Retech, a SECO/WARWICK Group division, has been awarded contracts for new furnaces from a repeat business partner. The electron-beam (EB) and vacuum-arc remelt (VAR) furnaces will allow the manufacturer to expand production. VAR technology operates similarly to the older metallurgical process of stick welding but with a much larger welding rod of several tons, and it is shielded from oxidation by a vacuum chamber instead of a flux. EB technology operates similarly to the cathode ray tube in old television sets, but instead of energizing a phosphorescent screen in a sealed vacuum tube, the electron beam heats a melt pool in a large vacuum chamber. 

Retech, with domestic headquarters, R&D and production located in Buffalo, N.Y., will also provide turnkey commissioning.