A global company providing steel plant and metals industry equipment and services, including heat treating, was recently selected by an Indiana-based steel producer to install and implement its proprietary off-gas process control and water detection technologies.
Steel Dynamics Inc., at Pittsboro, Indiana, is the second SDI plant to place an order for Tenova’s combined technologies. With this order, SDI Pittsboro will install Tenova’s hybrid extractive/laser NextGen® off-gas analysis system, iEAF® dynamic process control system and Water Detection Technology® (WDT®) as a fully integrated solution on the plant’s 100 ton AC EAF, providing SDI Pittsboro with the world’s most comprehensive technology package of off-gas based EAF process control technology.
Tenova’s technological package combines EAF process automation, thermodynamic models, process hardware, innovative temperature/velocity sensor technology, and water detection.
NextGen® is a hybrid laser/extractive off-gas analysis hardware system that delivers faster analytical response times, requires minimal maintenance and reduces hardware and installation costs. NextGen® enables the operator to monitor and control furnace conditions helping to mitigate operational risk.
iEAF® Modules 1, 2 and 3 use NextGen off-gas analysis plus Tenova’s proprietary optical off-gas temperature & flow sensors, a link to the plant’s PLC network and a real-time mass & energy balance to dynamically control and optimize chemical energy & electricity consumption and improve endpoint control to maximize operating cost savings, reduce electrode consumption, increase yield and reduce power on time. .
An Arkansas-based steel producer for automotive and electrical markets recently announced the expansion of its LEED-certified facility, doubling its hot-rolled steel production capacity to 3.3 million tons annually.
Dave Stickler, CEO of Big River Steel
In addition, the expansion at Big River Steel’s Flex Mill™, which began operations in early 2017, will facilitate the company’s ability to produce even higher grades of electrical steel, demand for which is expected to increase with continued focus on energy efficiency and the increase in hybrid and electric vehicle sales.
“Our $1.2 billion expansion will further cement Big River Steel’s position as a global leader in terms of advanced manufacturing and environmental stewardship,” said Dave Stickler, Big River Steel’s chief executive officer. “Announcing this investment less than 18 months after beginning operations is a testament to the hard work and great success of the men and women on our team.”
Engineering efforts are already underway with SMS group GmbH, the primary technology provider, and major construction activity will begin later this year and continue for approximately 24 months. In addition to doubling its hot-rolled steel production and enhancing its electrical steel capability, Big River is also contemplating the installation of a next-generation coating line focused on automotive applications.
Vacuum furnace heat treaters know that one of the most critical parts of their system is the pump oil, but it may be a bit overwhelming trying to determine which is the right kind of oil is needed. Selecting the correct vacuum pump oil starts with knowing your pump.
“‘Oil’ is a bit of a misnomer because modern pump oil technology has evolved well beyond the original distilled petroleum products. There are now double- and triple-distilled oils available, as well as hydro-treated oils, low sulfur oils, silicone-based synthetic oils, and flushing oils used to clean the pump. Due to the wide variety of formulations available, these are often now referred to as pump ‘fluids’ rather than pump ‘oils’.” — VAC AERO International
“Different pump oil formulations are specifically designed for different pumps and different vacuum applications,” notes VAC AERO, and a key factor in learning how to select the correct pump oil is the understanding of vapor pressure, viscosity, and distillation methods, as well as solvent refining, hydrotreating, synthetic oil (Perfluoropolyether), flushing oil for vacuum pumps, and diffusion pump oils.
An aerospace maintenance and repair provider recently inducted two engines in the launch of a 20-year, multi-engine MRO agreement signed earlier this year with a major manufacturer of power systems for aviation and other industries.
StandardAero inducted its first Rolls-Royce AE 1107C engine at the company’s Maryville, Tennessee, facility, and its first Rolls-Royce T56-427 engine at its San Antonio, Texas, facility.
The new AE 1107C turboshaft engine powers the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, delivering 7,000 lbs. shaft horsepower, and is in service with the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Air Force.
