ENERGY HEAT TREAT

Heat Treating Carbon Steel to Meet Air-Conditioning Demand

A global manufacturing company that provides innovation solutions to industrial, commercial and residential customers signed a contract for equipment supply and installation of a lamination annealing line that will heat treat low carbon and ultra-low carbon steel to soften and impart specific magnetic properties. 

Emerson Electric Co., based in St. Louis, Missouri, secured this agreement with Primetals Technologies for its plant in Russellville, Kentucky, in order to meet seasonal increased demand for air-conditioning units. The London-based Primetals Technologies, a leading engineering, plant-building, and lifecycle services partner for the metals industry, is responsible for the equipment installation, start-up, and commissioning services. Start-up is expected for Spring 2019.

Air-conditioning units that use small electric motors represent a significant portion of Emerson’s market. The market becomes active in late spring as consumers buy air conditioners in anticipation of warm summer days.

Initially, Emerson planned to have a longer lamination annealing line at its Reynosa, Mexico plant, but limited available space required extensive modifications to fit the new line. Instead, Emerson decided to install a new line at its existing Russellville plant. The Emerson and Primetals Technologies teams collaborated to find a cost-effective solution to shorten each section of the line to fit the Kentucky plant layout.

 

Photo Credit: Emerson Electric

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Growth for Iowa Heat Treater Means New Addition, New Equipment

An Iowa-based heat treat company providing thermal processing and metallurgical solutions for multiple industries, including aerospace, energy, and automotive, recently announced breaking ground on a 15,000 sq ft new addition, which will include two new heat treating equipment installations.

This is the first expansion at the corporate headquarters at Advanced Heat Treat Corp. (AHT) since 1998. The new addition will allow AHT to segregate its trademark processes, UltraGlow® (ion nitriding/nitrocarburizing) and UltraOx® (gaseous ferritic nitriding/nitrocarburizing and oxidation treatments) and maintain its state of the art manufacturing feel and presence.

The new expansion will bring with it two new gaseous ferritic nitriding/nitrocarburzing units w/sizes up to 13’ tall and 5’ wide. The new additions will be twofold:

  • the larger unit (13’ x 5’) will allow AHT to grow its longer-like product line, for processing long plastic injection screws for the plastics industry, hydraulic cylinder rods for the agriculture and/or construction industry lines and various pump, motor, shaft components for the oil and energy industries, and
  • the smaller unit (4’ x 5’) will be designed to capture more of the aerospace product line market; this unit will be targeted to be Nadcap approved by late 2018 to early 2019. By doing so, AHT will then have two Nadcap-approved processes inside its walls: Ion Nitriding and Gaseous Nitriding.

“This expansion will allow us better control of product flow, inventory control and process capacity,” said William Cowell, vice president of Ion Nitriding and plant manager. “We’ll be nearly doubling our gaseous nitriding capacity  with these additional units, and with the floor space, we’ll be able to better accommodate our customer demands.”

Mikel Woods, president of AHT

AHT currently has 55 ion/gaseous nitriding units across its four locations in Waterloo, Iowa; Monroe, Michigan; and Cullman, Alabama.

“I’m excited on many counts. One, we’re adding capacity/backup to an already growing agriculture/construction market. Two, we’re targeting to add a new Nadcap process in order to expand further into the aerospace market and meet more of our aerospace customer demands and requests. And three, we’re gearing up to go even bigger in 2019: with the expansion, we’ve planned to build/design a gaseous unit that will process parts up to twenty feet. This unit will allow us to enter various markets for growth,” said Mikel Woods, president of AHT.

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PA Group Expands Metals & Minerals Division with Acquisition of U.K. Firm

A global engineered products and services company serving the worldwide steel, railway and energy sectors announced recently announced the acquisition of a machining manufacturer based in Chesterfield, England.

Nick Grasberger, Harsco president and CEO

Harsco Corporation, headquartered in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, acquired ALTEK for a purchase price of approximately $60 million (£45 million).

The cost-efficient recovery of metal and other valuable materials – and environmentally-safe solutions for residual waste materials – are increasingly important to the aluminum industry. ALTEK’s products and technologies address these and other operating challenges, according to Harsco’s official announcement of the acquisition.

