HAI expands homogenization in Romania
06.10.2017, 18:38
Hammerer Aluminium Industries Santana S. R. L., based in Santana, Romania has ordered a second homogenizing plant consisting of two batch furnaces, a cooling station and handling equipment from Hertwich Engineering, a subsidiary of SMS group. Commissioning is scheduled for February 2018.
In 2009, the Austrian company Hammerer Aluminium Industries (HAI) built a casthouse for aluminium extrusion billets in Santana, Romania. A modern Hertwich continuous homogenizing furnace with ultrasonic testing, saw and packing unit was put into operation for the homogenization of the extruded aluminium billets. At that time, the plant's annual production was 80,000 tons.
The batch homogenizing furnaces currently on order complement the existing continuous homogenizing furnace in several respects. Initially the new plant will increase the capacity by around 50 percent. In addition, production becomes more flexible because continuous homogenizing is less suitable for more frequent changes of homogenizing parameters or for alloys with very long holding times. In such cases, the batch homogenizing furnace brings to bear its advantages. In the case of Hammerer Aluminium in Santana, there is also the option of using batch homogenizing furnaces for the heat treatment of the rolling slabs newly added to the production program.
For this reason more and more foundries have recently started to combine continuous and batch homogenizing furnaces. Meanwhile the combination of continuous and batch homogenizing furnaces may even be considered as state of the art in modern casthouses. As described above, this combination offers full automation, so that the ancillary equipment for sawing, ultrasonic testing, stacking, strapping, etc. can be used by both plants. In the case of Hammerer Aluminium in Romania, additional handling equipment will be installed alongside the extension of the existing ultrasonic facilities.
The trend towards the combined operation of continuous and batch homogenizing furnaces was initiated when Hertwich took a critical look at the conventional batch furnace design a few years ago and came up with some technical innovations. The newly developed batch furnaces are not only similar to the continuous furnaces in terms of temperature distribution, but their operation is also highly automated with the help of suitable equipment. The market's attitude to the new generation of batch furnaces was quite critical for some time, but now the industry is fully convinced of its benefits.
Existing continuous homogenizing plant at Hammerer Aluminium in Romania
Based on SMS group information
Other company news
- 19.07.2018 For its tandem cold mill, PAO Severstal again relies on the modernization expertise of SMS group
- 10.07.2018 Vizag Steel Plant successfully commissions new bloom & round combi-caster from SMS Concast
- 05.07.2018 exlabesa group commissions SMS group to supply two light-metal extrusion presses
- 14.06.2018 350,000 tons per year of galvanized steel strip for the Chinese construction and home appliances industries
- 14.06.2018 Yongfeng Group Ltd. invests in casting technology for the production of demanding SBQ steel grades
- 26.04.2018 Celsa Barcelona chooses direct oscillation drive from SMS Concast for the upgrade of their beam blank caster with a new strand
- 12.04.2018 TMK-ARTROM starts production on new heat treatment line for pipes supplied by SMS group
- 12.04.2018 Constellium expands aluminum casthouse capacity in Dĕčín, Czech Republic, with Hertwich Engineering homogenizing furnace
- 29.03.2018 Maanshan Iron and Steel orders heavy section mill from SMS group
- 26.03.2018 MMK to implement comprehensive revamp of hot strip mill 2500 with SMS group