March 2017 VOLUME 11 ISSUE 1 Industry News from the Smelter to the Foundry pyrotek.com Aluminium and Foundry Auto Sales and Production in EGA Files Patents, Operations Use Pyrotek’s Develops Cell Hydraulic Ladle System to China Continue Growth Trend Preheating Frame Improve Metal Transfer Emirates Global Aluminium Pyrotek offers a new hydraulically (EGA) has filed four patents tilting transfer ladle system, which for in-house innovations in can be an ideal solution for optimal aluminium production intended to increase productivity and control during metal transfer pours operating efficiencies. inside aluminium and foundry The UAE-based aluminium operations. producer started filing patents The hydraulics design by Pyrotek several years ago when it provides a more predictable and began to consider licensing its smooth tilting action to help technology to others, it says. operators avoid turbulence and The recent patent applications improve metal quality and safety. target improvements in the “Anyone who has a series of aluminium smelting process. furnaces that need to be filled could Three of those process use this system,” including in tight developments reduce energy areas, says Jim Bintz, a USA-based consumption and process costs, project manager for Pyrotek. EGA says. Those include a bi- Use of a standard molten metal metallic insert in the cathode transfer ladle typically relies on the Japan automaker Honda reported record monthly production in China for collector bar, a copper electrical skill of a forklift operator, and they November 2016. Honda CRV photo courtesy of Honda Motor Co. contact in the cathode assembly would be limited by the rotational and a split anode riser busbar Automotive sales and production in China increased in 2016, reflecting system. The other patent is for a Continued on page 6 strong demand. The growth was fueled, in part, by a tax break on small-engine potline energizing procedure. vehicles. Separately, EGA has developed For the first 10 months of 2016, sales of automobiles topped 22 million units, a preheating frame for anode 12.3 percentage points higher than the same period the previous year, the assemblies. China Association of Automobile Manufacturers says. Production increased “The new frame enables 13.8 percent to 22 million from January to October, the latest period for which quicker and safer preparation of data is available. cells for preheating and improves The association said auto sales could increase 13 percent in 2016 over 2015, the thermal homogeneity of the Reuters reported in December. process,” Mahmood Abdulmalik, “Yale Zhang, managing director of Shanghai-based consulting firm an EGA engineer, said in a press Automotive Foresight, said demand for passenger cars ... will likely be weaker release. “This is key, given that but still manage to grow 3 percent to 5 percent next year, compared to the the cells are not producing 16 percent growth he predicts for China’s passenger car market for this year,” metal during preheating. The Reuters said. reduced potential for damage In December, China’s Ministry of Finance extended a tax incentive for small- to the cathode is an excellent engine vehicles through 2017. The 7.5 percent purchase tax is higher than advantage, especially in terms of last year’s 5 percent, but it is below the normal 10 percent. While the Chinese maximizing the cell life.” market saw weaker sales in 2015, the tax incentive spurred growth, news reports say. Ford Motor Co., of Michigan, USA, sold a record 1.27 million vehicles in 2016 in China, up 14 percent from 2015. That total includes sales by joint ventures Improve Changan Ford Automobile and Jiangling Motors Corp. and sales of Ford models imported to China, Ford says. “We have built some great sales momentum in China, particularly in the Metal Transfer second half of 2016, on the strength of our expanded vehicle lineup,” Peter Fleet, Vice President of Marketing, Sales and Service, Asia Pacific, said in a press Covered and heated release. “Record numbers of customers are choosing our 3-row Edge crossover, trough systems elegant Taurus sedan, Explorer premium SUV and Lincoln luxury vehicles.” General Motors (GM), of Michigan, USA, and its joint ventures delivered a • Reduced energy costs record 3.9 million vehicles in China in 2016, an increase of 7.1 percent from the • Increased refractory life previous high in 2015. “In 2016, GM’s SUV deliveries surged 45 percent from a year earlier to 673,409 • Uniform and controlled units. Its comprehensive SUV portfolio includes the Buick Envision and Baojun heating 560, which were among the segment leaders with year-on-year growth of 52 percent and 116 percent respectively,” GM said in a press release. China is GM’s largest retail market, accounting for more