Wisconsin Oven to ship three custom conveyor ovens to the molded-fiber industry

Wisconsin Oven, East Troy, is scheduled to ship three custom dryers to a manufacturer in the molded-fiber industry. The ovens will be used for drying thick-walled paper pulp molded fiber packaging material used in a variety of products. Molded fiber packaging is made of 100% recycled materials, making them an environmentally friendly solution for companies looking to use sustainable packaging and reduce their environmental impact.

These paper pulp drying conveyor ovens are designed with four temperature zones, and each has the sufficient capability to remove 850 pounds of water per hour from the molded pulp. The ovens feature a maximum temperature rating of 500°. The work chamber dimensions are 8’ W x 120’ L x 1’ H. A total of twelve personnel access doors with explosion relief latches are located on the sides of each unit. Each unit also has stainless steel sheet metal and structure on the wet end to reduce corrosion.

The conveyor ovens are designed with top-down and bottom-up airflow to maximize the drying rate of the paper pulp shapes. The flat wire belt continuous conveyor system uses a variable frequency drive that is adjustable from 0-3 FPM. Emergency stop buttons are located at the load and unload sections of each oven for operator safety.

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Three from Aalberts Surface Technologies included in this years 40 under 40

Aalberts Technologies, Livonia, announced today that Angella Sell, Connor Montgomery, and Chris Pietszak are members of Heat Treat Today’s 40 Under 40 Class of 2023. The Heat Treat Today 40 Under 40 award recognizes rising leaders in the heat treat community who are giving their time, talent, and education to make the industry a great place to work.

Angella Sell, Research & Development Engineer, is a proven leader, having chaired the ASM Detroit Chapter from June 2020 to June 2021. In 2022 Angella received the ASM Detroit Chapter President’s Award for her leadership role during the challenging pandemic years. Angella is the vice-chair of the AFS Cast Iron Research Committee and will assume the role of chair in May 2024. 

Connor Montgomery, Oshkosh Plant Manager, is focused on hiring and retention practices as well on effective communications. Connor is leading major efforts to improve flow, efficiency, and throughput in the Oshkosh plant. He has introduced the use of modern lean tools such as 5S, FIFO, and Supermarkets to reduce unproductive manhours. He is actively involved in the reduction of additional waste within plant processing. 

Chris Pietszak, Quality Manager, is focsed on the implementation of and support of ISO, IATF, and Nadcap as well as CQI-9 compliance. He is a trained ISO and IATF auditor and an MTI YES Program graduate. Chris played an important role implementing the quality systems during the start-up of the Fort Smith facility. 

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One Minute Mentor: Fluidized Bed

A fluid bed results when a gas is passed upward through a bed of small solid particles at a rate fast enough to lift these particles and to create turbulence. This motion of particles, which are usually made of aluminum oxide or silica oxide, is similar to that of a fluid, which can be seen schematically in the figure.

When gas is forced upward through small holes in a supporting plate, two forces meet to raise the particles: the buoyancy of the gas and the retarding force known as aerodynamic drag. Objects to be heat treated are immersed directly into the bed of particles.

For more information, click on the link below (subscription required). Then scroll to Figure 7.

R Schneider; R. Mesquita; W Schützenhöfer, Distortion in Tool Steels, ASM International, 2014, https://doi.org/10.31399/asm.hb.v04d.a0005958

Constellium’s operations in Muscle Shoals and Bowling Green certified by the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI)

Constellium, Pairs, announced that it has received the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) Performance Standard certificate for its facilities in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and Bowling Green, Kentucky. This certification, verified by an independent third-party audit, means that the plants operate according to a strict set of governance, environmental, and social standards, including greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity and labor rights.

The Constellium Muscle Shoals plant is a major aluminium cansheet supplier for the packaging market with over 450,000 metric tons of finished aluminium coils per year. The facility also produces aluminium automotive coils, which are processed at the Bowling Green plant. Muscle Shoals’ world-class recycling center is able to recycle the equivalent of 20 billion aluminium cans per year. Constellium’s Bowling Green plant produces flat rolled aluminium Auto Body Sheet products for the automotive market, with a capacity to produce 100,000 metric tons annually.

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Nitrex and Linde renew their 13-year collaboration

Nitrex, Quebec, and Linde are celebrating their 13-year collaboration, which today covers Europe and North America. Nitrex said that this partnership emphasizes both companies’ positioning in terms of technology, digital, and green footprints. 

