Energy Heat Treating

Heat Treated Rolled Rings Used in Energy Industry

/ ENERGY HEAT TREAT, FEATURED NEWS

  Source:  Euskalforging

Five large rolled rings ranging from 6.500 mm of outer diameter up to 10.000 mm of outer diameter and input weights from 24t up to 80t have been ring rolled, heat treated, machined and delivered by Euskalforging.  The rings will be used in the manufacturing of the Blue 25M hammer from Fistuca. The hammer will be able to drive the largest offshore wind monopiles in the industry.

Read more: Euskalforging Breaks a World Record

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Automotive Industry to Benefit from New SBQ Steel Mill

/ AUTOMOTIVE HEAT TREAT, ENERGY HEAT TREAT, FEATURED NEWS
Charter Steel today announced plans to build a new Special Bar Quality (SBQ) bar
mill adjacent to its existing coil mill and steelmaking operations in Cuyahoga Heights, Ohio. The highly automated rolling mill will utilize precision sizing to produce diameters from .750 to 3.250 inches (19 to 83mm) in bar lengths from 12 to 50 feet (3.7 to 15.3m). Company leaders said the project, which will not interrupt existing steel coil operations, will support Charter Steel’s desire to serve new markets, and will add production flexibility for the benefit of its existing and prospective new customers.
The new mill represents an investment of $150 million and is expected to be online in the second half of 2018, said John W. Mellowes, CEO of parent company Charter Manufacturing Company, Inc. The project will create about 25 jobs and represents the largest single investment in the family owned company’s 81 year history.
“Growth and continuous improvement are in Charter’s DNA,” Mellowes said. “We see an
opportunity here to grow by leveraging a very successful high service model, coupled with advanced steelmaking, to serve both existing and prospective new customers with an engineered, cut length bar.
“That said,” Mellowes continued, “we will be forever fastened to our loyal coiled rod and coiled bar customers. In fact, as part of this project, we will also be adding new coil finishing assets that will enhance our coil package, our surface quality and the flexibility to roll more sizes more often coiled or straight.”
Charter Steel has produced SBQ coiled rod and coiled bar products in Cuyahoga Heights since 2002. Since 2006, the company has invested more than $250 million to bring new steelmaking assets and technology to the site that includes an electric arc furnace, ladle metallurgical refinement, deep vacuum tank degassing and an advanced billet caster producing a 7×7 inch (180x180mm) semi finished product. Today, Charter Steel is producing highly engineered steels for sophisticated applications in the Aerospace, Bearing, Cold Heading, Free Machining and High Quality Spring markets. A melt capacity increase from a series of recent investments and productivity gains from continuous improvement projects will provide the additional steel for the new bar mill. Construction of the new mill is expected to begin this spring.

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Energy Sector Benefits from Wisconsin Oven Delivery

/ ENERGY HEAT TREAT, FEATURED NEWS

 

Mike Grande of Wisconsin Oven, Energy Heat Treating
Mike Grande – Senior Application Engineer

Wisconsin Oven Corporation shipped ten electrically heated enhanced duty walk-in series ovens, each a Model EWN. The ovens will be used for curing wind turbine components.

The maximum temperature rating for all the ovens is 176°F (80°C). The chamber dimensions are 6’6” W x 4’0” L x 6’0” H. The ovens have combination airflow which provides both horizontal and vertical upward airflow which maximizes heating rates and temperature uniformity of the product. Per the manufacturers request, the ovens required a temperature uniformity of ±2°C, and they actually achieved ±1°C in practice.

The ovens also include a Eurotherm Nanodac paperless digital recorder with 50 MB of flash memory. This feature allows the manufacturer to store 3 months of data at a time.

“We strive to design our equipment to provide the best quality part results for our customers. In this case, we guaranteed a very tight temperature uniformity to help create consistent end results”– Mike Grande, Senior Application Engineer

Unique features of this batch oven include:

  • Temperature uniformity of ±1°C
  • Digital Eurotherm 3504 programmable temperature controller
  • Increased recirculation fan CFM and HP to achieve the guaranteed temperature uniformity
  • Additional thermocouple probes inside the ovens
  • Increased heating chamber width by 6” to provide clear width of 79” with the doors opening at 90°
  • An additional pushbutton station at the front of the oven for operator convenience
  • Increased heaters from 8kW to 12kW

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Jorgensen Forge Acquired

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

Source:  Forging

Jorgensen Forge, a Tukwila, WA, open-die forger and ring-rolling operation, has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy as one of three companies now owned by CE Star Holdings LLC, a company formed to buy the assets from Constellation Enterprises, which filed for creditor protection in May.

