Logan Aluminum Inc., of Russellville, Kentucky, a manufacturer of flat rolled aluminum sheet that is primarily used in the beverage market, received a new furnace for heating and homogenizing aluminum ingots.
The gas-fired furnace is dimensioned to simultaneously hold 32 ingots weighing up to 35 US tons (32 European tonnes) per piece, resulting in a charge weight of over 1102 tons US (1,000 tonnes European tonnes). This is OTTO JUNKER GmbH's largest furnace it has ever supplied.
Apart from the furnace with an active cooling system, the scope of delivery also included machinery for charging and discharging the ingots, as well as a gantry crane and a mobile roller table as a connection to the existing rolling mill feed table.
Patrick McKenna, President and CEO (source: Ipsen USA)
Ipsen USA, Cherry Valley, Illinois, announced yesterday, July 29th, that it has been appointed as the Vacuum Technology Excellence Center for the global Ipsen organization. Ipsen USA, located west of Chicago near Rockford, Illinois, was one of the two Technology Excellence Centers announced yesterday. The other, Ipsen in Kleeve, Germany, will serve as the Atmosphere Technology Excellence Center.
According to the statement issued by Patrick McKenna, CEO of Ipsen USA, the focus on one field of technology (i.e. vacuum technologies), will enable faster-paced innovation and a sharper focus on equipment performance and quality. McKenna further noted that the global restructuring came after months of market analysis to understand the needs of the company’s customers. The resulting drivers for the organization’s global changes were a) increased customer demand for technical services, b) identical metallurgical outcomes worldwide, and c) solutions for processing newly developed materials. The establishment of these Technology Excellence Centers will allow the global organization to properly address market needs for current and future customers, as well as allow for faster response times supported by new advanced service products in all regions of the globe currently serviced by the company.
As a result of this change, new furnace equipment will be manufactured at fewer locations around the world, focusing instead on specialization. The US location will exclusively build all types of vacuum furnaces, while the Germany location will build the atmosphere batch and continuous systems. Additionally, Ipsen India will continue to build atmosphere furnaces for the India and Southeast Asia markets. The China and Japan locations will no longer manufacture new furnaces, but will continue to focus their energy on customer service and the sale of new equipment from the Excellence Centers.
The customer relationship with the company will remain unchanged as customer support will continue at all global locations. Sales, service, and support teams remain local in each region to guarantee speed of response. All plants remain open in all regions as the aftermarket support of customers is more than half of Ipsen’s annual business. Activities such as upgrades, local inventory of parts and service will continue to be fully supported on a local basis.
This consolidation of equipment manufacturing sites together with the uncertainty of the global pandemic does result in a reduction of staff, which is a regrettable but necessary outcome.
For more information, please contact Patrick McKenna, President & CEO Ipsen USA at Patrick.McKenna@IpsenUSA.com or +1 815-332-2591.
The rebuild included a new 330 stainless steel muffle, new silicon carbide heating elements, new cooling sections, and new furnace controls to meet CQI-9 requirements. The CQI-9 controls package includes data acquisition, preventative maintenance alerts, remote connectivity, furnace parameter trending, and temperature deviation alarms.
The partner chosen for this rebuild, Gasbarre Thermal Processing Systems, designs, manufactures, and services a full line of industrial thermal processing equipment, offering batch and continuous thermal processing equipment for both atmosphere and vacuum applications as well as a full line of alloy fabrications, replacement parts and auxiliary equipment.
An aerospace fastener manufacturer, located in Pennsylvania, received three multipurpose bench mounted box furnaces used to test high-temperature aerospace fasteners.
The new model GS2026, from L&L Special Furnace Co., Inc. includes a spring assist vertical lift door that allows for effortless loading and unloading even at high temperatures. The control is an industrial control system that includes a Eurotherm temperature control, overtemperature protection and a recirculation fan for uniformity.
L&L Special Furnace Model GS2026 bench mounted box furnace (Photo source: L&L Special Furnace Co. Inc.)
The GS2026 has internal dimensions of 18” wide by 12” high by 24” deep. It has an operating voltage of 208, 220, 240 volts single phase, 60 or 50 hertz. The furnace is constructed from 3” lightweight IFB firebrick, backed up with 2” of board insulation. The elements are supported in hard ceramic element holders. These provide long element life and are easily replaced.
These additions now bring a total of five GS series furnaces at its facility.
A global manufacturer of automotive, power, and aerospace components has commissioned a new heat treat system. This system from SECO/WARWICK is the first furnace with LPC technology for this large Indian company.
The system minimizes the creation of intergranular oxidation (IGO) present in more traditional heat treat processes. The furnace will be dedicated to small and large gear, pinion and other types of automotive gears.
This three-chamber vacuum furnace delivers economical case hardening using low-pressure carburizing (LPC) technology and oil quenching. It can replace existing lines and generators used for mass heat-treatment under protective atmosphere while ensuring higher precision and process repeatability. This solution stands out because of improved process quality, cost reduction from doubling yields, and increased production flexibility.
