To give you some background to this story we can say that family owned Heat Treatment Australia is the largest commercial heat treater in Australia. Over the years the firm has grown tremendously by investing in the accredidations, approvals and equipment necessary to supply the aerospace and defense industries-obviously this stratedgly was a good one. A few years back we had the opportunity to visit the HTA facilities in Australia and consequently we have these photos. The one shows Norm Tucker, Director of the company standing in front of a brand new SECO vacuum furnace-this might have been the first SECO furnace the company purchased.
“SECO WARWICK will deliver the 7th furnace system to the HTA Group. The leading Commercial Heat Treater from Australia ordered a vacuum aluminum brazing furnace that will operate with a tight temperature tolerance of +/- 3 degrees C to meet the precision quality requirements of the aerospace industry. The HTA Group serves an elite portfolio of tier 1 aerospace clients including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman Corporation, Goodrich Actuation Systems (UK), Collins Aerospace Landing Systems, BAE Systems and Space X . For over 15 years, the HTA Group has provided accredited heat treatment processing services to the global aerospace industry. Prime contractors, OEM’s and supply chain businesses look to HTA on a regular basis to process a huge variety of airplane and aerospace components, both commercial and military. HTA is NADCAP and AS9100 certified for multiple processes, meaning that these customers are assured of consistent quality outcomes. The HTA Group has 3 locations in Australia, and 1 on the West Coast of the United States.
“Our team of experienced heat treatment professionals appreciate working with SECO/WARWICK experts and technologies. We demand high quality, precision solutions due to the stringent requirements of the aerospace applications that we work with. SECO/WARWICK meets and exceeds these demands, hence we placed our 7th order for their technology because of their experience with these clients. This expertise helps us to meet our promises. That’s a real partnership,” says Norm Tucker, Director, HTA Group. The HTA Group bought the first SECO/WARWICK furnace in 2007. Since then, there have been 4 furnaces in the Brisbane location, and 2 in the USA. plant. This order is the 3rd vacuum furnace to be used for vacuum brazing aluminum parts.
The system has been designed with 6 temperature control zones in order to meet the tight temperature requirements of +/-3 degrees C as specified by the AMS2750F pyrometry specification. The powerful high vacuum system will be equipped with a large diffusion pump. The furnace can accommodate loads up to 800x800x1600mm (WxHxD). The furnace will be equipped with an external gas cooling system which will accelerate the process and improve the part quality after brazing.
The VAB furnace allows the brazing of aluminum parts for applications where the use of brazing flux is not permitted due to corrosion. This process is typically used for the most critical applications. “SECO/WARWICK has for years been providing high-end solutions on the most demanding applications for the aerospace industry all over the world. We are experienced at meeting all the specifications and continuously exceed them to secure our clients with the best heat treatment solution available today and in the years to come,” says Maciej Korecki, VP, Vacuum Business Segment, SECO/WARWICK Group.
“Our core values of safety and stability are crucial especially in providing precision technologies for the aerospace industry. We keep human and machine error to a minimum, installing safety buffers and using mobile parameter monitoring, warning systems and a full range of advanced maintenance and diagnostics to keep systems in check. Our employment policies ensure work stability and encourages continuous improvement for employees as well as retaining corporate knowledge and experience gathered carefully for decades,” added Slawomir Woźniak, CEO SECO/WARWICK Group.
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We see that Carsten Stoelting who for 7 years was head of AICHELIN Service GmbH made a career change just a few weeks ago as you can see in this press release;
“On 1 November 2020 Carsten Stoelting has taken over the role as Managing Director of Hitachi Zosen Inova Deutschland (HZID). Furthermore, he will lead Hitachi Zosen Inovas operations for its Systems & Service Business in Central Europe countries (including Germany) and Nordics. He succeeds Berthold Büttenbender, who led the company for six years. Berthold Büttenbender will leave the company by the end of 2020 and will continue to work for us as an adviser.”
Exactly one year ago we spent some time with Carsten and his team at the Aichelin Service facility in Ludwigsburg, Germany at which time we published this story about the Service Division of furnace builder Aichelin, the largest heat treat furnace supplier in the world;
“NOVEMBER 5/2019. Aichelin Service Group, Ludwigsburg, Germany; Based in Austria the Aichelin Furnace Group is amongst the largest furnace builders in the world so it is rather odd to see that the spare parts/service department for the company is located in another country-Germany to be exact. Since 2004 the Aichelin Service Group has been based in Ludwigsburg, Germany which is near the major city of Stuttgart-at this point some background is in order.
