ENERGY HEAT TREAT NEWS

Vacuum Furnace Supports Gas Turbine Components Manufacturing

/ ENERGY HEAT TREAT NEWS, VACUUM FURNACES NEWS

A vacuum furnace was commissioned for the global energy industry. The furnace is equipped with a large working space (900 x 900 x 1200 mm) and a rapid cooling system at pressures up to 6 bar for the production of gas turbine components.

Maciej Korecki
Vice President of Vacuum Segment
SECO/WARWICK
Kamil Siedlecki
Sales Manager
SECO/WARWICK
Source: LinkedIn

“This Partner is responsible for generating about 30% of the world’s electricity today, and their activities play a key role in the energy transition,” said Maciej Korecki, vice president of the Vacuum Segment of the SECO/WARWICK Group, which will provide the furnace.

The furnace is the ninth device delivered to this partner. It provides a high level of vacuum, convective heating up to 850°C, improved efficiency in lower temperature ranges, the capability of using three process gases (argon, nitrogen, hydrogen), precise partial pressure control to minimize alloy losses and ensure process purity, and consistent temperature distribution.

“This furnace is a response to the growing production needs of the client and the requirements related to the processing of a new type of gas turbine component. Our solution will increase process efficiency while maintaining the highest quality and process purity,” says Kamil Siedlecki, sales manager of SECO/WARWICK.

It is predicted that the value of the global gas turbine market for power generation will grow at an average growth rate (CAGR) of 5.7% from 2025–2034. This is driven by the energy transition and demand for efficient, environmentally friendly energy solutions.

Press release is available in its original form here.

Find heat treating products and services when you search on Heat Treat Buyers Guide.Com

Vacuum Furnace Supports Gas Turbine Components Manufacturing Read More »

Walking Hearth Furnace for Vinton Steel

/ ATMOSPHERE AIR FURNACES NEWS, ENERGY HEAT TREAT NEWS

Vinton Steel, headquartered in Vinton, Texas, has commissioned a new walking hearth reheating furnace. The furnace will be engineered for high-carbon steel billets used to manufacture large-diameter grinding media, a high demand product for the mining sector.

This addition is intended to operate alongside a new initiative to increase Vinton Steel’s rebar production capacity up to 400,000 tons per year. The initiative is called Green CityMill™ Flex, which represents an efficient and sustainable long products production platform.

Francesco Memoli President & CEO Tenova Inc.

“This project is part of the strategic expansion of Kyoei Steel in the vital North American market and a clear demonstration of our long-term commitment to the State of Texas,” said Masahiro Kitada, board director & executive managing officer for Kyoei Steel Group and chairman of Vinton Steel. “With this additional project, we contribute even more to the continued growth of the El Paso region.”

Francesco Memoli, president and CEO of Tenova Inc., added: “We are honored that Vinton Steel continues to place its trust in Tenova’s technologies. This new reheating furnace will be the most advanced of its kind, equipped with sophisticated control systems and our proprietary low-NOx burners.”

The reheating furnace is scheduled for commissioning in parallel with the Green CityMill™ Flex startup in the first half of 2027.

Press release is available in its original form here.

Find heat treating products and services when you search on Heat Treat Buyers Guide.Com

Walking Hearth Furnace for Vinton Steel Read More »

Atlas Acquires EVRAZ North America; Forms Orion Steel

/ ENERGY HEAT TREAT NEWS, FORGING NEWS, MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT NEWS

Atlas Holdings has announced the formation of Orion Steel following the completion of the acquisition of EVRAZ Inc. North America and EVRAZ Inc. NA Canada with their respective subsidiaries. The newly formed Orion Steel will be led by former U.S. Steel executive, Doug Matthews, who will serve as chief executive officer. Orion Steel is poised to become a central player in the North American steel market due to its focus on engineered steel products intended for rail, energy, infrastructure, and industrial.

