MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT

EJ Americas Begins Construction on New Iron Foundry

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EJ Americas, a global organization producing and distributing iron castings for municipal and infrastructure programs, broke ground in July for a greenfield foundry being built in Elmira, Michigan, 20 miles east of its current and original location in Warner Township. The new foundry is expected to be in operation by Fall 2018.

Founded in 1883 and previously known as East Jordan Iron Works and rebranded as EJ in 2011, the foundry has an operation that includes a cupola melting shop for ductile iron, three molding lines — automated green-sand molding, no-bake molding, and HWS molding for parts up to 76×60 in. EJ provides castings to the agricultural, forestry, marine and railroad industries, with a niche as a supplier of castings for water, sewer, and drainage systems and telecom and utility networks, and is best known for its production of manhole and utility covers, drainage grates, warning plates, tree grates, fire hydrants, grate valves and other specialized castings.

At the current location, the foundry has automated finish machining, coating, and assembly and testing for fire hydrants and valves. The new foundry in Michigan will expand casting capabilities, although specific details about the melting and casting operation have not been released. The company has a second U.S. plant in Ardmore, Oklahoma, and a network of foundries in Australia, Canada, France, and Ireland.  The corporate headquarters, pattern shop, product development group, water products, and regional sales office will remain in East Jordan.

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Tracked Vehicle Rollers Get Controlled Heat Treatment Using Movicon SCADA

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Source: Process and Control Today

 

The accuracy and energy efficiency of the heat treatment for rollers used in heavy duty tracked vehicles such as earth moving equipment, construction, and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, and industrial gas turbines have been improved by the use of a control system based on Movicon SCADA.

The automated production line is part of a large factory in Bologna, Italy, and comes complete with a tempering process involving various heat treatment furnaces, one for annealing,  one for austenitizing, one for the tempering process used for the final heat treatment and three baths for the in‐between quenching process of the austenitized pieces. This is followed by the final stage where a programmed controlled robot is used for the palletization stage to unload, and store finished pieces transported through on the conveyor. The first step is the austenitizing process involving an annealing furnace which heats the metal to obtain a uniform solid structure with complete solubilization of the Cementite (iron carbide) to improve and reinforce both steel roller resistance and endurance. This is followed by the quenching process where three banks have been provided to shunt through more pieces quicker into the first available bath to increase the plant’s productive capacity and protect their quality which may diminish if exposed too long in open air. The baths carry out a repeated process of cooling and tempering by reheating the pieces at specific temperature ranges until the metal reaches the perfect hardness suited for the rollers’ purpose. Once this process is completed, the pieces continue on to the tempering furnace for the final process where they are reheated to a temperature lower than the one used in the quenching stage. Once this temperature has been reached the pieces are then slowly cooled down with temperatures gradually lowered until completely cooled to ensure that tension is reduced within the metal without altering its hardness. When finished the pieces are then ready for palletization by being stacked onto pallets and stored appropriately and ready for the next procedures.

Read more: “Tracked Vehicle Rollers Get Controlled Heat Treatment Using Movicon SCADA”

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TMK IPSCO restarts operations at Tulsa Port of Catoosa

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Source:  Tulsa World

Keith Marquart leads a tour of the control room of the TMK IPSCO facility at the Tulsa Port of Catoosa. Photo Credit: Cory Young/Tulsa World

When the price of oil nosedived, one of this area’s casualties was TMK IPSCO, which idled its plant in September 2015.

“There was really no business for us,” said Joel Mastervich, vice president and chief operating officer of the company, which does welding, heat-treating, and threading on pipes used in drilling operations. “We had to make tough decisions back then. So we did.”

TMK IPSCO celebrated the restart of operations—and the creation of 168 jobs by year’s end—at a news conference August 8, 2017, at the Tulsa Port of Catoosa.

Read more: “Manufacturer restarts operations at Tulsa Port of Catoosa”

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Nucor Steel Gallatin Orders Hot Strip Galvanizing Line with “Heat-to-Coat” Technology

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Nucor Steel Gallatin, based in Ghent, Kentucky, recently ordered a “heat-to-coat” pickling and galvanizing line with an annual capacity of 500,000 tons of galvanized hot strip. The “heat-to-coat” technology is characterized by the compact and operator-friendly U-shape design, the turbulence pickling system, the high-power inductive heating system, the FOEN galvanizing equipment and the Drever after pot cooling system. The system will be delivered from a single source, SMS Group; startup is anticipated for 2019.

