The MWIR-B-640 mid-wavelength borescope is designed for furnace applications. It enables highly accurate and fully radiometric temperature measurement image data to be taken, stored and trended over the lifetime of the furnace, providing a continuous and clear view – even through heavy smoke and hot atmospheres.

Thermcraft started doing business in January 1971 from a small warehouse space in downtown Winston-Salem, N.C. From that small startup operation, Thermcraft has progressively grown into an international manufacturer of thermal-processing equipment. The company offers industrial and laboratory furnaces, ovens, high-temperature heating elements, insulation and replacement parts. Thermcraft now resides in a 70,000-square-foot manufacturing and office space located just a few miles from its original location in Winston-Salem, where it all began 50 years ago.

Lucifer Furnaces completed a yearlong contract to deliver 18 AMS 2750-compliant furnaces and ovens to the United States Air Force. Models supplied include heavy-duty single-chamber furnaces, dual-chamber furnace/oven combinations, recirculating convection ovens and dual ovens. All models are designed and built to comply with AMS 2750 Class 2 (+/-10°F) and Class 5 (+/-25°F) specifications with instrumentation package D, which includes digital paperless recorder/controllers, high-limit safety systems and SCR power supplies. TUS and SAT access ports are built in for ongoing system accuracy tests and temperature uniformity survey compliance. All models are completely wired and temperature uniformity surveyed in-house prior to shipment.

Harper International announced that its project in support of PUREgraphite, the U.S.-based subsidiary of Novonix Ltd., has been selected to receive a $5,577,738 grant under the Advanced Manufacturing Office FY20 Critical Minerals FOA (Funding Opportunity Announcement): Next-Generation Technologies and Field Validation. The multi-year project, “High Efficiency Continuous Graphitization Furnace Technology for Lithium-Ion Battery Synthetic Graphite Material,” will focus on development of proprietary furnace technology under the previously announced strategic alliance with Novonix. The grant covers engineering, construction and installation of new processing equipment at the PUREgraphite plant.

Tenova LOI Thermprocess received an order from Belgium’s E-MAX group that includes engineering, supply, erection and commissioning of a twin-chamber melting furnace and a melting and casting furnace for the production upgrade and modernization of the E-MAX Kerkrade plant. Commissioning is scheduled for the beginning of 2022. E-MAX delivers sustainable, high-quality aluminum profiles to various sectors of the aluminum market. The Dutch branch in Kerkrade is the central operation plant in the E-MAX group for the production of extrusion billets.

Designed for use by the steel, metals, industrial furnace and ceramic industries, versatile PSC-55N series pyrometers are ideal for precise temperature measurements from 392-5432°F (200-3000°C) and operate in the shortwave spectral range with fast, adjustable response time of 5 milliseconds to reduce or compensate for changes in target or surface emissivity.

Andritz received an order from Thyssenkrupp rothe erde (Xuzhou) Ring Mill Co. Ltd. to supply eight chamber forging furnaces for its plant in Xuzhou, China. Thyssenkrupp rothe erde manufactures slewing bearings and seamless rolled rings used in applications ranging from industrial machinery, automotive engineering and aerospace facilities to wind turbines and tunnel-boring machines. Andritz’s scope of supply includes engineering, manufacturing, electrical equipment and automation software. The furnaces will include low-NOx burners that will minimize emissions and fuel consumption. Start-up is scheduled for the first quarter of 2022.

The TSX SmartBurner for reheating furnaces is ready to be installed in industrial plants with potentially zero carbon dioxide emissions, working in a full range of hydrogen and natural gas mixtures.

Novonix Ltd. announced a strategic alliance with Buffalo, N.Y.-based Harper International to develop specialized furnace technology that will enhance Novonix’s synthetic graphite manufacturing process. The alliance specifies commitments from Novonix to purchase from Harper and commitments from Harper to develop and supply Novonix with proprietary systems for thermal-processing material for the battery anode market. Engineering and production of the first Harper-built system developed under this alliance is underway, and installation is scheduled to begin in February 2021.

SMS group will supply a secondary copper smelter to Ames Copper Group, a joint venture between Prime Materials Recovery Inc. and Cunext Group, for its facilities in North Carolina. The plant, which is scheduled to start up in 2021, will produce up to 50,000 tons of copper anodes annually. It will be the first secondary copper recycling facility in the United States to produce copper anodes from copper scrap and copper fines. SMS group’s scope of supply will include a tilting refining furnace, anode casting wheel, gas cleaning system, and electric and automation systems. In addition to the equipment supply, SMS will provide technical assistance for installation and start-up. The plant will be prepared for a future upgrade with additional digitalization features.