AMAG places an order with Hertwich to supply a single-chamber melting and casting furnace
The Austrian Company AMAG has placed an order with Hertwich Engineering to supply a melting/casting furnace with a capacity of 55,000 tonnes per year including a charging machine. The new furnace is scheduled to begin operating in the middle of 2017.
The concerning segment of the Aluminium Industry anticipates that over the coming 10 years’ worldwide consumption of rolled aluminium products will grow by 70 percent. With this dynamic growth in demand, in 2012 AMAG started an ambitious enlargement programme with an initial volume of 220 million euros. In 2016 the company is also starting a new rolling plant project (strategy project “AMAG 2020”), with which the capacity should be boosted to more than 300,000 tonnes per year by 2017. The furnace ordered is part of this enlargement programme. With the increase of rolling production, the generation of production scrap also rises, which needs to be remelted. The furnace is designed to remelt this product.
The tiltable melting and casting furnace is a joint development by AMAG and Hertwich. The first unit of this type has been commissioned at AMAG in 2013. With a holding capacity of 70 tonnes that furnace was already of impressive size. The current furnace unit now ordered, with a holding capacity of 110+ tonnes, still exceeds the size of the existing unit clearly.The single-chamber furnace used for melting can, if necessary, also take over the function of a casting furnace. For heating, two pairs of regenerative burners are installed above the melt bath level. With a specific gas consumption of at most 500 kWh/tonne the plant satisfies the strictest requirements, in terms of both economy and environmental impact. To ensure clean combustion an oxygen regulation system and separate regulating systems for natural gas and combustion air are provided. An electromagnetic pump ensures thorough metal circulation, constantly high melting performance and homogeneous temperature distribution in the furnace.The scope of supply also includes a rail-guided, pusher-type charging machine (capacity: 25 tonnes), with which the furnace can be charged efficiently in only a few charging cycles.
Hertwich Engineering, a company of the SMS group is renowned for its future-oriented, energy saving technologies and outstanding service in aluminium casthouse. The company is active worldwide with design, supply, construction and commissioning of special machinery and equipment for the Aluminium industry. Hertwich is competent for supplying complete Al-casthouse on a turnkey basis (one-stop-shopping). The product range comprises melting equipment for aluminium scrap, conti and batch homogenizing plants, sawing plants, horizontal and vertical casting machines and quality inspection stations, etc. To stay ahead Hertwich relies on its own R&D and proprietary know-how. For 50 years, the advanced technology has revolutionized the industry and the company maintains its worldwide lead.