Kolene Corp., a Detroit-based provider of molten salt-bath equipment and specialty chemical formulations, acquired Upton Industries of Roseville, Mich. Upton Industries designs and manufactures thermal-processing systems for the heat-treating industry, including box-type, car-bottom and specialty furnaces utilizing electric or gas heating. Kolene will maintain both the Detroit headquarters location and the Roseville location, which will be home to all Kolene’s manufacturing and fabrication. By bringing the two companies together, the new Kolene will house nearly 50,000 square feet of manufacturing, fabrication and commercial processing capabilities.

Industrial furnaces are widely used to melt metals for casting or heat materials for change of shape (forging) or change of properties (heat treatment).

Selecting a burner that meets emissions targets is imperative and requires a thorough understanding of the solutions available today.

SECO/WARWICK will supply an electric mesh-belt furnace to bolt manufacturer Solvera Gawel Technology S.A. The line is designed mainly for carbonitriding and hardening processes and for washing and tempering of high-quality screws and other hardware manufactured near Rzeszów, Poland. The process line, which will be delivered in 2022, will be adapted for operating with endothermic atmosphere supplied from an external endothermic generator. It will consist of a loading module equipped with a weighing system, a main furnace, oil bath (for hardening the workpieces), and vibration and reloading tables. After the hardening process, the workpieces are transferred to a drum washer where they are washed, rinsed and dried.

Andritz received an order from Valin ArcelorMittal Automotive Steel Co. Ltd. of China to supply a galvanizing furnace for a new coating line that will produce third-generation advanced high-strength steel. The line will produce hot-dip galvanized or zinc-aluminum-magnesium-coated flat steel for the automotive industry. Start-up is scheduled for the end of 2022. Andritz’s scope of supply includes a direct-fired furnace (DFF) with pre-oxidation functions, high-temperature radiant tube (RT) annealing and soaking sections, advanced ultra-rapid cooling and partitioning sections, and after-pot cooling (APC) and post-treatment sections.

The Doncasters Group ordered a 300-pound vacuum precision investment casting (VPIC) furnace from Consarc. The 300-pound-capacity furnace will be installed at Doncasters’ Southern Tool facility in Oxford, Ala. The order includes start-up and installation, with delivery scheduled before the end of 2021. The VPIC furnace is equipped with high-vacuum capabilities, state-of-the-art controls and increased automation with Teach Pour.  U.K.-based Doncasters Group manufactures high-precision engineering components designed to operate in demanding conditions.

Given the thousands of boilers, furnaces and ovens currently in use worldwide, the potential of a combustion system malfunctioning is ever-present, especially as these systems grow in scale and complexity. Add to this a single-point failure, and an unqualified operator could inadvertently render a critical fuel system inoperable.

Across nearly every industry and region of the world, OEMs and end users are looking for ways to improve their heat-treat equipment and processes. They are facing increasingly stringent NOx emissions regulations while also being challenged to be more eco-friendly by reducing fuel usage and lowering their carbon footprint.

Using “thru-process” temperature monitoring allows you to gain a better understanding of your gas carburizing process from beginning to end.