EBNER GROUP | Research & Development
Pioneering Green Technologies
Collaborative Innovation for Sustainable Success.
At the EBNER GROUP, Research & Development is where engineering know-how turns into measurable progress for our customers. Across the EBNER Tech Center in Leonding, Austria, the Casthouse (R)Evolution Center (CRC) in Ranshofen, Austria, and Hazelett in the US, we test, validate, and industrialize next-generation technologies for heat treatment and aluminum processing: always with a focus on performance, reliability, and sustainability.
Everything is possible.
From full-scale and pilot trials that generate real boundary-condition data for accurate simulations, to alloy development and casting demonstrations in a fully functional industrial foundry, to breakthrough strip casting that can dramatically reduce energy use, footprint, and costs: our R&D ecosystem is built to shorten development cycles and de-risk investment decisions.
CRC
Casthouse (R)Evolution Center
HAZELETT
HAZELETT CASTechnology Process
EBNER Tech Center
At the EBNER Tech Center in Leonding, Austria, pilot plants are built to scale or even at 1:1 to enable the measurement of flow conditions, heat transfer, and temperature distribution. This data is used by our calculation and design teams to develop simulations with the correct boundary conditions and to properly dimension systems.
In addition to in-house projects, the EBNER Tech Center is also used to examine use cases presented by our customers – for example, to heat treat sample material. This allows heat treatment cycles to be optimized for required mechanical properties, supporting the development of our customers‘ materials.
Competences and Services
- HICON® systems
- Test chamber for burners and radiant tubes
- CO2 reduction
- Up to 1200 °C/ 2192 °F
- Up to 200 kW
- Radiant Tube and Open Flame
- High-efficiency combustion systems
- Energy savings & NOx reduction
- Atmosphere recycling systems
- Prototype testing
- Small-scale testing
- Full-scale testing
- Process development
- Production
- Simulations, FEM, CFD, CSC
- Metallographic analysis
- Waterjet cutting
- Hardness measurement
- Tensile Test
- Chemical Analysis
- Epsteintest
- Airflow Test Bench
Simulation of Continuous Annealing Lines
- Length 480 mm/ 18.9“
- Width max. 200 mm/ 7.9“
- Air, N2, H2, Ar, He
- Up to 1260 °C/ 2300 °F
Simulation of Continuous Annealing Lines
- Length 200 mm/ 8“
- Width 20 mm/ 1“
- N2, H2, Ar
- Up to 1200 °C/ 2192 °F
- Charge Diameter 280 mm/ 11“
- Height 300 mm/ 11.8“
- 280 mm/11“
- N2, H2, Ar
- Up to 980 °C/ 1796 °F
- Charge Diameter 2000 mm/ 78.7“
- Height 3000 mm/ 118“
- N2, H2, Ar
- Up to 1200 °C/ 2192 °F
Roller-Hearth Furnaces
- Length 200 – 500 mm/ 787 – 1968.5“
- Width 1900 or 2500 mm/ 74.8 or 98.4“
- gas/electric rad. Tube
- Up to 1000 °C/ 1832 °F
Continuous Solution Heat Treatment and Annealing Lines
- Length 450 mm/ 177“
- Air
- Up to 600 °C/ 1110 °F
Hot Forming Aluminum
- Length 320 mm/ 126“
- Air
- Up to 600 °C/ 1112 °F
- Length 500 mm/ 19.7“
- Width 500 mm/19.7“
- Air
- Up to 900 °C/ 1652 °F
Discover what’s possible at the EBNER Tech Center.
Explore our pilot testing capabilities and how we turn real measurement data into production-ready solutions.
Ebner-Platz 1
4060 Leonding
T: (+43) 732 / 6868
CRC Casthouse (R)Evolution Center
The Casthouse (R)Evolution Center (CRC), founded in 2019, is a fully functional industrial foundry. It incorporates an HPI horizontal casting machine and a vertical casting machine from Gautschi, which are used for customer demonstrations, alloy development, operator training and small, fast production runs of special products. It is also used to further develop the EBNER GROUP‘s state-of-the art molds and casting systems.
A special feature of the CRC is that it can offer contract casts of a wide variety of materials at short notice.
