industry news.qxp 4/27/2009 11:11 AM Page 1
INDUSTRY NEWS
Core Furnace Systems and LOI Combine Operations POSCO Will Use Linde Rebox DFI Core Furnace Systems (CORE), Pittsburgh, Pa., nical services and automation systems in North System a multibusiness unit company of the Tenova America. LOI Inc. makes industrial furnaces for Linde Gases, a division of Group, and LOI Inc., Coraopolis, Pa., the U.S. the steel, aluminum, and automobile industries for The Linde Group, Munich, unit of Tenova LOI Italimpianti, combined their the North American market. Tenova, Milan, Italy, Germany, will install its Rebox direct flame business operations on March 31, 2009. LOI Inc. designs and supplies advanced technologies, impingement (DFI) to one will be merged into and become another products and services for the metals and of POSCO’s continuous business unit of CORE, along with CORE’s mining industries. Tenova operates close to its annealing lines at its existing Metal Making and Furnace business customers through a network of 31 companies large integrated steel mill in Pohang, South Korea. units. CORE designs and supplies reheat, heat based on the 5 continents. The main benefits of DFI treating, specialty and carbon processing www.corefurnace.com, or technology include higher furnaces as well as melt shop equipment, tech- www.tenovagroup.com heat transfer rates for increased capacity and reduced fuel consumption PLANSEE Manufactures Large HIP Cylinder and the capability to PLANSEE Metall GmbH, Reutte, Austria, influence surface properties. manufactured a cylinder for the world’s largest www.linde.com hot isostatic press (HIP) for its customer Avure Technologies AB, Sweden. The cylinder is made Siemens Installs of a doped molybdenum material, which enables Automation the furnace to operate at temperatures to Equipment at 1350°C and a pressure of 1,180 bar. The HIP Chinese Steel Plant press is due to start operation in Japan by 2010. Siemens VAI Metals The cylinder is about 5 m long and measures Technologies, Willstaett, Germany, will equip an more than 2.2 m in diameter. Manufacturing the annealing line and two cylinder required the use of the company’s full hot galvanizing lines of range of refractory metals processing Chinese steel producer technologies including laser and water-jet cut- Shougang Jingtang Iron and Steel Co. with drive ting, tooling, hot working such as spinning, PLANSEE’s HIP cylinder made for the world’s largest hot technology, electrical bending, and rolling, as well as joining using isostatic press. equipment,and doped molybdenum rivets and flame spraying. automation systems. www.plansee-usa.com. One-Shot Brazing Production is scheduled to start at the end of 2010. Proton Energy Develops with CuproBraze www.industry.siemens. High-Pressure Hydrogen International Copper Association, New York, com/metals-mining/en. N.Y., reports that a manufacturing capa- Technology bility called one-shot brazing has been Proton Energy Systems, Wallingford, Conn., achieved through the cooperation of mem- announced a major technological milestone involving bers of the CuproBraze Alliance. One-shot its advanced high pressure, proton exchange brazing joins all components of a Cupro- membrane (PEM) electrolysis technology, demon- Braze mobile heat exchanger during one strating more than 18,000 h of hydrogen generation pass through the brazing furnace, including at 2,400 psi, without any external mechanical fins to tubes, tubes to headers, and headers compression. The ability to produce hydrogen at to the tank. Manufacturers save time and elevated pressure will help reduce the hydrogen expense with one-shot brazing. Although storage footprint in applications where space is a the process requires considerable skill and premium. Additionally, producing high pressure teams highly dedicated to quality, training hydrogen without generating high pressure oxygen time is much shorter for one-shot brazing provides a safer, more cost effective on-site hydrogen than for the alternative of welding, which solution. The elimination of a mechanical compressor requires highly trained welders. One in the system makes it possible to reduce the overall member of the alliance, SJO, a division of capital cost and operating cost of the installation. The FinnRadiator, Suolahti, Finland, is using the 2,400 psi milestone was achieved while at the same method to produce an estimated 4,000 time increasing hydrogen production by a factor of pieces per year for Valtra tractors. four from previous high pressure hydrogen generation www.cuprobraze.com. systems. www.protonenergy.com. HEAT TREATING PROGRESS • MAY/JUNE 2009 5 industry news.qxp 4/27/2009 11:11 AM Page 2
INDUSTRY NEWS