When the service group was formed the logic was that the service and spare parts department of any company can become secondary to that of building new equipment, hence the decision was made to set up a completely separate company, “Aichelin Service Group” near the city of Stuttgart which was where
Aichelin originally started and where many of the company’s installations are located. Since that time the service group has grown and prospered, so much so that it now had annual sales of 45 million euros and employs 140 people around the world with 80 people in this location alone. At some point in the past the decision was made to provide spare parts and service for any brand of furnace which means today the group spends 20-25% of their time on competitors equipment.
It’s an interesting concept and one which we have run across a couple of times recently although this sounds like the first example since it dates back 15 years now. In this photo you can see a couple of the people responsible for this success; Mr. Stephan Mueller, Head of Product Development, Carsten Stoelting, CEO of Aichelin Service Group along with Gord Montgomery.”
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“McKechnie Aluminum Solutions, a pioneer aluminum extrusion company based in New Zealand, upgraded their manufacturing operations with the addition of a Nitrex NXK-812 compact nitrocarburizing system that boasts a 1000 kg / 2200 lb. load capacity and a working space of 800 mm diameter x 1200 mm high (31 ½” x 47¼”).
The addition of the new Nitrex nitriding system is a continuation of McKechnie’s efforts to gain headway into the future of aluminum manufacturing that was first set into motion with a new 35 MN extrusion press commissioned in 2019. This capital investment saw the company’s production capacity nearly double and the recent implementation of downstream equipment like the Nitrex system will support this increased capacity. The nitrocarburizing system will treat H13 extrusion dies.
The NXK system is equipped with the Nitreg®-C nitrocarburizing technology that holds the merit of being environmentally friendly and is proven to achieve higher fatigue strength of dies, which dramatically reduces the incidence of flaking and other defects during the extrusion process. This benefit improves the performance of the extrusion die and similarly extends its service life. The Nitrex system also advances McKechnie’s goal of sustainability by enabling more efficient use of process gases and energy. Presently, the company is the only aluminum extruder in Australasia with a re-melt facility, and as a result of this, a high proportion of the company’s extruded products are made from recycled aluminum.
“The investments in a new extrusion line and Nitrex nitrocarburizing technology will make it possible for McKechnie to continue to enter new markets by developing product offerings that appeal to the Australasian market. With the current pandemic situation and travel restrictions, the Nitrex system will be installed and commissioned by our virtual on-site technical services team, who will realize this project to the same exacting quality and productivity standards as our live in-person crew. Additionally, the system will also meet all the necessary safety and environmental standards in New Zealand,” said Nikola Dzepina, International Account Executive at Nitrex.
The installation and start-up are set to be completed by the end of November. All components of the turnkey NXK system will be fixed on a structural platform that will allow for a substantially shorter commissioning time and quick production startup at McKechnie”
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To go with this interesting news item we have two photos. The first shows the first HIP unit installed by Accurate when installation had just been completed. The second shows one of the individuals tasked with finding work for this second unit, Ms. Jennifer McPeek who in July of this year was appointed Southeast Regional Sales Manager for the company.
“GREENVILLE, SC, November 23, 2020 Accurate Brazing, a full-service provider of specialized heat-treating solutions, plans to add a second Hot Isostatic Press unit in 2021 to its state-of the-art Greenville, SC facility. “Based on overwhelming feedback from the marketplace, we are pleased to be moving forward with our second Hot Isostatic Press from Quintus Technologies,” says Steven Francis, President of Accurate Brazing. The investment in the second HIP unit shows Accurate Brazing’s commitment to stay at the forefront to meet the needs of aerospace manufacturers and other industries that demand high quality and quick turns with unrivaled accuracy.
Both presses are model QIH 122 M URC and are equipped with the Quintus proprietary uniform rapid cooling (URC) feature, which combines HIP and heat treatment in a single process. This process, called High Pressure Heat Treatment (HPHT), streamlines the steps involved in material densification and heat treatment. This innovative approach also enables all processed components to cool uniformly, resulting in minimal thermal distortion and nonuniform grain growth. “The Quintus technology allows us to shorten lead times, improve product metallurgy, and eliminate some additional outside operations, which is very attractive to our customers,” says Mr. Francis. Accurate Brazing’s customers will benefit from increased capacity and reduced delivery times with the addition of the second HIP unit.
