SECO WARWICK Allied Pvt. Ltd. commissioned a spheroidize annealing furnace at Mukand Ltd., a Kalwa, India-based manufacturer of alloy and stainless steel long products. The charge material consists of solid round bars ranging from 1-6.3 inches in diameter. Lengths of the bars may vary from 20-21 feet. Spheroidize annealing is an annealing process used for high-carbon steels that will be machined or cold-formed. The purpose is to soften the steels and allow more formability, thus making the softest and most ductile form of steel. The furnace is a blend of a car furnace and a bell furnace. The commissioning of a second furnace at the same plant is under way.

The goal of the furnace design is to maintain the furnace chamber pressure at 40 mm Hg for best results. Circulation inside the furnace is achieved through four recirculating fans on top of the electrically heated furnace. The process calls for limiting the maximum heating rate to 110°C/hour.

SECO WARWICK Allied (India) is a member of SECO/WARWICK Worldwide, which also includes SECO/WARWICK Corp. (United States), Retech Systems LLC (U.S.), SECO/WARWICK S.A. (Poland), Elterma S.A. (Poland) and SECO/WARWICK Industrial Furnace Co. (China).