Air Products Starts Nitrex Metal Upgrades Third Air Separation European Facility Facility in China Air Products, Lehigh Nitrex Metal, St. Laurent, Quebec, Canada, Valley, Pa., recently completed an upgrade on an expanded heat brought on-stream its treating facility for European gas turbine third air separation manufacturer Turbomeca of Safran Group. The facility (ASU) in Tangshan, expansion project has added a Nitrex NX-811 Hebei Province, Northern China to supply oxygen, nitriding system using Nitreg-S technology to the nitrogen and liquid argon newly constructed heat treat shop in Bordes, RobScan consists of a programmable focusing optic and a to Tangshan Guofeng France in the first quarter of 2009. The system scanner optic for laser welding integrated into a robotic Steel Co. Ltd. and its other will be used for nitriding stainless steel auxiliary arm. Mirrors position the laser beam extremely fast on local customers. each area in the processing field. Air Products was gears and drive shaft assemblies. Turbomeca is a awarded three long-term leading manufacturer of low- to medium-power optics and scanner optics for laser welding industrial gas supply gas turbine for helicopters. www.nitrex.com. integrated into a robotic arm. Mirrors position the contracts to support the laser beam on each area within the processing business growth plans of Trumpf Receives Innovation field quickly, allowing spots and seams to be Guofeng Steel. Award from Daimler www.airproducts.com. welded without having to move the workpiece or Daimler AG honored Trumpf GmbH, Ditzingen, the focusing optics. In contrast to conventional Germany, with its Key Supplier Award in the welding methods, RobScan permits higher Innovation category in March, acknowledging welding speeds with a better weld seam quality. Trumpf’s contribution to the development of the At the same time, the procedure reduces flange RobScan robot-driven laser welding system. widths and, therefore, also the weight of the RobScan consists of programmable focusing components. www.trumpf.com.
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PEOPLE Core Furnace Systems Corp. monoy from Hunprenco, UK. He will be respon- TMK IPSCO Opens A Tenova Group Co. sible for sales in the U.S. and Canada. Baytown Heat Treat Coraopolis, Pa. Facility Construction of a new heat Tom Walsh joined Core Fur- Inductoheat Inc. Madison Heights, Mich. treat facility has been nace Systems Corp. as vice completed at TMK IPSCO’s president of Sales, Reheat and Khris Bergman, formerly Baytown Works in Specialty Furnaces. Walsh has control systems engineer at In- Baytown, Texas. The over 20 years of metals industry ductoheat, takes the position facility is designed to heat of aftermarket engineering treat and finish mainly equipment experience. He was seamless tubing and previously the director of Inter- manager. He will be respon- casing, and is capable of national Sales for furnace equip- sible for managing the service annually producing ment and services at an industrial furnace com- engineers, quality assurance 85,000 tons of quenched and tempered products pany. Tom will be responsible for all sales-related for customer satisfaction, growth of aftermarket service department and certified to API 5CT activities for reheat, carbon processing, and spe- standards. TMK IPSCO cialty furnace product lines. technical service support. operates in North America as a division of TMK, the Gerry Wills, formerly an af- Powder Metallurgy Parts Association (PMPA) largest pipe producer in termarket engineering manager Princeton, N.J. Russia. was appointed technical sales www.tmk-group.com. Richard Pfingstler, president manager for North America. of Atlas Pressed Metals, DuBois, Rolled Alloys Opens With 20 years experience in Pa., was named president of Warehouse in Tulsa the induction heating industry, the Powder Metallurgy Parts As- Rolled Alloys, he will provide technical sup- sociation (PMPA). PMPA is a Temperance, Mich., port to the outside sales team opened a 68,000 ft2 member of the Metal Powder and customers. warehouse in Tulsa, Okla. Industries Federation (MPIF) in The facility will inventory Princeton, representing major OBITUARY a full line of heat and international manufacturers of precision metal corrosion resistant alloys Robert L. Peaslee (vice pres- parts made from metal powders. He joined Atlas including ZERON 100 ident emeritus of Wall Col- super duplex stainless in 1980 and is the principal owner. monoy Corp.) passed away steel. A range of March 5, 2009, at the age of processing capabilities The J. L. Becker Co. include high definition Plymouth, Mich. 92. He was affectionately plasma cutting, shearing, Ron Bryant was named sales representative called the “grandfather of bar sawing and gauer for the Southeastern U.S. He has over 35 years brazing” and the “father of straightening. www.rolledalloys.com. of heat treat experience, most recently serving nickel brazing.” Bob was in- as manager of Heat Treat and Metallurgical Ser- strumental to the growth and success of Wall Col- Expert-Network for vices for Borg Warner’s Muncie, Ind., transmis- monoy and the brazing industry as a whole for the Heat Treating sion operations. Prior to that, he held positions more than 60 years. He joined WCC in 1950 Industry at GM, Eaton, Rockwell Int., and Gardner Denver. and developed the Nicrobraz line of brazing A heat treating Internet- filler metals, which introduced nickel brazing platform has been Wall Colmonoy Corp. to the metals industry. He also established the established (based in Krefeld, Germany) to Madison Heights, Mich. WCC U.S. and Canadian facilities for brazing, provide specific heat treat- John Lapping joined the and after a career spanning 57 years, continued ment know-how to company as director of Interna- working as a consultant for the company until industry. A pool of tional Sales and Marketing for January, 2009. He was a teacher at heart, and experts from Europe, USA, India, and China the Alloy Products Group. John served as a mentor to many, including co-workers, will handle questions has more than 25 years expe- customers, and the students he lectured during and problems about rience in the thermal spray and his years teaching brazing courses on behalf heat treatment. high temperature brazing in- of ASM International and Wall Colmonoy. Bob www.heattreat.de. dustry. John comes to Wall Col- was a Life Member of ASM.