Atlas announced the agreement in June of 2025 to acquire EVRAZ North America, a leading producer of engineered steel products in the United States and Canada for rail, energy, infrastructure, and industrial end markets. The new company, Orion Steel, includes Rocky Mountain Steel Mills in Pueblo, Colorado; Oregon Steel Mills in Portland, Oregon; and Interpro Pipe and Steel in Regina, Saskatchewan, and locations across Alberta, Canada.

Orion Steel’s website
Source: Orion Steel

Collectively, Orion Steel employs 3,400 skilled associates across two electric arc furnace steel facilities, 12 steel product mills, and 17 scrap recycling facilities. They have a steelmaking capacity of 2.3 million tons and a finished steel capacity, including tubular products, of 3.5 million tons. Orion Steel products regularly contain more than 98% recycled scrap material, and Rocky Mountain Steel is the world’s largest solar-powered steel mill and the largest rail supplier in North America.

“As a well-capitalized strategic supplier, Orion Steel is poised to become a central player in the North American market, helping to ensure economic and security interests of the United States and Canada are advanced through significant, local production,” said Doug Matthews, CEO of Orion Steel. “I’ve been in this business for three decades and I am completely energized by this unique opportunity. This is a historic operation heading into a bold new chapter.

“I’ve seen the look in steelworkers’ eyes when they push an operation to new heights. We are going to see that same look from our team members across all Orion Steel facilities as we write the next chapter of this essential North American steelmaker,” added Matthews.

“Doug offers more than just decades of experience in operations, sales, marketing, and supply chain management. He brings a forward-thinking, hands-on approach that helped transform U.S. Steel’s commercial strategy and operations, and he has the deep belief that the heart of this business is the people on the ground, running the mills day in and day out — and he works to empower them to perform at their best.” Atlas Partner Sam Astor commented. “This is a critical time in the global steel market. We’re ready to meet the challenges and seize the opportunities, and we are excited to be playing a role in ensuring the long-term future of strategic steel production in the United States and Canada.”

Matthews began his 33 years with U.S. Steel rising through the ranks from plant leadership in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to operations leadership as a member of the executive team.

Former CEO of EVRAZ, Skip Herald, will continue his service as a member of the Orion Steel Board of Directors.

Press release is available in its original form here.

Find heat treating products and services when you search on Heat Treat Buyers Guide.Com

Atlas Acquires EVRAZ North America; Forms Orion Steel Read More »

Boriding Innovation Highlighted for US DOE Secretary

/ ENERGY HEAT TREAT NEWS, HARDENING NEWS

Bluewater Thermal Solutions showcased its contributions to innovation in the energy and industrial sectors, including Ultra-Fast Boriding at Argonne National Laboratory. U.S. Department of Energy’s Secretary, Chris Wright, engaged in a dialogue there on the future of transportation, manufacturing, and critical materials research.

Craig Zimmerman
Director-Technical
Bluewater Thermal Solutions

Craig Zimmerman, Director-Technical at Bluewater, joined fellow leaders from national labs and industry at Argonne’s Materials Engineering Research Facility (MERF). Bluewater highlighted its collaborations with Argonne National Laboratory’s pioneering work in Ultra-Fast Boriding surface hardening technologies for down-hole oil production operations, which play a vital role in supporting domestic energy production.

“We’re deeply committed to advancing U.S. manufacturing through technical innovation,” said Zimmerman. “Participating in this event alongside Secretary Wright and our colleagues at Argonne highlights the successful development and transfer of new technology from Argonne to Bluewater Thermal Solutions.”

U.S. DOE Secretary surveys components at Argonne National Laboratory.
Source: Bluewater Thermal Solutions

Argonne’s mission is to accelerate innovation from discovery to deployment, strengthen domestic supply chains for critical materials, and make the movement of people and goods more efficient and sustainable. Bluewater’s contributions help scale thermal technologies that bolster reliability.

Press release is available in its original form here.

