Registration is open for IHEA’s Fundamentals of Industrial Process Heating online learning course, which begins on April 15. The course is ideal for students who wish to further their studies at home or work in a flexible web-based, distance-learning format. It’s an affordable alternative to campus-based classes and allows students to go at their own pace.

Here are 12 tips that you will find extremely helpful when attending Thermprocess, GIFA, METEC and NEWCAST 2019 June 25-29 at the fairgrounds in Düsseldorf, Germany.

U.S. Steel will restart the No. 1 electric-weld pipe mill at Lone Star Tubular Operations in Lone Star, Texas. The company anticipates hiring 140 new employees. The No. 1 mill, which was permanently idled in 2016 due to challenging market conditions for tubular products, has an annual capacity of approximately 400,000 tons. It will provide full-body normalized electric-welded pipe in a size range of 7-16 inches outside diameter for customers across the U.S. The restart process will begin immediately and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2019.

The amount of aluminum extruded has increased considerably in recent years due to the metal’s wide availability and relatively low cost.

To continue a trend we started in 2017, Industrial Heating will highlight a topic on our website and list the most-popular articles under that topic according to page views.

The Columbus Flat Roll Division of Steel Dynamics Inc. will invest $140 million to add a new continuous hot-dip galvanizing line from Fives at its plant in Columbus, Miss. The line will be capable of producing 400,000 tons per year of unexposed automotive steel grades and specialized steel grades. Fives scope of supply includes a horizontal annealing furnace, hot-dip galvanizing and cooling equipment, inspection, metallurgical assistance for different steel grades, and construction and commissioning assistance.

How many hours per week do you work on average? How satisfied are you with certain elements of your job? What will be the biggest challenge for your company in the next 12 months?

Nucor Corp. plans to build a state-of-the-art plate mill in the Midwest that is expected to create approximately 400 full-time jobs. Nucor’s Board of Directors approved an investment of $1.35 billion to build the mill, which is scheduled to be fully operational in 2022 and will be capable of producing 1.2 million tons per year of steel plate products. The plate mill will produce cut-to-length, coiled, heat-treated and discrete plate ranging from 60 to 160 inches wide and in gauges from 3/16 of an inch in thickness.

High-temperature furnaces must withstand high temperatures that melt materials, such as titanium, without damage. Usually made of graphite, these furnaces frequently cause contamination with reactive carbon, which can cause damage to the manufactured products. Fully metallic furnaces and heating elements made of suitable materials, on the other hand, are a clean solution. 

Kobe Steel Ltd. announced that its U.S. subsidiary, Kobelco Aluminum Products & Extrusions Inc. (KPEX) will invest approximately $42 million to increase the production capacity of its plant in Bowling Green, Ky. This investment, which is expected to create about 90 new jobs, will help meet the growing demand for automotive extrusions and fabricated products in the U.S. Plans call for new equipment to go into mass production in the first half of 2020. When the expansion is completed, KPEX will have two melting furnaces and two extrusion presses. Production capacity will increase to 1,000 tons per month, from the current 500 tons per month.