Today’s News from Abroad installment examines strategies global manufacturers are investigating and enacting to move the industry toward the next generation of production efficiency and sustainability through decisive equipment investments, cooperative research efforts, and innovative processing breakthroughs.
Heat Treat Today partners with two international publications to deliver the latest news, tech tips, and cutting-edge articles that will serve our audience — manufacturers with in-house heat treat. heat processing, a Vulkan-Verlag GmbH publication, serves mostly the European and Asian heat treat markets, and Furnaces International, a Quartz Business Media publication, primarily serves the English-speaking globe.
Extruder Expands Production With Additional Homogenization Line
Source: SMS Group
“The recently commissioned state-of-the-art melting furnace is specifically designed to produce recycled billets from post-consumer aluminum scrap that has reached the end of its life cycle. The subsequent expansion of the foundry, which focuses on Hertwich’s new continuous homogenization plant, will once again significantly increase the capacity for processing new scrap. This makes Exlabesa less dependent on the procurement of primary aluminium and at the same time conserves resources. These investments underline Exlabesa’s commitment to greater sustainability and the reduction of CO2 emissions by promoting a cleaner and more efficient industry based on the principles of the circular economy.”
READ MORE: “Exlabesa expands aluminium recycling capacities with additional continuous homogenisation plant from Hertwich Engineering” – at heat-processing.com
Breakthrough: World’s first successful industrial-scale hydrogen Casting
Source: Unsplash
“Constellium announced the successful completion of its first industrial-scale hydrogen casting at C-TEC, Constellium’s primary R&D center. This casting was performed in a 12-ton furnace following strict internal procedures. . . . ‘The 12-ton aluminium slab produced using hydrogen will be further processed at our Neuf-Brisach site in France for use in electric vehicles. This milestone is significant in our roadmap towards decarbonising our industrial activities, as we have begun exploring the performance of hydrogen as a substitute for natural gas at an industrial scale, provided that hydrogen is green, more accessible, and cost-effective for industrial applications.’”
READ MORE: “World’s First Successful Industrial-Scale Production of Aluminium Slab Using Hydrogen Combustion” at furnaces-international.com
New Production Line Moves Steelmaker Closer to Next Generation
Source: Primetals
“A further benefit for Yantai Walsin was the fact that the bar-in-coil outlet realizes in-line quenching for austenitic and ferritic stainless products, leading to a reduction of subsequent post-processing annealing. Moreover, Primetals Technologies has designed the equipment to accommodate a future addition of an in-line solution for the direct treatment of wire rod products, which also reduces subsequent post-processing annealing. For bar products, the producer now uses a rapid transfer system to slow cooling bins for martensitic grades.”
READ MORE: “Primetals Technologies Awarded FAC for Yantai Walsin’s Stainless Steel Combination Mill” at heat-processing.com.
Toward Climate-Neutral Steel Production: Replacing Blast Furnace With Direct Reduction Plant
Source: thyssenkrupp
“thyssenkrupp expands its research activities in the field of CO2 low-carbon steel production in cooperation with BlueScope Steel. At the heart of this collaboration are the smelting units, which are a central component of the first transformation step towards climate-neutral steel production: the replacement of the first blast furnace with a direct reduction plant (DR plant) with downstream smelters. . . . As part of the research cooperation with BlueScope Steel, which is scheduled to run for four years, the process understanding and plant management are to be optimized in the run-up to the commissioning of the smelter. These include electrode management, furnace operation, process parameters, refractory material and maintenance.”
READ MORE: “Cooperation on low-CO2 steel production” at heat-processing.com.