Russell Ford, CEO of StandardAero
The T56-427/427A is also a new engine for StandardAero, powering the Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye and Advanced Hawkeye, an all-weather, carrier-capable tactical airborne early warning aircraft in service with the U.S. Navy. The T56-427 delivers 5,250 lbs. shaft horsepower. The new contract expands the company’s exclusive 8-year agreement to support T56 engine MRO services in support of the U.S. Air Force fleet of C-130H aircraft at StandardAero’s San Antonio facility.
In addition, this new multi-engine agreement will significantly grow work currently conducted by StandardAero on the Rolls-Royce AE 2100 engines, serviced at the company’s Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada facility with capacity also being added to StandardAero’s San Antonio facility within the United States.
“Our first induction of these new engine models represents a huge milestone for our company and for our customers,” said Russell Ford, CEO of StandardAero. “This is the beginning of a new and expanded long-term relationship with Rolls-Royce along with the privilege and honor of serving the mission-critical needs of our nation’s military forces.”
Heat TreatToday will soon be launching Heat Treat Consultants, a resource that offers the most comprehensive listing of heat treat industry consultants. An example of the type of exchange we anticipate will result from this resource is provided below. Click the link above for a sneak peek at our inaugural list of consultants and more information about contacting one of the experts listed.
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Mike Dascoli, general manager of County Heat Treat in Millbury, Massachusetts, asked our publisher, Doug Glenn, about a product the company had used previously, “an alumina oxide powder to coat graphite fixturing plates . . . in our vacuum furnaces to stop off against braze alloy run off and eutectic melting.” Doug queried whether it was aluminum brazing or more conventional brazing of stainless or other metals and Mike specified, “No aluminum brazing . . . used to be gold/nickel, silver alloys. Here at County, I am just looking to introduce some options. I remember we would mix the powder with the acetone and paint it on the carbon plates. Acetone evaporated quick and the powder was left behind. For us now, it’s more about a layer against eutectics when heat treating.”
Dan Kay, Kay & Associates Brazing Consulting &Training Services
Doug brought in one of Heat Treat Today‘s consultants, Dan Kay of Kay & Associates Brazing Consulting & Training Services, to assist in hunting down the answer to Mike’s question.
Dan Kay:
Hi Mike —
Yes, there are a number of brazing filler metal (BFM) manufacturers who also produce and supply brazing stop-off materials that can be painted onto graphite surfaces such as you mention in your note to Doug Glenn. Here are just a few: Surface Flow Technologies (Div. of LSN Diffusion Int’l) in Michigan, Wall Colmonoy Corp in Michigan, Vitta Corp in Connecticut, and Wesgo Metals (Div. of Morgan Advanced Materials) in California are some of the primary ones.
Stop-off materials come in different colors, the coloring of them being merely to identify its manufacturer, since all stop-off materials use metallic oxide materials to create their “stop-off” capabilities, and all these oxide powders are essentially white, to begin with. Thus, to differentiate the various stop-offs they began to color them so that people would learn to associate green stop-off with company A, pink stop-off with company B, red stop-off with company C, etc.
White stop-off products are essentially the weakest of all the colored stop-offs out there and are primarily aluminum-oxide products in a paint-like consistency. The binders/gels used to make the stop-offs vary considerably from manufacturer to manufacturer are proprietary, and you’ll not get any of them to actually tell you about all the ingredients in them. People are often surprised to hear that a product such as Phillips Milk of Magnesia, available in lots of stores or pharmacies, is actually a decent stop off (magnesium oxide) for a number of applications.
But you are correct to say that you can make your own in many different ways by merely mixing some aluminum-oxide powder, or titanium-oxide powder, etc., in with a variety of quick-drying solvents, perhaps also with a thin acrylic type cement to give it adherence, paint it onto graphite surfaces, and after evaporation you would be left with an adherent layer of that protective oxide barrier, so that it prevents direct contact of a metal (especially any iron-containing metals) with the graphite, since an iron-carbon reaction is to be avoided.