The “heat-to-coat” process permits the production of galvanized steel strip with durable corrosion protection, as well as an increased mechanical load-capacity while still maintaining low production and investment costs. Due to the integrated inductive galvannealing furnace the line is also able to produce galvannealed strips. There is a broad area of applications for galvanized hot strip, especially in construction, transportation and automotive industry. Furthermore, it is possible to substitute galvanized cold strip with hot strip. The ‘U-shape’ design allows a quick and easy bypass of the coating section in order to use the line as a continuous pickling line and produce just pickled and oiled material. The emission-free, inductive furnace operates with electrical energy, and a special fume exhaust system will be integrated which ensures low emission rates for the whole process.

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NLMK Lipetsk Upgrades Hot-Rolling Operations

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NLMK Group, an international steelmaking company with operations in Russia, the US, and the European Union, is upgrading hot-rolled steel production at the Lipetsk site in western Russia. The plan is to install a new walking-beam reheating furnace to streamline the slab heating process. The new furnace will replace the outdated pusher-type furnaces currently operational at the facility.

The new furnace (No.2) with a capacity of 320 tonnes/hour (about 2.25 million tonnes per year) will boost the productivity of Mill 2000, increase the quality of steel products due to using a more advanced technology for feeding slabs to the mill, enable a significant reduction in energy consumption and minimize environmental impact.

The Hot Rolling Shop currently operates 5 reheating furnaces in turn with a total maximum capacity of 1,500 tonnes of slabs per hour (in 2016, 6.24 million tonnes of hot-rolled steel was produced). Three of them are already equipped with walking beams; the two remaining pusher-type furnaces will be replaced by the new furnace.

“The new furnace will enable a 110 ktpa increase in hot-strip mill productivity, and an improvement in the quality of HRC by eliminating surface defects in the process of preheating slabs that can occur in pusher-type furnaces. Specific natural gas consumption will decrease by 49%. Consumption of energy required for subsequent rolling will reduce by 20%, and air emissions will be almost halved,” said Konstantin Lagutin, NLMK Group Vice President for Investment Projects.

Construction and assembly activities are scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2017 with an estimated launch date late in 2019. During maintenance, slabs for the hot-strip mill will be preheated by four of the five existing reheating furnaces. The upgrade of furnace No. 2 will have no impact on the production program. Main process equipment will be supplied by Tenova (Italy), with NLMK Engineering acting as the chief designer.

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BAE Systems Begins Production on First Royal Navy Type 26 Global Combat Ship

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Production on the first of the new Type 26 Global Combat Ships for the UK Royal Navy began with the push of a button last month at the BAE Systems shipyard in Glasgow, Scotland.

BAE Systems welcomed Sir Michael Fallon MP, Secretary of State for Defense, to its Glasgow facility to signal the start of production following the UK Government’s recent award of a contract for the first three ships to be built in this series. This advances the work already underway to construct five River Class Offshore Patrol Vessels and provides a strong foundation for the next two decades of shipbuilding in Scotland. During his speech, the Defense Secretary unveiled the name of the first ship as Glasgow.

The Type 26 Global Combat Ship will be a world-class anti-submarine warfare vessel, replacing the Type 23 anti-submarine variant frigates, with the premier ship due to be delivered to the Royal Navy in the mid-2020s. Globally deployable, the flexible mission bay, aviation facilities, and combat systems ensure it will be capable of undertaking a wide range of roles from high-intensity warfare to humanitarian assistance, either operating independently or as part of a task group.

The ship benefits from the latest advances in digital technologies, including 3D and virtual reality, to ensure that the ship’s design is refined earlier in the process.  This has enabled BAE Systems to work in collaboration with the Ministry of Defense and the Royal Navy to ensure every zone of the ship has the requirements of its crew at the heart of the design.

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Dana to Supply Driveshaft Assemblies, Motion Systems for New York Wheel

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Dana Incorporated, based in Maumee, Ohio, recently announced that it is providing driveshaft assemblies and gearboxes for the New York Wheel–which will be the world’s tallest observation wheel.  This attraction is currently under construction on the north shore of Staten Island in New York City and will stand 630 feet (192 meters) high when completed in early 2018.

The New York Wheel features 36 pods that will each hold 40 people, taking visitors on a leisurely ride with a view of the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan skyline.  Production automation company VDL Steelweld is manufacturing these capsules, and Dana is supplying driveshafts to support a leveling system that allows each pod to stay balanced as the wheel rotates.  Dana is also supplying custom-made adapters to convert the end of the shaft to fit the drive.