- 7.5 t melting/casting furnace and VDC (vertical continuous casting machine)
from Gautschi - 1.5 t electric melting/casting furnace and HDC (horizontal continuous casting
machine) from HPI - 1000 m² area for research and development
Competences and Services
- Alloy development and testing
Individual support in developing alloys that meet or exceed product requirements, testing at pilot casting machines (HDC or VDC). - Training and education
Training and qualification of future experts in aluminum casting. - Production of sample material
Production of small batches of custom alloys or with special dimensions; can be used for testing in forging, rolling and extrusion processes. - Contract casting
Individualized production runs according to customer specifications.
Explore the Casthouse (R)Evolution Center.
Discover how we develop special alloys, demonstrate casting technologies, and enable fast pilot runs tailored to your requirements.
Schlossstrasse 32
5282 Ranshofen
T: (+43) 720 / 569 150
W: www.c-r-c.info
HAZELETT CASTechnology™ Process
CASTechnology™ (Convergent Aluminum Solidification Technology) is at the heart of what will be the world’s greenest process for producing aluminum strip.
The CASTechnology™ process converts molten aluminum directly into strip 2 – 5 millimeters thick and is particularly suited to applications where surface quality is critical, such as those found in the auto body sheet, beverage container and common alloy sheet markets.
CASTechnology™ offers a CAPEX and an OPEX (capital expenditure and operational expenditure) that are a fraction of those required by a DC/Hot mill process. The process is easily scalable, meaning that even lower volume production lines can remain economically viable.
When implemented, CASTechnology™ uses the least amount of energy, provides the smallest carbon footprint, and requires the smallest amount of floorspace of any aluminum strip casting process.
CASTechnologyTM Demonstration Line in Kingston
Present Configuration:
- 13 t melting furnace
- CASTechnology™ caster
- Water quench
- HAZELETT isolation / pinch roll
- MINO shear and coiler
Future Configuration:
- 13 t melting furnace
- De-gassing & filtration units
- CASTechnology™ caster
- EBNER SMART air quench
- HAZELETT isolation / pinch roll
- EBNER SMART water quench
- MINO bridle/pinch roll
- MINO shear and coiler
CASTechnologyTM Team
With a combined team of 12 FTEs in Kingston and 6 in Colchester, VT, along with a consultancy network in Kingston, HAZELETT clients benefit from a marriage of world-class aluminum specialists and with expert caster/builders.
Capabilities of a CASTechnology™ Line
- Capable of casting strip with thicknesses ranging from 2 – 5 mm; current designs focus on 3.5 mm strip
- Casting speed up to 90 m/min. Presently 40 – 60 m/min, ~20-25 t/hr·m
- Capable of casting strip up to 1.8 m in width; current designs produce strip 350 mm and 1000 mm in width
- Casting time > 25 minutes
- Capable of casting AA1xxx, AA2xxx, AA3xxx, AA5xxx and AA6xxx alloys; current designs focus on on AA5182
Accurate molten metal control in the tundish (± 1 mm) ensures good strip edge quality for coiling without side dams. Tunable in-line water quench allows targeting of coiling temperatures to fully exploit metallurgical properties.
Metallurgical Advantages of CASTechnologyTM
- The complete solidification process takes place „inside“ the caster, providing an extremely homogeneous microstructure.
- The extremely high cooling rate (~1000 °C/s) means that the time for inverse segregation caused by the back diffusion of solute is reduced, ensuring high-quality as-cast surfaces.
- Finer as-cast intermetallics and higher solid solution levels are provided, resulting in higher formability and increased strength.
- The technology allows the development of high alloy grades with a high proportion of scrap.
- It allows a far wider range of alloys to be cast in comparison to the continuous casters currently on the market. It is expected that the equipment will be capable of casting all alloy series from AA1xxx to AA8xxx.
Discover Hazelett CASTechnologyTM
Learn how direct strip casting can cut energy use, reduce footprint, and deliver high-quality aluminum strip with lower CAPEX and OPEX.
135 West Lakeshore Drive
Colchester, Vermont 06446
USA
T: (+1) 802 / 951 8600
W: www.hazelett.com