SECO/WARWICK delivered a roller-hearth furnace to global bearing manufacturer NSK. The furnace, which will spheroidize anneal rings for the bearing industry, will be installed at the company’s plant in Kielce, Poland. The entire automated process line consists of a loading table with a drive, loading elevators with side handling, heating chambers, controlled cooling chambers, cooling tunnels, unloading elevators and tables. It also includes a control cabinet with a complete automated visualization system that provides comprehensive control over the production process. The process line, which is built around the roller-hearth furnace, is intended to be used for the heat treatment of workpieces following downstream processes that are then assembled into bearings used in the automotive sector. 

Tenova has been contracted through its subsidiary Tenova Inc. for the turnkey supply of a roller-hearth STC (short time cycle) furnace. The 26-metric-ton batch furnace will be shipped to Grand Blanc Processing’s wire processing facility in Holly, Mich., where it will be used to spheroidize anneal and stress relieve the company’s wire products. It will include Daido Steel’s advanced nitrogen control technology, which will reduce nitrogen consumption by up to 30% per cycle and reduce fuel consumption by 2% per cycle. Tenova will also design and supply three product-cooling tables and the complete control and automation package. Furnace start-up is expected to take place by the end of 2022.