The cooperation between Linde (previously Praxair) and UPC-Marathon, a Nitrex company, began in the USA in 2010, when Linde approached UPC-Marathon to build gas panels. Eventually, the company started sending some of its clients who needed technical support in UPC’s direction.

Nitrex supplies Linde with equipment and analyses to control gas atmospheres, thanks to its competence in heat treatment and electrical fields, technical solutions, support, and world-class gas panels.

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Solar Atmospheres of Michigan’s relocation charges forward

Solar Atmospheres, Chesterfield, MI, formerly known as Vac-Met Inc., has successfully reached its first milestone in the relocation phase. Solar invested over $5 million of new equipment installed with all new utilities. 

The new equipment includes two vacuum furnaces, an air tempering furnace, and a freezer. As a result, Solar was able to host their first AS9100D audit at the new facility in Chesterfield Michigan. This quality management system audit for aviation, space and defense organizations which incorporates ISO9001 standards passed with zero findings.After purchasing the company one year ago, the goal was to build a new facility with no impact on the existing customer base. 

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One Minute Mentor: Controlled Atmosphere Furnace Equipment

Heat treatment of tool steels usually requires high flexibility combined with small lots of parts. Seal quench furnaces, executed with a single heating chamber, meet this demand. Figure 5 shows a typical schematic of a single-chamber furnace, executed with a pre-chamber, which is used both for loading and unloading and also for oil quenching or gas cooling. Another execution is shown in Fig. 6, where the load is fed directly into the heating chamber (left side in the drawing). In this case the load is transported through the furnace and received after oil quenching on the right-hand side.

For more information, click on the link below (subscription required). Then scroll to Figure 5.

R Schneider; R. Mesquita; W Schützenhöfer, Distortion in Tool Steels, ASM International, 2014, https://doi.org/10.31399/asm.hb.v04d.a0005958

Processing of nano-reinforced aluminum hybrid metal matrix composites and the effect of post-heat treatment: a review

A review from the School of Engineering and Technology, India, describes the increasing demand for cutting-edge materials with a high strength-to-weight ratio and economic considerations. Lightweight materials such as aluminum (Al) and its alloys are attractive, but some properties such as low thermal stability and high wear rate limit the application of aluminum alloys (AA) to some extent. Many researchers have developed various composites to get around these restrictions and increase the performance of aluminum and its alloy. Metal matrix composites (MMCs) with nanoparticles have revealed greater mechanical and tribological properties compared with micron-sized reinforcements. This review summarizes the latest developments in this field.

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Seco/Warwick furnace to process Jet Engine components

Seco/Warwick, Meadville, PA, has developed a system to perform clean brazing processes in high vacuum as efficiently as possible, ensuring the highest protection of the treated part surfaces. The solution will be used to process jet engine components.

The German Partner carries out comprehensive repairs of technologically advanced jet engines. The company also has a research center which develops innovative repair techniques for various types of components and entire engines. The group employs several thousand qualified employees in various locations around the world and is a leader among companies repairing and providing full service MRO for jet engines. The purchase of a vertical vacuum furnace will improve production processes and significantly increase the commercial heat treater’s efficiency.

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Wisconsin oven completes spray quench aluminum solution furnace for the defense industry

Wisconsin Oven, East Troy, Wis. announced the completion of a Horizontal Spray Quench Furnace for C/A Design located in Dover, NH. This furnace will be used for the solution treatment of aluminum. The system is designed to soak the product load at temperature in the furnace and then a pusher mechanism rapidly moves the load into the spray quench. The spray quench offers reduced distortion in comparison to submersion quenching.

The maximum temperature for this system is 1,150°F and it has sufficient capacity to heat a 200 pound aluminum load plus the work grid and product fixture. A temperature uniformity survey was documented for +/-10°F at 985°F to verify the furnace has the capability to meet AMS 2750G, Class 2 furnace and Instrumentation Type D requirements.

The spray quench is located in front of the oven and has vertical-lift, pneumatically operated doors on each end. The spray quench system utilizes fifty (50) fine mist nozzles located above, below, and on each side of the quench chamber to rapidly cool the product from all sides. Each nozzle is independently selectable from the touchscreen HMI and a variable frequency drive allows the pump speed to be adjusted to maintain a constant pressure to each spray nozzle. 

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