In addition, Dana is supplying its motion system products to engineering company Starneth for the New York Wheel project.  Thirty-two planetary gearboxes will be used to rotate the wheel.  These gearboxes are typically designed to move continuous chain-tread vehicles or other heavy machinery and feature a custom cylindrical input shaft to fit the needs of this specific application.

Dana gearboxes were also supplied for the 550-foot tall High Roller observation wheel in Las Vegas, which opened in 2014.

“When Dana was approached about the New York Wheel, we knew there would be very specific requirements for this distinctive project,” said Aziz Aghili, president of Dana Off-Highway Drive and Motion Technologies.  “Dana offers a competitive advantage with a truly global footprint that supplies specialized driveshaft solutions, power-transmission products, and support all over the world.”

The New York Wheel is expected to draw more than 3.5 million visitors annually and will be visible from the New York Harbor.

 

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Austal Delivers Aluminum EPF Catamaran to U.S. Navy

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  Source: Light Metal Age

Austal USA recently delivered the USNS Yuma, the eighth Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) vessel, an aluminum catamaran, to the U.S. Navy. The 338-foot long Yuma is capable of transporting 600 tons 1,200 nautical miles at an average speed of 35 knots and is designed to operate in austere ports and waterways, providing added flexibility to U.S. warfighters worldwide.

Around 700 tonnes of aluminum in the form of plate, extrusions, and forgings is used in the construction of the Yuma. Custom panels created by friction stir welding are joined with custom extrusions using a combination of TIG and gas metal arc welding. Although no surface treatment is used above the waterline, the hull is painted below the waterline. Aluminum provides a strong weight ratio and enables Austal to produce a ship that can efficiently achieve high speeds with a shallow draft. The structure weight of an aluminum ship is approximately half that of a steel ship and is comparable to fiberglass. Other benefits of using aluminum in marine applications are that it is also easy to form, resistant to corrosion, doesn’t require paint to protect the surface, can be welded with well-established commercial processes, and is easy to repair.

Read more: Austal Delivers Aluminum EPF Catamaran to U.S. Navy

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Atmosphere Box Furnace Shipped to the Steel and Mining Industry

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Lindberg/MPH announced the shipment of an electrically heated, rod over-bend atmosphere box furnace to the steel and mining industry. This is the second heat treating furnace of this kind that the customer has ordered from Lindberg/MPH. It is designed to meet the customer’s specific process based on the previous existing model they had ordered.

The atmosphere box furnace has work chamber dimensions of 15”W x 30”D x 12” H and a maximum temperature rating of 2000°F. Constructed with a gas tight steel shell made from continuous welded steel plate reinforced with structural steel members, the furnace door lifts up to provide access to the work chamber and is sealed by metal to metal contact to eliminate gasket wear and maintenance. A natural gas flame curtain is provided for the door area and is activated when the front door is opened to ignite exiting combustible atmosphere and minimize air infiltration back into the purge chamber.

“At Lindberg/MPH we pride ourselves on having the experience to design our equipment to meet the most stringent requirements. This customer’s process required the furnace to provide six different gas atmospheres. This is the second system we have shipped to them with this advanced atmosphere system.”– Kelley Shreve, Sales Representative

Lindberg/MPH atmosphere box furnaces feature:

  • Maximum gross load capacity is 465 lbs. at 2000°F
  • Six (6) different gas atmospheres including: nitrogen, hydrogen, endothermic, argon, CO and CO2
  • 460 volts, 3 phase, 3-wire, 60 Hertz
  • Door limit switch
  • HC900 Advanced Furnace Control System
  • Honeywell UDC 2500 Series Excess Temperature Controller
  • Electrical solenoid valves
  • Electronic flow control valves and moisture transducer
  • Immersion water heater

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Novelis, Kobe Steel Join Forces with South Korea Heat-Treat Facility

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Novelis Inc. announced in May that it has entered into a joint venture agreement with Kobe Steel, Ltd., a producer of aluminum rolled products in Japan. The joint venture, to be named Ulsan Aluminum, Ltd., will be formed by Novelis selling Kobe Steel 50 percent of its ownership interest in its Ulsan, South Korea facility for US $315 million. Through the venture, Novelis and Kobe Steel will jointly own and operate the Ulsan facility, with each company remaining responsible for its metal supply and commercial relationships.

Located in the industrial hub of Korea, Novelis’ Ulsan facility currently focuses on the production of rolled aluminum sheet for a variety of markets in Asia. The plant recently completed a major expansion, adding a new three-stand hot finishing mill as well as a pusher furnace and annealing furnaces.

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