I’d be happy to assist you further with this, if you have additional questions, since I’ve had much direct manufacturing experience over my 45+years in the brazing world, a lot of it involved in making BFMs, brazing stop-offs and cements, etc., and am pretty much aware of the companies today who make and supply such materials.
On my website at http://www.kaybrazing.com, you will see a tab on the homepage that shows “Brazing Suppliers”. By clicking on that tab you can see a listing of the different companies who produce these materials, and in that tabular section the name of each company (such as those I mentioned above) is a hotlink that will bring you directly to that company’s website so that you can search it for a specific type of product that you might desire. It part’s of the service that I want to provide to users of my website. I hope you will find it useful.
Let me know how I can help you further.
Best regards,
Dan
Daniel Kay
Kay & Associates
Brazing Consulting &Training Services
4 Lawton Drive
Simsbury, CT 06070
Phone: 860-651-5595
Heat Treat Consultants is a unique opportunity for personnel in the field to engage some of the industry’s knowledge powerhouses with questions about equipment, processes, management, troubleshooting — just about anything having to do with heat treating. We invite you to take a look at our inaugural crew of Heat Treat Consultants by clicking on the provided links, and we would be happy to help you make any connections. Just email Doug Glenn at doug@heattreattoday.com. You can also submit any questions or comments on Heat Treat Today articles to editor@heattreattoday.com.
A leading manufacturer of magnesium dissolvable metals and dissolvable elastomers recently broke ground on a 12,000 sq. ft. expansion to its magnesium foundry, which will increase its metal processing, heat treatment, machining, and storage capabilities.
Andrew Sherman, CEO of Terves
Terves Inc announced that the H3-classified magnesium metal processing facility at its site in Euclid, Ohio, will include additional permanent mold and materials handling and storage space, and the addition of sand casting, squeeze casting, and diecasting capabilities for custom magnesium and magnesium alloys and composites, and allows for further expansion of build-to-print component CNC machining services. These additions enable the company to support aerospace and defense magnesium applications in addition to Terves’ leading position in the dissolvable oilfield tool market.
“Dissolvable Metals are the New Composites as far as oilfield tools are concerned,” said Andrew Sherman, CEO of Terves. “Oilfield tools made from composite materials were adopted in the industry about two decades ago and today occupy a sizable market share. We are seeing a major adoption and growth trajectory for oilfield tools made from dissolvable magnesium materials. At the end of 2017, roughly 2% of all frac plugs deployed in the field were being made using dissolvable metals and the market is expected to grow to 5% of all frac plugs deployed in the field by the end of 2018 – a 250% growth in one year, with adoption and use increasing through 2025.”
Terves products are used for making frac balls, plugs, slips, seals and several other components used in oil and gas well completion and production and have been used for completing tens of thousands of stages in North America, Europe, South America, Asia, and MENA regions.
An Atlanta-based provider of aluminum rolling and recycling recently announced the company has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Aleris Corp., Cleveland, a global supplier of rolled aluminum products supplier based in Cleveland, Ohio.
Steve Fisher, President and CEO, Novelis Inc
Novelis Inc. will acquire Aleris Corp’s 13 manufacturing facilities across North America, Asia, and Europe, including new automotive finishing lines in Lewisport, Kentucky, and significant auto capacity in Duffel, Belgium, providing a more diverse product portfolio, including aerospace, automotive, building and construction, commercial transportation and specialty products.
“Acquiring Aleris is the right opportunity at the right time as they are set for transformational growth,” said Steve Fisher, President and CEO, Novelis Inc. “The significant investments they’ve made in the high-demand, high-value aerospace and automotive segments have resulted in favorable long-term, global contracts. These investments, coupled with a diverse and talented workforce, will add tremendous value to our organization and allow us to deliver the highest quality innovative aluminum solutions to our customers.”