CORRECTION In the article “No Hydrogen Embrittlement with Low Pressure Gas Carburizing” (Mar./April 2009 HTP), Fig. 2 indicates that both parts in the figure were vacuum furnace carburized and gas quenched, and Fig. 3 indicates that both parts are atmosphere furnace carburized and oil quenched. In both figures, the bright, clean part on the left is vacuum carburized and gas quenched and the dark part is atmosphere carburized and oil quenched. The text on page 31 should also reflect that. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. HEAT TREATING PROGRESS • MAY/JUNE 2009 7 industry news.qxp 4/27/2009 11:11 AM Page 4
INDUSTRY NEWS
EQUIPMENT, SUPPLIES & SERVICES Hydrogen Atmosphere Bell Annealing Furnaces Commissioned at Indian Steel Plants
Seco Warwick Allied Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, India, recently commissioned 100% hydrogen atmosphere bell annealing furnaces at two steel plants in India. A four-base hydrogen atmosphere annealing installation with a capacity of 54,400 metric tons/year was installed at Uttam Strips Pvt. Ltd., Bhiwadi, Rajasthan, India (headquarters in New Delhi). Uttam supplies the annealed material to manufacturers of automotive components, domestic appliances (e.g., washing machines), and for its in-house tube mill.The View of the annealing installation at SPSL. charge material is cold-rolled strip coils of grade DQ/DDQ having an outer diameter of 2,000 installation included five gas-fired heating hoods mm and width of 1,250 mm (~79 and 49 in.). based on LPG fuel, ten annealing bases each with Each annealing base is designed for a maximum base valve stand, ten corrugated inner covers, five load of 108 metric tons and reference charge mist cooling hoods, a main pressure reducing load of 96.4 metric tons. The designed overall station for the utilities, and a complete PLC-based stack height is 5,300 mm (~207 in.) for four coils control and monitoring system. per batch, which are stacked using intermediate The control system consists of PLCs for control and convectors between the coils. safety, with a PC operator station for supervision. The scope of supply for the installation included The control system allows for control and two gas-fired heating hoods based on LPG fuel, monitoring, as well as all required safety features four annealing bases each with base valve stands, for the equipment.The main analog values and four corrugated inner covers, two mist cooling status of each base comprising the anneal plot and hoods, a main common pressure-reducing station report details are displayed on PC screens. View of annealing for the utilities, and a complete PLC-based control Archiving of the data and preparation of installation base valve and monitoring system. annealing cycles are also accomplished by the stands. SW Allied also recently commissioned a ten control system. The main PC station also shows the hydrogen atmosphere annealing various alarm history, log book provision for base installation with a capacity of events for a particular annealing cycle, 148,500 metric tons/year for Shree malfunction and reporting for the time intervals Precoated Steels Ltd. (SPSL), Pune, requested for the corrective action, and operating India. The company plant, located at hours of the equipment for the maintenance/ Sanawadi, which is about 165 km calibration requirement. The deployment of the from Mumbai, specializes in the pro- equipment is also displayed both in the tabular/ duction and supply of high-quality bar chart manner to obtain the actual time of the coated flat steel products, marketed end of that heating/cooling sequence to pre-plan under the brand names Metacolor, the activity. Typical SCADA base overview Metagalva, and Metacor. Logging of the various process activities, utility screen The charge material is cold rolled consumption plots for hydrogen and nitrogen, strip coils of grade CQ having an anneal plot with the zoom feature, and the outer diameter of 2,000 mm and annealing protocol for each charge are width of 1,300 mm (~79 and 51 in.) available.The control and monitoring system has Each annealing base is designed for the following components: a maximum load of 98 metric tons • Main PLC and reference charge load of 78 • Base PLC for each base metric tons. The designed overall • Touch screen OIU common for all the bases stack height is 4,550 mm (179 in.) • SCADA PC for four coils per batch, which are • Engineering PC stacked using intermediate PLCs, PCs, and OIUs are linked by Profibus Typical SCADA base process convectors between the coils. network. www.alliedfurnaces.com, or status screen The scope of supply for the www.secowarwick.com.
