For thermal-processing industries that need to maximize their productivity in a sustainable way, it’s important to think ahead before investing in new process-automation systems.

United Process Controls Inc. (UPC) plans to relocate its U.S. headquarters from West Chester, Ohio, to Oak Creek, Wis., in December. The relocation is the second phase of the company’s initiative to unify its U.S. operations to one centralized location. UPC completed the first phase earlier this year, which saw its two Wisconsin facilities come together under a larger facility in Oak Creek. The 30,000-square-foot plant accommodates the flow controls business and will provide additional manufacturing space for the company’s product lines. It will also house an expanded laboratory as well as engineering, manufacturing, sales and service personnel.

My colleagues and I have been in the combustion business for many years and have a wide range of experience with single-burner and multi-burner applications. What follows is some basic information concerning the maintenance and adjustment of combustion systems.

In multiple-burner installations on industrial ovens and furnaces, pulse-firing techniques can improve temperature uniformity, reduce emissions and cut overall fuel costs. Is it right for your process?

In many locations throughout North America, nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions of gas-heated furnaces are limited by law or code. This is typically the case in urban areas or in places where special topographical characteristics intensify the negative local and regional effects of NOx emissions.

Bloom Engineering Co. of Pittsburgh, Pa., rebuilt, upgraded and commissioned a laboratory furnace to refine its latest generation of ultra-low-NOx regenerative burners.