Find heat treating products and services when you search on Heat Treat Buyers Guide.Com

Boriding Innovation Highlighted for US DOE Secretary Read More »

Vacuum Furnace for Energy Industry

/ BRAZING NEWS, ENERGY HEAT TREAT NEWS, VACUUM FURNACES NEWS

A manufacturer of heavy duty gas turbines has ordered a vacuum furnace with screen insulation and molybdenum heating elements. Siemens Energy Global will be provided the furnace by a company with U.S. locations and it will be used mainly for brazing gas turbine hot path parts like blades & vanes.

Maciej Korecki
Vice President of the Vacuum Segment
SECO/WARWICK

Siemens Energy Global has chosen SECO/WARWICK to provide the vacuum furnace. The device on order includes a mechanical pump, an efficient Roots pump, and a diffusion pump. The molybdenum heating chamber ensures a required temperature distribution and provides process cleanliness.

“The Vector vacuum furnace solves the partner’s problem of heat treating an increased number of large blades & vanes requiring a high degree of cleanliness in both the brazing and annealing processes. The Vector will relieve the production burden on the current equipment in operation in the client’s manufacturing & repair facility in Berlin.” said Maciej Korecki, vice president of the vacuum segment, SECO/WARWICK Group.

Grzegorz Głuchowski
Sales Manager
SECO/WARWICK

“We used a molybdenum heating chamber, partial pressure system, dew point sensors, and a very efficient high vacuum system. An important aspect is also the fact that the furnace will be integrated with the client’s master system using the OPC Unified Architecture communication protocol. Thanks to this, we can connect with a wide range of machines and industrial devices,” commented Grzegorz Głuchowski, sales manager for SECO/WARWICK.

The heat treatment processes associated with this furnace are benefited by the ability to cool at 1.5 bar in argon.

Press release is available in its original form here.

Find heat treating products and services when you search on Heat Treat Buyers Guide.Com

Vacuum Furnace for Energy Industry Read More »

Vacuum Induction Melting Furnaces for Aerospace & Energy Industries

/ AEROSPACE HEAT TREAT NEWS, ENERGY HEAT TREAT NEWS, INDUCTION HEATING NEWS

A Chinese partner has purchased two vacuum induction melting (VIM) furnaces for melting and producing castings that will support the aerospace and energy industries.

Sławomir Woźniak
CEO
SECO/WARWICK Group

SECO/WARWICK Group will be providing the two VIM furnaces, which will be shipped to China. The first of the two furnaces on order is a 50 kg VIM induction furnace for producing castings in an equiaxed structure. The furnace is unique due to its high degree of automation. It is often a chosen solution in the field of vacuum metallurgy. Various metals can be processed in vacuum metallurgy furnaces, such as titanium and its alloys, silicon, nickel, or cobalt alloys. The second furnace is the JetCaster VIM DGCC, used to produce high-quality precision turbine blade castings in the aerospace and energy industries.

Sławomir Woźniak, CEO of SECO/WARWICK Group, stated how the furnace benefited “the field of unidirectional crystallization castings of nickel- and cobalt-based superalloys. Years of work by our R&D engineers on the development of new unidirectional crystallization casting technology has allowed us to create a device equipped with a supersonic argon stream cooling system.”

“The growing popularity of VIM furnaces and the increasing importance of vacuum metallurgy is a consequence of the constantly changing production needs of heavy industries.” said Liu Yedong, managing director of SECO/WARWICK China.

Liu Yedong
Managing Director
SECO/WARWICK China.

Press release is available in its original form here.

Find heat treating products and services when you search on Heat Treat Buyers Guide.Com

Vacuum Induction Melting Furnaces for Aerospace & Energy Industries Read More »

Roller Hearth Furnaces Crafted for Top Tier Automotive Supplier & Energy Companies

/ AUTOMOTIVE HEAT TREAT NEWS, ENERGY HEAT TREAT NEWS

Three endeavors are underway to deliver advanced roller hearth furnace technology, featuring large-scale atmosphere quench and temper, annealing, and solution treatment systems to support the automotive and energy industries.