“We are optimistic about ALTEK’s growth potential within our Metals & Minerals business. This acquisition reflects our success in building a strong foundation in Metals & Minerals and our confidence in the leadership team to execute against its operating and strategic growth priorities. ALTEK is M&M’s first acquisition in more than a decade, representing another step to accelerate our growth,” said Nick Grasberger, Harsco president and CEO.

Alan Peel, managing director of ALTEK

“This acquisition is a very positive step forward for ALTEK, providing the company with a strong financial owner and industry leader which is committed to supporting ALTEK’s growth and innovation strategy,” said Alan Peel, managing director of ALTEK. “With Harsco’s extensive international presence and company infrastructure, Harsco will greatly enhance the ability of ALTEK to provide service and support to its international customer base. This will be particularly helpful as we commercialize our latest technology AluSalt around the world. With very similar and aligned values between the two companies, all of this will provide for a very exciting future for ALTEK with Harsco and the customers we serve within the aluminum industry.”

 

 

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Heat Treatment Toughens Lighting Mount for Rugged Conditions

Heat treating aluminum has added to the strength and durability of a new skid-mounted hydraulic megatower light plant which is being used in mining and oil field applications.

Industrial lighting manufacturer Larson Electronics LLC, based in Kemp, Texas, announced the release of the 7-stage hydraulic light plant (the LM-SMWB-HLM65-16X500LTL-LED-480V) for use wherever a rugged, mobile, full-power lighting system capable of extended operation is needed. The mobile megatower is built to survive the roughest environments, with the light boom constructed of heat treated aluminum with a powder coated finish.

“We specifically over-engineered this hydraulic megatower to survive the roughest working conditions,” said Rob Bresnahan, CEO of Larson Electronics LLC. “In the mining and oil industries specifically, functioning mobile towers are highly valuable but need to be able to withstand the extreme environments – this one will do just that and more.”

 

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Construction Begins on World’s Most Advanced Special Steel Plant, Includes Heat Treat

Franz Rotter, member of the Management Board of voestalpine AG and head of the High Performance Metals Division

A recent groundbreaking ceremony in Kapfenberg, Austria, marked the inauguration of a new benchmark in plant design that will set international standards in digitization of production processes, including heat treatment, high-tech surface treatment, and additive manufacturing, for a global steelmaker.

The three-year construction phase for the new voestalpine special steel plant will, from 2021 onwards, will produce around 205,000 tons of special high-performance steels, especially for the international aviation and automotive industries as well as for the oil & gas sector.

The new high-tech special steel plant, once operative, is intended to replace the existing voestalpine Böhler Edelstahl GmbH & Co KG plant in Kapfenberg and designed to produce premium quality pre-materials for aircraft components, tools for the automotive industry, equipment for oil & gas extraction, and for the 3D printing of highly complex metal parts.

As part of the digitalized production process, around 8,000 process data will be recorded in parallel and implemented or evaluated on an ongoing basis.

“The high degree of digitalization at the new special steel plant is the prerequisite for being able to supply our customers with even higher material qualities, and, in doing so, to further extend our global market leadership in tool and special steels,” said Franz Rotter, member of the Management Board of voestalpine AG and head of the High Performance Metals Division. “The relevant development work and qualifying our employees in robotics, sensor technology, and data analysis takes place at our own digitalization competence center located directly on the site of the plant.”

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Heat Treater Expands Capabilities with Ferritic Nitrocarburizing, Extends Industry Coverage

 

Source: Trailer-Bodybuilders.com

 

A metal processing company based in Lansing, Michigan, which provides numerous heat treating services such as annealing, quench & tempering, and stress relieving, recently added Ferritic Nitrocarburizing (FNC) to its process offerings.

Atmosphere Annealing, a division of Premier Thermal Solutions (PTS), supports automotive, energy, aerospace, agriculture, heavy equipment, heavy truck, rail and wire rope industries to customers throughout the U.S. Midwest.