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Seco/Warwick Delivers Brazing and air-blast chamber. The furnace has an and Annealing Furnaces available belt width of 30 in. and an overall A New England manufacturer purchased a product pass height above the belt of 6 in. The 2-bar vacuum brazing furnace from Seco/ complete line is 53 ft long and is designed for Warwick Corp., Meadville, Pa., to enhance its about 30 heat exchangers per hour. vacuum brazing capabilities for specialized Seco/Warwick received an order from Tyree products used in fabricating machinery. Vacuum Industries, Pty Ltd., Mittagong, NSW, Australia brazing is usually a high temperature (typically (www.tyree.com.au), for a roller hearth furnace 1700 to 2250°F, or 930 to 1230°C), fluxless line to process wound transformer cores on a continuous basis. Tyree Industries is a wholly process using nickel-base, pure copper, and less Typical 2 bar vacuum brazing frequently, precious brazing filler metal. The VP is Australian owned family business that designs furnace. a cold wall, front-loading vacuum furnace and manufactures medium-voltage incorporating pressure gas quenching. The electrical products for the world’s furnace requires minimum floor space with an electricity networks. Tyree Industries internal re-circulation blower and heat exchanger. incorporates two divisions: Tyree Michigan Brazing LLC, Howell, Mich., Distribution Transformers and Tyree (www.michiganbrazing.com) installed a Power. www.secowarwick.com. controlled atmosphere brazing (CAB) furnace Michigan Brazing’s new CAB furnace. line from Seco/Warwick to expand production of aluminum radiators. Michigan Brazing’s furnace line consists of a dry-off oven, entrance chamber, three-zone electrically heated braze chamber, Typical transformer core water-jacketed cooling chamber, exit chamber, annealing roller hearth line.
Thermo-Calc Software Thermodynamic and Diffusion Simulation Software
Thermo-Calc is a powerful software tool for DICTRA is a unique software package for accurate thermodynamic calculations. simulations of diffusion controlled transformations. 9 Stable and meta-stable phase equilibrium 9 Diffusion controlled phase transformation kinetics 9 Amounts and composition of phases 9 Homogenization 9 Phase transformation temperatures 9 Carburizing & Decarburizing 9 Scheil solidification 9 Nitriding and carbonitriding 9 Thermochemical property data for phases 9 Microsegregation during solidification 9 Phase diagrams (isothermal, isoplethal sections 9 Coarsening / Dissolution of precipitates for multi-component multi-phase systems) 9 Interdiffusion 9 Databases for Fe-, Ni-, Al-, Ti-, Mg- based alloys, 9 And more... solders, refractory oxides, and more… 9 Databases for Fe-, Al- and Ni- based alloys
USA, Canada and Mexico: Rest of the World: Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Phone: (724) 731 0074 Phone: +46-8-545 959 30 Fax: (724) 731 0078 www.thermocalc.com Fax: +46-8-673 37 18
HEAT TREATING PROGRESS • MAY/JUNE 2009 9 industry news.qxp 4/28/2009 1:10 PM Page 6
INDUSTRY NEWS
EQUIPMENT, SUPPLIES & SERVICES Thermatool Commissions Solar Manufacturing also delivered, installed, Precision Slot Quench System and commissioned a new R&D vacuum heat Thermatool Corp., East Haven, Conn., treating furnace at a specialty metals industry commissioned a new precision slot quench customer for use in its metallurgical development system along with multiple induction preheaters laboratory. The furnace will be used for steel, low for austenitizing and tempering operations. The pressure vacuum carburizing, and magnetic high-performance modular slot quench and in- metal developments, as well as alloy testing and duction heating systems operate on an induc- process development. The horizontal, front tion/gas quench and temper line at Timken Steel. loading model HFL-2624-10IQ has a work zone The system is designed to process two size bands measuring 18 in. wide × 14 in. high × 24 in. for pipe and bar from 4 to 9 in. The Quench deep and a workload capacity of 750 