As part of the acquisition, Novelis will acquire Aleris’ 13 manufacturing facilities across North America, Asia and Europe. Aleris’ new automotive finishing lines in Lewisport, Kentucky, of which a significant amount of its capacity is already under contract, along with auto capacity in Duffel, Belgium, will allow Novelis to further diversify its global footprint and customer base.
A global leader in fully integrated freight car systems for the heavy haul rail market has added a new, complete furnace line to meet a growing need for additional heat treatment capacity.
Amsted Rail® purchased the UBH line from AFC-Holcroft, a manufacturer of turn-key heat treating systems for multiple applications based in Wixom, Michigan. The line includes a batch style carburizing furnace, two expansion modules to increase endothermic generator gas output, a rotary hearth reheat furnace for press quenching, and a continuous integrated parts washer and temper furnace.
“The batch furnace itself has an effective load size of 72 inches by 72 inches by 56 inches with a gross load capacity of 13,000 lbs, which is considered very large for this type of equipment, but is, in fact, one of AFC-Holcroft’s standard sizes,” stated Tracy Dougherty, sales manager at AFC-Holcroft. “The ability and experience to provide equipment for reliable processing of such large loads is just one of the benefits that AFC-Holcroft is able to offer, and one more thing that sets us apart from our competitors.”
Amsted Rail is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, and has locations spanning the globe in every significant railroad market. The equipment is scheduled to ship to a joint venture facility located in Eastern Europe in the third quarter of 2018.
A special report from Heat Treat Today publisher, Doug Glenn.
Mr. Chad Spore, John Deere, speaking on “OEM Perspective on the ThermProcess Industry”
Chad Spore, materials engineering supervisor for John Deere, addressed the assembled guests of the International ThermProcess Summit, in Buckhead, Georgia, on the first day of the event, Tuesday, July 31, 2018. The presentation, which included encouragements to other manufacturers with in-house heat treating as well as industry suppliers to continue to innovate, was received with great interest by the nearly 100 attendees at this 2nd biennial event.
Omar Nashashibi, The Franklin Partnership, spoke on “Trump’s Washington: The New Normal?”
The attendees also enjoyed an excellent presentation from Omar Nashashibi. Mr. Nashashibi, as a-politically as possible, presented an excellent perspective on the first years of the Trump Administration. Whether you like Trump or not, Mr. Nashashibi made it clear that Trump was doing something that no other president has done in quite some time — he’s fulfilling all of his campaign promises to one degree or another. It was a balanced presentation with many positives and negatives.
Dr. Amber Selking, Selking Performance Group will be speaking on “Driving Consistent Performance Excellence”
The two-day event concludes today with keynote speaker and event emcee, Dr. Amber Selking of the Selking Performance Group, giving a presentation on “Driving Consistent Performance Excellence.”
A leading manufacturer and supplier of cupronickel (CuNi 90/10 & CuNi 70/30) pipes, fittings, and flanges based in Shanghai, China, recently updated its annealing furnace to improve physical properties of copper nickel pipes, flanges, and fittings.
Through this upgrade, Shanghai Shihang Copper Nickel Pipe Fitting Co., Ltd., aims to improve performance and surface finish of all Shihang seamless copper nickel pipes (less than 419mm OD).
“Our focus is to manufacture seam welded and seamless copper nickel pipes that meet the dynamic needs in all applications,” said Kurt Yang, Shihang Export Manager. “Therefore, as a company, we must upgrade our manufacturing plant, to increase our capacity and capability for the growing demand of CuNi 90/10 and CuNi 70/30 pipe systems.”
With the new annealing furnace, Shihang strictly controls most physical and chemical properties of copper-nickel pipes. The furnace accurately controls the annealing temperature, thereby hardening and removing all internal stresses in Shihang copper nickel pipes. By upgrading the annealing furnace, Shihang will attain a better surface finish of copper-nickel pipes, thereby increasing the aesthetic value; even during the annealing process, the new furnace will not alter the chemical composition of the copper-nickel pipes.