The Seattle-area plant forges low alloy and stainless grades of steel, aluminum alloys, titanium alloys, and nickel-based alloys. Production equipment includes four open-die presses and two ring-rolling mills. It also offers heat-treating and machining, and it has special capabilities for “marine shafting” as well as full testing and inspection services. Its customers are manufacturers supplying aerospace, energy, defense, and general industrial markets.

Read More: Jorgensen Forge Acquired, “Even Better Positioned” by Robert Brooks

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Voestalpine Invests Millions in Aerospace

/ AEROSPACE HEAT TREAT, AEROSPACE HEAT TREAT NEWS, ENERGY HEAT TREAT, FEATURED NEWS
Aerospace is a key strategic growth area for Voestalpine, and is therefore a high priority in the coming years. Over the medium term the company expects to increase Group revenue in this technologically challenging customer segment from its current level of EUR 300 million to around EUR 500 million. In the next two years Voestalpine will invest over EUR 40 million in a new high-tech, high-speed forging line at Group company Böhler Edelstahl GmbH & Co KG in Kapfenberg in order to literally give additional thrust to this growth. The state-of-the-art facility is scheduled to go into operation as early as in 2018, and will primarily be used to manufacture forgings as pre-materials for extremely high load-bearing aircraft components, such as engine parts, or as workpieces for sophisticated products used in the oil & gas industry.

Over the next one and a half decades global demand for almost 40,000 new aircraft is forecast. The major investment in a new, state-of-the-art forging line demonstrates that Voestalpine is again staying abreast of the dynamic developments in the aerospace sector.

The aerospace industry is one of the key drivers of our international growth strategy in the future market of mobility. All most important aircraft manufacturers already rely on technologies and products from Voestalpine. By intensifying our innovation and investment activities we aim to further expand our position as a leading provider also in this sophisticated customer segment-

Wolfgang Eder, Chairman of the Management Board of voestalpine AG Wolfgang Eder, Chairman of the Management Board of Voestalpine AG

Fully automated facility sets new standards

The Special Steel Division of the Voestalpine Group is one of the leading global suppliers of high-performance materials and special forgings for the aerospace industry. Its highly stress-resistant products include structural parts, engine components and mounts, landing gear parts, and door segments that are used in the aircraft programs of manufacturers including Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, and Embraer.

The new high-tech forging line will not only play a key role in increasing volumes in the aerospace business segment, but it will also set new standards in product quality, process automation, and digitalization. As a result, this investment significantly strengthens the technological leadership enjoyed by our Styrian production companies. Investment in a new special steel plant is also in planning as a means of opening up new dimensions in materials production. This is in addition to, and independent of, the current project. A final decision on the location of the special steel plant is expected for the second half of 2017.

Franz Rotter, Member of the Management Board of voestalpine AG and Head of the Special Steel Division Franz Rotter, Member of the Management Board of Voestalpine AG and Head of the Special Steel Division

Moreover, the new facility will produce forged components for oil and gas exploration which are required to withstand extreme conditions both on land and at sea. The high-tech forging line will process the material with a pressing force of 4,400 tonnes and a speed of up to 120 strokes per minute, or 2 strokes per second.

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Inauguration Day For Siemens’ Newest Turbine Blade Factory

/ ENERGY HEAT TREAT, FEATURED NEWS

Siemens has officially inaugurated the new rotor blade factory for offshore wind turbines in Hull, UK, in an event attended by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Greg Clark and representatives of the local community. The site at Alexandra Docks has been transformed in under two years from a derelict industrial wasteland to a busy high-tech manufacturing hub. Now, the state-of-the-art factory has completed the first 75-meter-long blades which are currently stored on racks on site. Shipping to the first offshore wind project Race Bank is expected in early 2017.

“Our new factory in Hull which we are today officially inaugurating is located in one of the most significant markets for offshore wind power and will produce rotor blades for our 7 and 8-megawatt wind turbines,” said Michael Hannibal, CEO Offshore of Siemens Wind Power. “The new manufacturing plant is part of our efforts to establish offshore wind power as a key pillar of a sustainable energy mix in Europe. At the same time we are creating 1,000 attractive jobs here and thereby supporting sustainable regeneration in the Humber region.”