Both presses offer a work zone of 26.0 inches (660 mm) in diameter and 68.9 inches (1,750mm) in height. They operate at a maximum temperature of 2,552ºF (1,400ºC) and a maximum pressure of 30,000 psi (2,070 bar). Accurate Brazing anticipates the new unit will arrive in February 2021 and be operational in 2Q 2021.
Accurate Brazing, a subsidiary of Aalberts N.V., is a full-service, one-stop shop for Vacuum Brazing, Heat-treating, and HIP’ing with over thirty years in the business and is tailored to support the Aerospace, Additive, and Power Generation markets. Accurate Brazing has facilities located in South Carolina, Connecticut, and New Hampshire.”
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Hubbard Hall, the oldest independent chemical distributor in the United States we have news about two promotions;
“Hubbard-Hall Inc. announces the promotion of Larry Ensley to Director of Technical Applications. This promotion recognizes the contributions Ensley made during his 26-year tenure at Hubbard-Hall. He guided the Technical team successfully to create and deliver products to the marketplace. Under his direction, the department maintains a 100% quick issue resolution when responding to customer inquiries. Through his career at Hubbard-Hall, Ensley became a critical member of the organization’s technical team, holding the position of Technical Service Manager and proving himself to be a committed expert in his field and at the company. In his new role, Ensley will transition his focus on acquiring new customers and maintaining existing customers.
“During my time at Hubbard-Hall, I have witnessed both growth and transformation as we continue to work to be our customer’s best supplier. I am excited and inspired to work for a company with such a forward focusing mindset, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for Hubbard-Hall,” stated Ensley. Ensley will manage a technical staff of 3 people and act as the product manager for the AquaStrip and Metal Guard product lines, he will report to Bob Farrell, Senior Vice President of Technology.”
“Hubbard-Hall Inc. announces the promotion of Mike Valenti to Director of Cleaning Technologies. Valenti has perfected evaluating the potential and practicality of products in development. His extensive experience and judgment have helped accomplish the company goal of being the best supplier to our customers and creating the best ways to effectively and efficiently clean the hard to clean. Valenti is constantly proving his capabilities and value. He led the company’s Aquaease 2289 product launch which reduces cleaning steps from 6 to 1. He has also worked with the organization’s wastewater treatment team to identify where upstream and downstream approaches can be optimized.
Valenti has been in the industry for over 30 years and with Hubbard-Hall for the last 6 years. Under Valenti’s direction, the “Clean Team” is expected to obtain fast growth in strategic cleaning initiatives to bring customers better products that will save them time and money. “I am very excited for this opportunity, transitioning to a position that will allow me to accomplish my personal and company goal of being the US leader in aluminum cleaning,” stated Valenti. He will continue to report to Bob Farrell, Senior Vice President of Technology.”
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Larry Ensley
Mike Valenti
At one time the Nexteer Automotive facility in Saginaw, Michigan, USA was one of the largest captive heat treaters in North America (previously the company was called Delphi Steering and was part of General Motors). Times change and while this is still a large facility the heat treatment department is a shadow of its former self and destined to become smaller.
As we speak the company is accepting bids for a large ECM vacuum carburizing system with the full description of the equipment below. Bidding ends December 3rd with an opening bid starting at $100,000 USD and a “buy now” price of $1.5 million, new the system was $6 million USD.
“ECM Technologies Vacuum Carburizing furnace, new in 2013. This is a late model ECM vacuum carburizing furnace built new in 2013, part of a complete heat treat and carburizing line. Consisting of EWN-34-75E Wisconsin Oven Corp electric batch furnaces with a maximum temperature of 250C and including the ECM carburizing furnace. Siemens PLC control. No longer required for seller continuing operations. Low hours and in very good condition.”
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Solar Atmospheres of Western PA recently entered a five year partnering agreement with a leading energy storage company, HI-POWER, a Holtec International and Eos Energy Storage joint venture. HI-POWER builds one of the safest and fully integrated DC storage batteries in the world. Their “Znyth” storage batteries are especially stable when housed in extreme temperatures, and are nonflammable, and 100% recyclable.
