Precision movement
ETS | Fabrizio Milanolo, Managing Director
Precision movement
EBNERs new roller-hearth furnace raises production at Acciaierie Valbruna to a new level.
Our advanced “Combi Concept” technology provides first-class heat treatment for stainless steel and superalloys, fulfilling the strict requirements of the aerospace and automotive industries.
A new roller-hearth furnace for Acciaierie Valbruna’s works in Vicenza, Italy demonstrates the excellent performance that this technology can bring. The facility is designed to solution heat treat long products manufactured out of stainless steel or superalloys, and is capable of fulfilling the stringent requirements placed by customers from the automotive or aerospace sectors.
The market for premium steels has been increasingly shaped by the need to meet extremely high quality requirements from end users. Heat treatment technologies play a decisive role in achieving this, as they directly influence the metallurgical and mechanical properties of the final product.
Today, advances in both heating and quenching technologies have made it possible to carry out a wide variety of heat treatment processes and still meet extremely strict specifications. Consistent with these market trends, EBNER Thermal Solutions has successfully commissioned a new roller-hearth furnace to heat treat stainless steel and nickel-based alloy long products (bars and rod coils) at Acciaierie Valbruna’s works in Vicenza, Italy.
THE EBNER “COMBI CONCEPT”
The furnace is based on EBNER’s “Combined Concept”, which enables the heat treatment of bars and rod coils in a single facility and ensures that both types of product achieves the same quality.
To maximize the flexibility of the process, the cooling section was designed to allow a number of options: an extremely intensive quenching step can be carried out using a water tank for rod coils or a water spray system for bars, while slower cooling can also be carried out using blowers. Both systems are integrated into the same processing line.
Charging end
Decharging end
Quenching vessel for coils
Spraying system for wire rod
INNOVATIVE COMBUSTION: EFFICIENCY AND UNIFORMITY
One of the key technological features used to meet the contracted level of performance – which is in full compliance with the AMS 2750 standard for aerospace products and the CQI-9 standard for automotive products – was the installation of the latest generation of flameless burners.
This technology ensures optimal temperature distribution throughout the entire furnace chamber. Temperature uniformity is improved by up to 30 % in comparison to standard burner systems, and in the material temperature scatters below ± 5 °C are achieved during the soaking phase. Flameless combustion does not only improve performance – it also offers significant environmental and economic advantages. These include a NOx reduction of up to 50 % at 1100 °C and energy savings of over 20 %.
Flameless burner system
PERFORMANCE DATA AND TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
- Heat treatment of bars and rod coils (reference weight: 1400 kg/m)
- Furnace temperatures from 800 to 1150 °C
- Water tank for rod coils, water spray system for bars; air cooling blower system
- Annual throughput: 40,000 metric tons
- Certified accuracy: AMS 2750H class 2 successfully tested at 800 °C, 1060 °C and 1150 °C
- Latest generation of EBNER Process Control System (PCS; HMI and Level 2)
“DRIVING GREEN TECHNOLOGIES” FOR MODERN INDUSTRY
Guided by our principles of quality, innovation, productivity and flexibility, and inspired by EBNER’s commitment to the principle of Driving Green Technologies, we have developed our new Combi Concept furnace to fulfill the most demanding market standards. It ensures that processes are highly reproducible, with minimal variation in metallurgical and mechanical properties. It delivers performance that fully meets the expectations of advanced industrial sectors.
TUS at 800 °C (AMS 2750H class 2, dwell time of 30 minutes in the soaking zones)
TUS at 1,060 °C (AMS 2750H class 2, dwell time of 30 minutes in the soaking zones)
TUS at 1,150 °C (AMS 2750H class 2, dwell time of 30 minutes in the soaking zones)