Russia’s OMZ-Special Steels completed construction of a new
heat-treatment furnace. The vertical-shaft electric furnace will be used for normalizing,
hardening and drawing of turbo-generator rotors of steam turbines, propeller
shafts and high-chromium long-grade workpieces. The furnace, which will produce
heat-treated products with a diameter of up to 3.5 meters and a length of 12
meters, is scheduled to be put into operation in the first quarter of this year.
It will also perform thermal treatment of blanks from promising new
high-chromium steels.
The accuracy of temperature control is ± 5°C, heating rate
is up to 80°C/hour and cooling rate is up to 80°C/hour. The quenching
temperature can reach 1150°C (2102°F). None of the existing manufacturing facilities at
Izhorskiy Industrial Complex have a vertical furnace that performs thermal
operations at this temperature. In addition, the launch of the new furnace will
provide a 10% reduction in power consumption. OMZ commissioned original
equipment manufacturer Bosio, of Slovenia, to assist with this project.