This new battery technology, a decade in the making, is the most efficient non-lithium long duration energy storage solution. One of the critical components within the battery system requires a “vacuum cathodic” heat treatment process. This newly developed surface heat treatment process enables the product to last 5,000 cycles for a 15-year calendar life with no subcooling or pumps required.
Mike Johnson, Sales Manager for Solar states, “I came upon this opportunity at a trade show four years ago. At that time, HI-POWER was perfecting their critical thermal cycle profiles in a small hot wall furnace in New Jersey. HI-POWER knew that someday they would need to employ a large vacuum furnace – and we had that capability.” Knowing the world’s demand for energy storage to reduce the grid requirements, Solar decided to partner with HI-POWER. Mutually, HI-POWER and Solar engineers worked diligently to develop the vacuum cathodic heat treatment needed to fulfill HI-POWER’s stringent specifications. Today, Solar Atmospheres of Western PA is thermally processing thousands of components to help HI-POWER deliver clean and reliable energy faster for the world’s needs.
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“Milo as you know was the head of the public relations department at Cambridge Heat Treating from 2005 – 2020. He had the best attendance record. He was so devoted that when I took holidays he still came to work. When you walk in the office door of Cambridge Heat Treating there was a good chance Milo would be there to show you in. Milo loved his job as much as all our family has. He was a calm dog as you know. He was Cambridge Heat Treating’s “Stress Reliever”. He will be sadly missed by everyone at Cambridge Heat Treating as well as many customers and suppliers. Everyone loved to see Milo. Cheryl, Cambridge Heat Treating Inc., 753 Bishop St. N., Cambridge, Ontario.”
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“A Virginia manufacturer of high-quality plumbing tube recently commissioned a new SECO/WARWICK solution heat treat furnace, expanding the plant’s capabilities to include aluminum extrusions. This is the first new aluminum processing equipment installation at the plant.
The furnace configuration is unique. Tubing extrusions and other shapes up to 26 feet in length are loaded horizontally at floor level into a load carriage. The carriage containing the load is then pulled by a hoist, from one end until it is vertical next to the furnace. The carriage is then secured to the supporting structure, allowing the hoist to lower the down, and out of the carriage. The load is lowered into a powered rotating carousel, containing two (2) submerged drywells that extend below the floor into the water-filled pit. The load is then supported by the carousel, allowing the hoist to be released. The carousel then rotates until the load is in a position directly below the furnace. The furnace door opens, and a 2nd hoist retrieves the load, pulling it up into the furnace chamber for heating.
After heating, the furnace door opens and the load is lowered into one of two open positions in the carousel, allowing the load to quickly cool in the water-filled pit below. The vertical orientation of the work being heat-treated is what differentiates this unit from others. The design allows the customer to maintain an efficient, semi-continuous process with little downtime between batches by staging loads in the drywells.
Rapid Quench Assures Highest Part Quality; The major benefit of this design is that it allows the customer to drop extrusions into the quench within 10 seconds after heat treating and soak. The rapid quench is done quickly to “lock-in” the hardening elements of the alloy. By heating the work up to a temperature slightly below the melting point, or solid solution (solvus), the hardening elements will disperse throughout the cross section of the work.
After cooling is complete the load is raised up out of the water and released back to the carousel. The carousel then rotates until the load is returned to the position under the load carriage. The 1st hoist then pulls the load back up into the carriage, retrieving the carriage and load simultaneously. The carriage is then lowered back down to the plant floor, traversing from vertical to horizontal as it’s lowered. Once back at floor level the finished load is removed from the carriage and the next load to be treated is placed in the carriage. Loads can be staged in the drywells as the furnace is cycling, so the furnace can be unloaded and reloaded in just a few minutes.
“While SECO/WARWICK has patented many standard processes related to aluminium heat treatment and controlled atmosphere brazing, our strengths lie fundamentally in our ability to apply innovative designs to custom requirements, something I believe we do as well as anyone in the world. This is but one good example of the type of work we excel in,” said Keith Boeckenhauer, Managing Director SECO/WARWICK USA.