An excerpt:

“FNC, a low-temperature process, typically is used on plain carbon steel components.  FNC is known for providing a high level of wear resistance, low distortion, improved fatigue properties and greater corrosion resistance.  Depending on requirements, FNC often is used as an alternative to carburizing and carbonitriding.”

 

Read more: “Atmosphere Annealing Adds FNC to Process Offerings”

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New Heat Treatment Complex Boasts Expanded Capacity for Oil & Gas Applications

A leading Romanian pipe manufacturer recently commissioned a new Heat Treatment Complex for processing of seamless pipes to be used in mechanical applications and exploration of oil and gas fields.

TMK-ARTROM, located in southern Romania, in the town of Slatina, announced that this commissioning completes the second phase of the company’s investment program, which launched with production of new premium pipes for hydraulic and telescopic cylinders from new type steel and alloys with higher added value.

The new heat treatment line housed in the Heat Treatment Complex has an annual capacity of over 165 thousand tons of pipes which undergo heat treatments of quenching and tempering, annealing, normalization, etc., for seamless steel pipes with outside diameter between 60 and 254 mm and wall thickness between 5 and 60 mm. The new system has a hot straightening machine integrated into the technological flow that solves the problem of permanent tension that occurs when pipes are cold straightening and also requiring an additional treatment for eliminating stress relieving. By using high-tech equipment within the new line, high-quality heat treatment, good uniformity, and high martensite transformation are achieved and improved mechanical characteristics.

The design and supply of the equipment was carried out by SMS Group, one of the global leaders in manufacturing equipment for metallurgical industry.

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Texas Steel Mill Gets Boost from $500M Expansion, Including Heat Treat

Governor Greg Abbott meets with representatives of JSW Steel in Mumbai, India, at the headquarters of the company’s parent, JSW Group. Photo credit: Fox26Houston

 

Source: ThomasNet.com

 

An integrated steel manufacturer based in India will be investing $500 million to expand a steel mill, including a new furnace and additional plate milling equipment, in Baytown, Texas.

Officials with JSW Steel announced that the investment will allow the plant to begin sourcing raw steel from Texas and other states instead of Brazil, Mexico, and India, in order to grow the company’s oil and natural gas business. The facility, located about 30 miles east of Houston, has been in use since the 1970s when it was bought by JSW for just over $800 million in October 2007.

Read more: “Texas Steel Mill Adding 500 Jobs”

 

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Women’s History Month: Alice Parker’s Gas Furnace Patent

Alice H. Parker’s gas furnace design, as patented in 1919.

Heat Treat Today is pleased to join in the celebration of Women’s History Month by turning the spotlight on Alice H. Parker, an African-American woman from Morristown, New Jersey, who received a patent for a gas furnace heating system that played a key role in the development of the central heating systems most of us have in our homes today.

It was nearly 100 years ago that U.S. Patent No. US132590A was issued to Parker, whose furnace design shows gas being used as a power source when most homeowners were stocking up on wood and coal, and includes the idea of using air ducts to deliver the heat to different parts of a home. Officially granted on December 23, 1919, Parker’s patent was not the first for a gas furnace design, but it was unique in that it incorporated a multiple yet individually controlled burner system (see the text of the patent here). Although this exact design was never implemented due to safety issues with the regulation of heat flow, this structure was an important precursor to the modern heating zone system and thermostats as well.

Parker was a 1910 graduate of Howard University.

Sources: Face2FaceAfrica.com, TheFrisky.com,

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Oilfield Supplier Increases Heat Treatment Capacity

A major manufacturer and supplier of oilfield logistics services recently invested in a heat treating line to facilitate processing of oilfield related equipment at its new site in Dubai, UAE.

Premier/BeaverMatic, a heat treatment manufacturer based in Farmington Hills, Michigan, provided an extensive furnace line for heating tools, parts, and components, and for providing repair and inspection services and hard metal applications for oil, gas, energy, and process industries.

The installed atmospheric heat treating system consists of an internal quench furnace including SER heating system, quench oil cooling and centrifugal separation systems, transfer system, and front load table; temper furnace; drying oven; spray and dunk washer; and endothermic gas generator.

The complete system is capable of processing 30″W X 48″L X 26″H workloads which weigh up to 1,500 lbs.

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