capabilities and houses an automotive innovation center, which includes a state-of-the-art research and development center in Detroit.
“The opening of our new automotive facility in Kentucky marks the completion of a significant piece of our strategic realignment, which includes expanding our capacity and capabilities to serve the automotive industry and other high-value end uses,” said Aleris Chairman and CEO Sean Stack. “As an experienced supplier to automotive manufacturers in Europe, we look forward to partnering with customers more closely now in North America to bring them the most advanced auto body sheet products in the industry.”
Left to Right: Cristóbal Fuentes, CEO of North American Stainless; Bernardo Velázquez, CEO of Acerinox; Matt Bevin, Governor of Kentucky; Rafael Miranda, Acerinox Chairman of the Board
A Ghent, Kentucky, steel production facility recently welcomed a Spanish delegation and state officials to the launch of its 11th expansion since 1990. The project, which was announced in March 2015, includes a new $150 million bright annealing line and a cold rolling mill.
Two major Italian manufacturers have ordered bell annealer furnaces to expand their existing lines.
Leading bolt manufacturer, Fontana Luigi S.p.A., based in Veduggio, has commissioned an expansion to an existing HICON/N2® bell annealer facility for heat treatment of non-pickled steel wire coils. Both phases will be nearly identical in design to ensure flexibility between the facility components to achieve maximum throughput capacity. The start of production is scheduled for July 2018 for the new phase.
Ori Martin S.p.A., an electric furnace steel mill facility in Brescia, purchased the supply and installation of an additional gas-fired HICON/N2® bell annealer facility to heat treat unpickled steel wire coils in a controlled nitrogen process atmosphere. The clear inside diameter of the new facility, which will go into operation May 2018, is 4,050 mm, with a stack height of 2,500 mm.
Austrian heat treatment supplier Ebner provided and installed the equipment for both companies.
A supplier of Thermal Processing equipment since 1938, Park Thermal International recently delivered and commissioned a fifth Electric Atmosphere Annealing Furnace for use in manufacturing, 48” wide x 36” high x 162” long, 20,000 Lbs capacity, 254 KW (2 zones of control), 1,600°F. This furnace is complete with ceramic fiber insulation, vertical rising door, rod overbend heating system, nitrogen atmosphere, three roller rails with wheels, three re-circulating fans and powered cooling. The furnace includes a free standing control panel complete with digital instrumentation, chart recorder and SCR control.
At the beginning of 2017, LOI Thermprocess GmbH and its Chinese subsidiary company LOI Thermprocess (Tianjin) Co. Ltd. received a contract for a wire annealing plant from STM Kunshan Cheng Tongming Metal Co. Ltd. a Chinese wire manufacturer in the province Jiangsu. The order includes the delivery of a bell-type furnace plant with two annealing bases, two heating hoods and one Jet-cooling hood. The HPH® (High Performance Hydrogen) bell-type furnaces also works with hydrogen as annealing atmosphere and has per base an usable diameter of 4,200 mm and a charging height of 3,500 mm. Thus, an average batch weight of 28 tons steel wire per annealing base can be achieved. Not only hot rolled wire coils but also drawn wire coils shall be annealed. The start of production for the new annealing plant is forecasted for end of the third quarter of 2017.
C.I. Hayes, a Gasbarre Furnace Group company, is pleased to announce the recent installation
of multiple “Solitaire” Conveyor Belt Furnaces for annealing of precious metals to be used in the
jewelry industry. In total, this project consisted of three identical conveyor belt furnaces, all manufactured and installed for the same customer. Named for its compact design and initially developed for brazing and bright annealing of jewelry pieces, the C.I. Hayes “Solitaire” Conveyor Belt Furnace has found great acceptance in other markets requiring brazing and bright annealing of small, intricate parts.
C.I. Hayes continues to enhance the proven design of its “Solitaire” Furnace Line improving the overall lifetime value. Its robust and simple design allows for ease of manufacture, installation and maintenance, ensuring success for those processes that are driven by both technical and commercial demands. The “Solitaire” Conveyor Belt Furnace is equipped with belt widths of 6-12 inches and effective heat lengths of 27-72 inches. Four-sided heat surrounding the muffle provides excellent uniformity and power input with temperature capabilities to 2100°F (1148°C). The furnace remains compact and may be shipped as a single piece, fully assembled, with single point connections for power, water and atmosphere.
