Can-Eng Furnaces International Ltd. has been awarded a contract to deliver a second mesh-belt furnace line to a commercial heat treater in the Midwest. Can-Eng commissioned a 4,000-pound/hour mesh-belt furnace system for this customer in 2020. This duplicate 4,000-pound/hour high-capacity furnace line will be installed alongside the previous furnace line in the company’s recently expanded plant. It will be used primarily for processes including carbonitriding and carburizing. The furnace line includes: an automated bin dumping and vibratory part-feeder system; dunk and spray pre-washer; protective atmosphere-controlled mesh-belt hardening system; oil quench; dunk and spray post-wash system; forced recirculation temper furnace; in-line post-cooling system; and Can-Eng’s PET Level 2 SCADA system.

Quintus Technologies supplied a hot isostatic press (HIP) to Israel’s T.A.G. Medical Products Corp. The HIP, which was installed in May 2022, will ensure the production of implants and surgical tools with the optimal material properties required by the exacting environments in which they are used. Proprietary features such as high-pressure heat treatment (HPHT) and uniform rapid quenching (URQ) enable the press to produce finished MIM parts with maximum theoretical density, ductility and fatigue resistance. According to T.A.G., the Quintus press will serve for implants and minimal cutting tools production, where high material uniformity and good mechanical properties are required.

Tata Steel awarded PSNERGY LLC of Erie, Pa., a contract to install its Total Combustion Solution (TCS) on all of the steelmaker’s industrial furnaces. The TCS is designed to reduce emissions and increase furnace throughput by measuring, maximizing and maintaining energy input through the combustion process. The project will be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2022. 

Yazici Transfer Makina Co. of Turkey added a Nitrex nitrocarburizing system to its Istanbul facility to increase the manufacturing capacity of tooling and machinery components for its precision CNC machines. The company started production with the new system in fall 2021. It is used for Nitreg-C nitrocarburizing and ONC in-process oxidation treatments. According to Yazici Transfer Makina, these processes improve the wear and corrosion properties of alloy and carbon steel parts. This is the company’s second Nitrex furnace. The first went into operation in 2019.

Ford Motor Co. announced plans to invest $3.7 billion and add more than 6,200 new union manufacturing jobs in Michigan, Missouri and Ohio. The company will also convert nearly 3,000 temporary UAW-Ford workers to permanent full-time status. These actions are part of the company’s Ford+ growth strategy and include plans for an all-new global Mustang coupe and Ranger pickup for North America, as well as an all-new electric commercial vehicle for Ford Pro customers. 

A vacuum oil quench (VOQ) furnace purchased by Solar Atmospheres of Western PA entered into full production after passing start-up protocol. The initial temperature uniformity survey, compliant to AMS 2750F, produced +/-10°F results at all setpoints. The critical lift-and-place transfer mechanism worked, and the system delivered hot 2,000-pound loads to the internal oil-quench tank. With a quench system that is entirely self-contained and vacuum-tight, the typical positive-pressure “flare and smoke-ups” during each quench cycle were nonexistent. The furnace, which was designed and built by Solar Manufacturing, has a hot zone measuring 36 x 36 x 48 inches.

New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced that a capital investment group committed to creating over 950 jobs and investing more than $2 billion in the construction of an aluminum-can sheet rolling mill and recycling center in Valencia County, N.M. Manna Capital Partners, a private investment firm, will lead the project and operate the mill. Ball Corp., a provider of recyclable beverage packaging, will enter into a long-term supply agreement and intends to take a minority equity position in the mill. The group signed a letter of intent to purchase a 1,300-acre parcel in Los Lunas. Construction is scheduled to begin by late 2023, and manufacturing in anticipated to start in 2026. The facility will have the capacity to manufacture up to 1.3 billion pounds of aluminum annually.

United States Steel Corp. employees joined United Steelworkers leadership, key partners and elected officials to celebrate the company’s investment in a pig-iron caster at its Gary Works facility in Gary, Ind. The installation of the pig-iron caster is a key part of U.S. Steel’s metallics strategy. The machine will be fed with iron ore from the company’s Minnesota Ore Operations, Minntac and Keetac. The produced pig iron is expected to supply up to 50% of the ore-based metallics needs for Big River Steel in Arkansas. Pre-construction for the caster began in the first quarter of 2022, and start-up is expected in early 2023. The $60 million investment will add approximately 25 new jobs to the facility.

Stellantis N.V. and Samsung SDI will invest over $2.5 billion to establish an electric-vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing facility in Kokomo, Ind. The project will create 1,400 new jobs in Kokomo and the surrounding areas. Targeted to start up in 2025, the plant aims to have an initial annual production capacity of 23 gigawatt hours (GWh), with a goal to increase to 33 GWh in the next few years. The facility will supply battery modules for a range of vehicles produced at Stellantis’ North American assembly plants. Plant construction activities are scheduled to begin later this year with production operations planned to launch in the first quarter of 2025.

Lindberg/MPH shipped a gas-fired cyclone pit furnace to a manufacturer. The furnace has a maximum operating temperature of 1400°F (760°C) and a gross load capacity of 2,750 pounds. The medium-velocity burner and combustion train is estimated at 355,000 BTU/hour. The furnace’s load space is 25 inches in diameter and 36 inches high. The outer shell is constructed of industrial steel and has an alloy liner backed up with insulating brick and block insulation.