5x Better Temperature Uniformity; The new SECO/WARWICK furnace, designed and built in Pennsylvania, was engineered to meet a minimum uniformity specification of +/- 10° F. Once the furnace was commissioned, the customer brought in a third party to survey its performance and documented the actual uniformity at +/- 1.5 – 2° F. So, by having the tight uniformity capability, the temperature can be set closer to the solvus range without concern for melting the work, allowing for optimum solution treatment. The customer stated that, as part of their initiative to diversify from traditional HVAC products into more precision engineered components, it was critical that they chose the right partner to implement this expansion project with aluminum extrusions. They selected SECO/WARWICK based on their proven track record with this type of furnace and their ability to customize the project according to our needs. The excellent and repeatable temperature uniformity achieved with this furnace will allow the customer the ability to market products to the aerospace and medical fields by meeting Class 1 requirements.”
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From “The Chronicle” we have this update on the recent fire at commercial heat treater Ohio Metallurgical in Elyria, Ohio, USA.
“ELYRIA, Ohio, USA — Employees at Ohio Metallurgical Service Inc. on Clark Street were back to work Tuesday after a fire destroyed a maintenance building on the property the previous night. State and local fire investigators and environmental specialists also were on scene, officials said, to determine what caused the blaze that did an estimated $1 million in damage to an unoccupied building and its contents. No employees were hurt after the fire started around 7:30 p.m. Monday. An Elyria firefighter suffered a minor injury but kept working through the blaze, officials said Monday.
Company owner and President John Gaydosh said he was overwhelmed by the “hundreds” of emails and phone calls his company received after Monday’s fire — from other local businesses, customers and even competitors offering “a lot of community outreach, thoughts and prayers and wishes.” Ohio Metallurgical Services Inc., or OhioMet, does heat treating of metals for the aerospace and aircraft production industries, among others. The company was founded in Lorain in 1947, moved to Elyria in the 1950s and was bought by Gaydosh’s father in 1977, he said. It currently has 75 employees working three shifts.
Monday was “a long night” and Tuesday “a long day,” Gaydosh said Tuesday. “We’re extremely happy there were no injuries,” he said. “The fire happened in a building not occupied at that time of day. It’s a maintenance employees’ office, storage, spare parts, machinery, not a production area of the plant.” Employees on the second shift were quick to evacuate the buildings that were occupied and call 911. The Elyria Fire Department was on scene “in about three minutes,” Gaydosh said, adding that he was impressed with the response time. The flames did not spread to other buildings or neighboring properties, and firefighters were present throughout the night. Clark Street was closed between South Logan Street and Abbe Road throughout the night.
The Ohio Fire Marshal’s Office and Elyria firefighters were back at the scene Tuesday investigating the cause of the blaze. State fire investigators typically are called in when there is a large amount of financial loss due to a fire. Gaydosh said he was able to answer investigators’ questions and provide them with video footage of the area where the fire started to aid in their investigation. “We have some video inside there, so we were able to see some of the progression of the fire, not in great up-close detail but it enabled investigators to kind of know where to look and start looking to determine the best they can how it started,” he said.
The Elyria Township, Carlisle Township, Sheffield and Lorain fire departments assisted the Elyria Fire Department at the scene, and Lorain County Homeland Security and Emergency Management also responded. Homeland Security and EMA Director Tom Kelley said the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and Chemtron, an industrial cleanup company with facilities in Avon and Avon Lake, also were on the scene Tuesday — the former after being notified by county and fire officials and the latter to clean up some oil that got off the property, onto the street and into some nearby ditches during the incident.
Kelley said Ohio’s Community Right to Know law requires that an incident at a facility that uses, stores or manufactures hazardous materials report the incident to the state EPA, local fire department and local Emergency Management Agency. The law has been on the books for more than 30 years, he said. Gaydosh said he didn’t believe there were any signs of arson or “malicious behavior,” and that the cause appeared accidental, but it will take a final report to determine if that’s the case. “We’ll have to wait and see what they say officially,” he said. While the COVID-19 pandemic slowed business at OhioMet for a time, Gaydosh said the company will get back to normal.
“You just have to keep everyone safe and clean up and go ahead and rebuild and do your business. … The building is destroyed, definitely destroyed, but hopefully we’ll be able to salvage some things in there,” he said. “If there’s a blessing, it wasn’t a production area that was damaged. We’re basically back up and running already. Everyone’s working, no one’s being sent home, and they can push a broom if we need them to. There’s plenty to clean up. “We’re full steam ahead,” Gaydosh said. “We’ll get it taken care of and live to fight another day.”
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