lb, with an Module is rafted and motorized thereby enabling operating temperature to 2400°F and the producer to change quench ring diameters temperature uniformity meeting AMS 2750D. It automatically. Complete with variable flow also features 10 bar fast gas quench. pumps and a symmetrical high impingement www.solarmfg.com. quench spray, the precision quench equipment offers the customer opportunities for enhanced CEC Installs Furnaces metallurgy and straightness. for Bosch Chassis www.thermatool.com. Bosch Chassis Systems, a division of The Bosch Group, contracted Consolidated Engineering Co. Solar Manufacturing Awarded (CEC), Kennesaw, Ga., to supply four stress Vacuum Furnace Orders relief/ferritic annealing furnaces for its Dalian, 2009 AeroMat Solar Manufacturing, Souderton, Pa., received China facility. The Dalian plant is expanding into Conference and an order from a U.S. manufacturer for a top processing cast iron components, and required Expo loading Model VTC-714 R&D furnace for process heat treat capacity for stress relief and ferritic Celebrating 20 Years! development of low pressure vacuum carburizing annealing. CEC proposed the use of several The premier industry of new alloys for aircraft gearing. The batch furnaces rather than one or two larger event for the global carburizing process will be designed around furnaces, because with 4 smaller units, aerospace community. U.S. Patent Application No. 11/235,739, filed production could be ramped up in stages and the Conference: September 26, 2005, using a mixture of production process could be more flexible, and June 7 -11, 2009 hydrogen and acetylene as the carburizing gas. smaller units allow for smaller batches of Exposition: The furnace will help prove out LPVC to optimize components to be heat treated as required, while June 8-10, 2009 the vacuum carburizing process with positive still maintaining the best possible energy Education Short pressure gas quenching as opposed to efficiency. Also, the stress relief cycle was at a Courses: atmospheric carburizing with oil quenching. The lower temperature than the ferritic anneal, so the June 6 and furnace will be shipped in the second quarter of use of several different furnaces allowed for two 11-12, 2009 2009. different thermal cycles to occur simultaneously. CEC also provided a PC based SCADA system. AeroMat covers the topics driving materials technology for aerospace www.cec-intl.com. applications. The event attracts more than 750 delegates and over 70 exhibiting companies who discuss and display the latest advances in Abbott Furnace Ships Munitions materials and processes for aerospace applications. Treatment Unit Some of the heat treating-related presentations include: Abbott Furnace Co., St. Marys, Pa., shipped the Relating Microstructure and Machinability in Titanium Alloy Ti-5553: first of two munitions treatment units for a James D. Cotten and Michael L. Watts, The Boeing Company chemical demilitarization project in Pueblo, Carpenter’s Experimental 290 Alloy: Paul Novotny, Carpenter Technology Corp. Colorado. The plant will destroy a stockpile of Low Temperature Carburization of Austenite Stainless Steels: chemical weapons containing mustard agent. Dr. Sunniva R. Collins, Swagelok Co. The munitions treatment unit will destroy any Novel Heat-Treatments for the Production of Refined Microstructures In Alpha/Beta Titanium Alloys: Peter C. Collins, Jonathan Osborn, and Hamish trace amounts of mustard agent that may remain L. Fraser, Ohio State University on the munitions after they have been drained and the agent has been neutralized. The second Contact Customer Service Center, ASM International; unit, destined for the same project, is scheduled tel: 800-336-5152 (ext. 0) or 440-338-5151 (ext. 0); fax: 440/338- 4634; e-mail: [email protected]; or visit to ship before the end of 2009. Abbott was able www.asminternational.org/aeromat/ to use its continuous belt furnace technology in this application. www.abbottfurnace.com.
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