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.

Gerdau will invest approximately $180 million in the modernization and expansion of its special steel operations in Brazil. The investment will focus on steel production units located in Pindamonhangaba and Mogi das Cruzes in São Paulo and in Charqueadas in Rio Grande do Sul. A new annealing and spheroidization furnace for steel bars will be installed at the Charqueadas plant. The equipment will bring greater capacity and productivity to the facility’s heat-treatment process. It will also allow Gerdau to meet growing demand for materials with more demanding specifications in relation to properties such as hardness and low levels of decarburization. The equipment, which has an annual capacity of 48,000 tons, will start up in August 2022.

Whether captive or commercial, the heat-treat operation faces a tougher challenge for productivity/profitability than other departments of manufacturing.

Victor Oreskovich, owner of JTL Integrated Machine Ltd. (JTL) and Trenergy Inc., announced the acquisition of Can-Eng Furnaces International Ltd. Niagara Falls, Ontario-based Can-Eng has been designing and manufacturing thermal-processing equipment for ferrous and nonferrous metals since 1964. The acquisition expands Oreskovich’s family of companies to further enhance and leverage each group’s ability to include customized engineered solutions. With the addition of Can-Eng, the combined resources will increase to over 250 associates, operating at four separate locations, consisting of more than 300,000 square feet of available floor space with modern manufacturing capabilities. The acquisition will position Can-Eng for strategic growth and development activity in thermal-processing and heat-treatment markets previously not explored.