Maciej Korecki, VP, Vacuum Furnace Segment at SECO/WARWICK (source: SECO/WARWICK)
“Since our . . . furnace was the first LPC technology used in the client’s facility, we had to take a learning curve into account. We worked closely with the engineering staff of the client to ensure they understand and use the technology correctly, exploring all the possibilities, advantages, performance and optimizations it offers,” said Maciej Korecki, VP of Vacuum Business Segment at SECO/WARWICK.
“Successful implementation took time but paid off with much higher quality standards the company can now offer to their clients, who are currently operating on all continents. The client benefited from pre-sale consultation and post-sale installation as well as training assistance,” added Manoranjan Patra, Managing Director at SECO/WARWICK India.
Manoranjan Patra, managing director, SECO/WARWICK India (source: SECO/WARWICK)
A commercial heat treating company located in the heart of the aerospace industry on the West Coast of the United States recently commissioned a custom built batch tempering furnace. With a working load size of 168” wide, 48” deep, and 48” tall, coupled with a max load weight of 10,000 pounds, the furnace from Gasbarre Thermal Processing Systems can accommodate a number of differently sized parts within its market.
The gas fired air furnace passes survey at +/- 10℉ over a temperature range of 850℉ to 1350℉ per AMS2750E. At the customer’s request, the electrical controls are UL approved and include the latest in Eurotherm brand temperature controlling instrumentation.
A global producer of highly engineered metal earth moving, construction, and mining wear equipment recently commissioned two large capacity heat treatment furnaces. As part of this turn-key contract, Can-Eng Furnaces International Ltd. designed and commissioned individual tempering and stress relieving furnaces. Both heat treatment systems were assembled and tested at Can-Eng’s Niagara Falls facility prior to shipment and commissioning at the customer’s facility.
The furnace systems were part of a major expansion by the customer to satisfy increased demand for large steel castings and weldments used as part of their equipment designs. Both furnaces are equipped with high efficiency, natural gas-fired heating and recirculation systems that have demonstrated to exceed the requirements of AMS-2750 temperature uniformity. Both systems integrated the company’s preferred PLC hardware, which was upgraded to include a more flexible safety rated PLC over conventional hardwired safety circuits.
Fifteen atmosphere and vacuum furnaces were shipped to customers in aerospace, commercial heat treating and MIM industries around the world during the second quarter of 2017, including China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and the United States.
The shipments included:
* Two large, vertical (bottom-loading) MetalMaster® vacuum furnaces, each with a 120″ (3 m) diameter work zone and 10,000-pound (4,500 kg) load capacity
* Five standard TITAN® vacuum furnaces complete with PdMetrics®
* Debind and sinter vacuum furnaces for the MIM industry
* ATLAS integral quench atmosphere furnace, which was delivered six weeks after order placement
In addition to these transactions, Ipsen USA of Cherry Valley, Illinois, delivered several custom-built vacuum furnaces that will process parts for the aerospace industry.
Lindberg/MPH announced the shipment of an electrically heated, rod over-bend atmosphere box furnace to the steel and mining industry. This is the second heat treating furnace of this kind that the customer has ordered from Lindberg/MPH. It is designed to meet the customer’s specific process based on the previous existing model they had ordered.
The atmosphere box furnace has work chamber dimensions of 15”W x 30”D x 12” H and a maximum temperature rating of 2000°F. Constructed with a gas tight steel shell made from continuous welded steel plate reinforced with structural steel members, the furnace door lifts up to provide access to the work chamber and is sealed by metal to metal contact to eliminate gasket wear and maintenance. A natural gas flame curtain is provided for the door area and is activated when the front door is opened to ignite exiting combustible atmosphere and minimize air infiltration back into the purge chamber.
“At Lindberg/MPH we pride ourselves on having the experience to design our equipment to meet the most stringent requirements. This customer’s process required the furnace to provide six different gas atmospheres. This is the second system we have shipped to them with this advanced atmosphere system.”– Kelley Shreve, Sales Representative
Lindberg/MPH atmosphere box furnaces feature:
Maximum gross load capacity is 465 lbs. at 2000°F
Six (6) different gas atmospheres including: nitrogen, hydrogen, endothermic, argon, CO and CO2
460 volts, 3 phase, 3-wire, 60 Hertz
Door limit switch
HC900 Advanced Furnace Control System
Honeywell UDC 2500 Series Excess Temperature Controller
Electrical solenoid valves
Electronic flow control valves and moisture transducer
Can-Eng Furnaces International Limited has been contracted to design, manufacture and commission a rotary furnace system for the heating and hot working of titanium and alloy billets and preformed shapes for Weber Metals Inc. of Paramount, California – Long Beach Facility. Weber Metals is a subsidiary of Otto Fuchs KG of Meinerzhagen, Germany, and an operating unit of the Otto Fuchs Aerospace Group.This large diameter rotary furnace is a part of Weber Metals’ 60,000-t press expansion project. The 60,000-t press will allow Weber Metals to manufacture larger and lighter forgings utilizing more advanced materials and will incorporate the latest in green technology to reduce waste, energy consumption and increase efficiency. The new facility will house the largest aerospace forging press in the Americas making some of the world’s largest monolithic forging components.