CAN-ENG Furnaces International, Ltd. is engaged in providing three separate systems amounting to over 450 feet of roller hearth furnace capacity.

Tim Donofrio
Vice President of Sales
Can-Eng Furnaces International, Ltd.
Source: Can-Eng Furnaces International, Ltd.

The first of the three undertakings is a high capacity, roller hearth lamination annealing system. Produced for the transformer manufacturing industry, it will be supplied to one of North America’s largest transformer core manufacturers with operations in the USA, Canada, Mexico and China. The lamination annealing process is applied to transformer cores to enhance their magnetic properties and reduce core loss, ultimately improving efficiency and performance. The system integrates a pre-heat system, high temperature annealing furnace with integrated protected atmosphere-controlled cooling and accelerated cooling chamber. It is more than 300ft long and is capable of producing over 14,000 lbs/hr of atmosphere protected electrical steel core laminations used to manufacture high voltage transformer stations needed in the development of North America’s electrical distribution infrastructure. 

“This project is being carried out largely to satisfy the demand for improving America’s aging and overburden power distribution network. As part of improving the nation’s power distribution network, consideration is being made to increase access to electric vehicle charging stations of which transformer cores are a critical part,” shared Tim Donofrio, Vice President of Sales, Can-Eng Furnaces International, Ltd.

The second endeavor is a roller hearth solution treatment furnace system for a tier one supplier of cast aluminum automotive components. The furnace will be used as part of a continuous T-6 heat treatment system for the manufacturing of cast aluminum, safety critical suspension components, and will serve to supply for one of America’s largest Japanese-based automotive manufacturers. These suspension components are to be integrated into future hybrid and electric automobiles produced in America by the manufacturer.

The third project is a roller hearth atmosphere mesh belt furnace system for a tier one supplier of safety critical, high value fasteners. This system is used to atmosphere, quench and temper high value, safety critical fasteners used in automotive manufacturing. The system is rated for processing over 6000 lbs/hr, and is being supplied to an existing customer with four similar roller hearth furnaces. The system supports the ongoing demands for domestic-supplied, high volume, heat treatment capacity. 

Find heat treating products and services when you search on Heat Treat Buyers Guide.Com

Roller Hearth Furnaces Crafted for Top Tier Automotive Supplier & Energy Companies Read More »

Walk-In Batch Ovens Shipped To Energy Industry

/ ENERGY HEAT TREAT NEWS, Featured

A shipment of six (6) heavy-duty walk-in batch ovens was delivered to a manufacturer of products for the energy industry. These industrial ovens will be used for baking glue onto products.

Mark Schahczinski, Senior Sales Engineer, Wisconsin Oven Corporation

The batch ovens, from Wisconsin Oven Corporation, have a maximum operating temperature of 500°F and guaranteed temperature uniformity of ±5°F at 285°F. A combination airflow configuration ensures even heat distribution throughout the chambers to optimize heating rates and temperature uniformity. Nine (9) point profile tests were conducted in each empty chamber under static operating conditions to verify temperature uniformity. 

“We are proud to continue our partnership with this valued customer who has purchased multiple ovens from Wisconsin Oven over the years. Their trust in our products is a testament to our commitment to providing high quality equipment and building long term relationships with our customers,” said Mark Schahczinski, Senior Sales Engineer, Wisconsin Oven Corporation.

Press release is available in its original form here.

Walk-In Batch Ovens Shipped To Energy Industry Read More »

Manufacturer Expands Aluminum Heat Treat Capabilities

/ ALUMINUM PROCESSING NEWS, ATMOSPHERE AIR FURNACES NEWS, ENERGY HEAT TREAT NEWS, FOUNDRY CASTING NEWS, MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT NEWS

A provider in the power solutions industry has enhanced its operations with a heat treat drop-bottom furnace for the solution heat treatment of aluminum castings. This installation will increase the company’s production capabilities, with the furnace having a load setting of 48 in (123 cm) wide x 36 in (91 cm) high x 141 in (358 cm) long.