With its partner Associated British Ports (ABP), Siemens is investing £310 million in Hull to create a world-class center for offshore wind manufacturing, assembly and logistics. The centerpiece of the investment, the wind turbine blade factory, is now fully operational. The full Alexandra Dock site, including a new harbor for pre-assembly and load-out of wind turbine components, will be fully on stream in 2017. Siemens had employed almost 700 people in Hull so far. A further 100 permanent staff are employed at Alexandra Dock working for Siemens’ suppliers and additional recruitment up to a total of 1,000 people will continue into 2017 as the site becomes fully operational. Hundreds more jobs have been created during construction and in the supply chain.

The new production site has an area of 540,000 square meters, including an area reclaimed from a wet dock. The new factory itself covers 40,000 square meters and has an optimized material flow based on the Siemens Production System (SPS). Storage, supply chain and assembly work are interconnected with modern database systems to produce 75–meter-long rotor blades for offshore wind turbines of the seven and eight-megawatt class.

Offshore wind manufacturing sites such as Hull in the UK or Cuxhaven in Germany are efficiently linked by new transport vessels and embedded in Siemens’ logistics concept with the goal to leverage innovation and industrialization on the way to lowering the costs of offshore wind energy. A key element of the concept is an improved transport solution, utilizing dual-purpose transport vessels to avoid both heavy component lifting through innovative Ro/Ro handling and cost intensive shipping of heavy components.

There is a growing market for wind turbines designed for erection off shore. Offshore wind power plants are currently being built primarily in the North Sea and Baltic Sea off Europe’s northern coastline. However, wind power projects are being developed in other regions as well, such as along the East Coast of the United States and in Asia off the coast of China and Taiwan.

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Siemens Celebrates Commissioning of Power Project in Pennsylvania

/ ENERGY HEAT TREAT, FEATURED NEWS

Siemens and Panda Power Funds celebrated the commissioning of the Panda Liberty Power Project in Bradford County, Pennsylvania – an 829 megawatt natural gas-fueled power plant featuring Siemens advanced H-class gas turbines. Harnessing Marcellus Shale gas, “Liberty” is the first of two new Panda Power Funds generating stations to be commissioned in Pennsylvania this fall, with the Patriot Power Project in Clinton Township set to be dedicated in November. Combined, the two projects will be able to supply power for about two million households in large regional power markets, including Pennsylvania.

For “Liberty” and “Patriot,” Siemens’ scope of supply features advanced power generation technology, financing, and long-term service. The single shaft power plant blocks include two SGT6-8000H gas turbines, two SST6-5000 steam turbines, two hydrogen-cooled SGen6-2000H generators, and two heat recovery steam generators, along with the control system SPPA-T3000. The gas turbines and generators were manufactured at Siemens’ Charlotte Energy Hub, the global base for the company’s 60 Hz power generating equipment.

Siemens will provide maintenance and service for the main components associated with the gas turbine under a long-term service program. Parts, inspections, and scheduled service/maintenance, along with Siemens’ Power Diagnostics™ remote monitoring and diagnostics, are included in the comprehensive service agreement. For “Liberty,” Siemens Financial Services provided financing to aid in the project’s construction through a $50 million term loan.

“The commissioning of this highly-efficient power plant marks another milestone in our successful relationship with Panda Power Funds. This project demonstrates the full spectrum of Siemens’ portfolio, from our leading edge H-class technology, to financing, to service and maintenance,” said Martin Tartibi, Senior Executive Vice President, Energy Solutions Americas, Siemens Power and Gas. “As America continues to turn to cleaner-burning natural gas, we are proud that our world-class power generation technology can provide affordable, efficient and reliable power to about one million households – using the latest, most advanced emissions-control technology.”

“Designed to harness gas from the Marcellus Shale, this state of the art power plant represents the next chapter in Pennsylvania’s energy renaissance,” said Todd Carter, Chief Executive Officer of Panda Power Funds. “Working with Siemens over the last several years has proven they ‘walk the talk’ with their customer service and technological innovation, helping to bring online a world-class power asset in the Keystone State. We are very pleased to reach another important milestone in our collaboration with Siemens.”

The H-class technology in a single-shaft configuration, used in the “Liberty” and “Patriot” power stations, means that both the gas turbine and steam turbine are arranged on one shaft and drive the same generator. This design offers economic advantages as a result of low investment costs, excellent efficiency and a high degree of flexibility during operation.

The “Liberty” power project is one of seven for Siemens and Panda Power Funds in the United States, totaling over 5,800 MW. In addition to selecting Siemens to supply three Flex-Plants in Texas, Panda Power Funds chose Siemens to deliver three CCPPs in Pennsylvania – including “Liberty” and “Patriot” – and one CCPP in Virginia.

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