than one-third of the pyrotek.com Continued on page 3 2 Technical Topics Pyrotek Provides Sheet Ingot Casters with Critical Consumables RFM Skim Dams performance. When the RFM control fill openings between hot-facing Pyrotek’s skim dams made of pins wear, the body remains attached refractory and other backup layers or reinforced fibreglass material to the tip and doesn’t separate the steel equipment shell. It provides (RFM®) can help improve total into the spout or ingot causing excellent insulation and a leak barrier ingot recovery and ingot quality by contaminated or uncontrolled metal to any metal that seeps behind the preventing oxides from entering the flow. refractory or between joints. Because rolling surface, which can often lead it expands as it foams and puts the to oxide patches or cracks on the refractory under slight compression, ingots. it helps to protect against crack RFM is denser than calcium-silicate propagation and catastrophic failures Aluminium slabs photo by Jorgeprz, board, which allows the RFM skim of the refractory liners. courtesy of Dreamstime. dam to sit lower in the melt, stopping Pyrotek RFM control pins. Casting Lubricants Sheet ingot casters strive to keep more oxides from flowing under the Lubricants provide critical slip up with the world’s demanding skim dam and entering the ingot. Distribution Troughs interfaces between molten metal metal quality standards, supplying Because it’s a high-strength Pyrotek’s distribution trough and direct-chill casting moulds. customers who make increasingly composite material, RFM can be refractory materials and backup The unique electrically charged complicated, lightweight and formed with relatively thin cross insulation are durable and help Perlube™ lubricants Pyrotek provides strong products for today’s vehicles, sections, providing larger interior prevent heat loss while channeling can reduce the volume needed for buildings, consumer goods and dimensions as well as the ability to molten metal. metal casting compared to generic more. fit into tight spaces. It can be custom The metal facing refractory oils like rapeseed, canola and castor. Pyrotek offers consumable designed for various ingot shapes materials are non-wetting, resistant They also can help reduce water- products, from combo bags to and mounting styles. to thermal shock and reduce heat treatment costs using specialized distribution troughs, for the sheet The material is non-wetting loss during transport of molten additives. ingot casting process that help to molten aluminium and offers metal. If properly maintained and These lubricants are supplied casters maintain the highest molten excellent crack and erosion coated, such as with ZYP Boron globally through Pyrotek’s network metal cleanliness and quality. resistance. With proper maintenance Nitride Lubricoat®, the trough of distribution centres. and the use of a boron nitride refractory materials can outlive For all of these consumables, TF Combo Bags coating, RFM skim dams last up Cast after cast, thermally formed similar products. Pyrotek consults with sheet ingot to three times longer than similar Finally, Pyrotek’s trough backup casters to determine the optimal (TF) combo bags can give aluminium products. producers consistent molten metal insulation, Wollite 30ST-1 or Pyrocast products for their operations. distribution during ingot casting. 450, can be poured into place to pyrotek.com TF combo bags provide optimal flow control for consistent, even Rusal and Fellow Russian Company Join to Establish temperature distribution around a Facility to Produce Cables and Wires mould, delivering more predictable Russian aluminium producer UC Rusal and Russian cable product company casts. Similar products on the market ELKA-Cable have agreed to establish the new Bogoslovsk Cable Plant, a don’t provide the same control of jointly-owned facility for producing cables and wires. temperature distribution, which can The new facility will be established at a site currently occupied by Rusal’s lead to problems like cracking or Bogoslovsk aluminium smelter. Once the new plant reaches full capacity, aborted casts. TF combo bags also it will be making more than 4000 tonnes of aluminium products per year. collect large oxide patches or small Those products will include oil-submersible cables, flexible cables and pieces of refractory material floating displaceable wires and self-supporting insulated wires. in the aluminium. “This joint venture will enhance our presence in the cable and wire sector, Pyrotek TF combo bags stay rigid which is among the largest and fastest-growing aluminium consumption at molten aluminium temperatures segments,” Alexey Arnautov, a director of new projects at Rusal, said in a press for up to 75 minutes. That rigidity