The furnace, the fifth designed and manufactured by NUTEC Bickley, has a single temperature control zone, typically operating at 1000°F (573°C), with a maximum of 1075°F (580°C). The load setting will accommodate up to three baskets, equivalent to around 3600 lb (1635 kg) of aluminum parts per cycle. The furnace has been customized to be indirect gas-fired using radiant tube burners. Additionally, the project incorporates a motorized quench tank, rails, movement system, and load/unload platform with elevator device.

Arturo Arechavaleta
Vice President, Metal Furnaces
NUTEC Bickley

“Efficient and effective solution heat treatment is a vital part of the aluminum casting process,” said Arturo Arechavaleta, vice-president of Metal Furnaces at NUTEC Bickley. “Without the sort of advanced system that we have custom-designed, volume production of high-quality aluminum parts is not feasible. We’re proud to have played an important role in this technology partnership.”

The indirect gas firing is via single centrifugal recirculation that produces a vertical flow pattern. Heating is achieved with four radiant tube burners that have individual flame safety devices. The burner system incorporates a motorized control butterfly valve, and the gas flow is controlled by proportional ratio regulators. This design, with its baffle arrangement, delivers an even flow pattern, providing excellent temperature distribution and control in the furnace’s load chamber and high-efficiency heat recirculation (convection) horizontally across the aluminum castings. Excellent temperature uniformity was always considered an important parameter, and this has been shown to be ±5.4°F (±3°C) under full test in the provider’s manufacturing facility.

In order to maintain excellent thermal efficiency in operation, the furnace walls are fully lined using ultra large proprietary ceramic fiber modules. Their configuration and fixing provide for excellent insulation and long life coupled with low maintenance. The insulation layer is 6 in (150 mm) thick and has a density of 12 lb/ft3 (192 kg/m3).

The installation will see the drop-bottom furnace itself stationary — in a fixed elevated position — with the quench tank and loading car moving to accommodate baskets at the selected position. The furnace has a single, pneumatically operated horizontal slide door. For these particular aluminum castings, the company will employ a motorized water quench system provided by NUTEC Bickley, as well as its rails included leveling and installation. The tank has been designed to accept a full load of pieces within the work basket when the furnace is positioned vertically above it.

Press releases are available in their original form here.

Find heat treating products and services when you search on Heat Treat Buyers Guide.Com

Manufacturer Expands Aluminum Heat Treat Capabilities Read More »

Green Energy Equipment Manufacturer Adds VIM System

/ ENERGY HEAT TREAT NEWS, INDUCTION HEATING EQUIPMENT NEWS

A green energy equipment manufacturer has expanded its vacuum induction melting capacity with another VIM furnace for melting and casting refractory alloys. The new VIM system will be used to cast directionally solidified parts for the next generation of green energy technologies.

Earl Good
Managing Director
Retech

Retech, a SECO/WARWICK Group company, designed this system with directional solidification, a casting process used to control the crystalline structure formation in cast parts. This process precisely controls the rate and direction from which heat dissipates from a part as it cools in the mold.

Similarly equipped VIM systems melt ultra-high-purity alloys used in a diverse array of applications, including single-crystal jet engine blade casting, super alloys, shape memory alloys, and silicon for semiconductor wafers.

“This is going to help this industry partner accomplish both their production and R&D metallurgy goals,” said Earl Good, managing director of Retech, “They also appreciate that buying from us again means that their staff is already trained on this equipment.”

Press releases are available in their original form here.

Find heat treating products and services when you search on Heat Treat Buyers Guide.Com

Green Energy Equipment Manufacturer Adds VIM System Read More »

Skip to content