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Pyrotek’s insulated tabletop refractory helps reduce heat loss Pyrotek’s base-insulated tabletop refractory for vertical direct chill (VDC) billet casting reduces heat loss and maintains dimensional stability throughout casting tables. “This is a robust solution for VDC billet casting customers,” says Jonathan Klesch, a global product manager for Pyrotek. “We use an innovative refractory and integrate an insulation layer to provide long service life while reducing heat loss across the table.” With this new technology, a micro-porous board is added to the base of refractory shapes, improving the thermal performance. Casthouses can potentially lower furnace temperatures by reducing the temperature gradient across the length of the table. Klesch says one of Pyrotek’s core competencies is manufacturing refractory shapes. It produces components for major casting equipment manufacturers and those who rebuild VDC billet casting tables. “We are constantly in search of improving performance and embarked on this product development project to reduce heat loss in billet casting tables without compromising the integrity of the assembly,” he says. Pyrotek’s refractory is a thermally shockresistant material that is nonwetting to molten aluminium. When compared with a traditional fused silica refractory, the density is lower and strength is higher. This improves both thermal performance and fracture resistance. Field testing has demonstrated a 25 percent reduction in tabletop metal structure temperatures compared to another product on the market. This translates to an estimated 8 percent reduction of heat loss using the base-
insulated design. Trial testing also revealed that a competitor’s product was two-and-a-half times more likely to crack after 600 casts. The smooth surface created by a unique surface treatment system minimizes mechanical attachment of skull and improves wear and erosion resistance. It also had 11 percent lower thermal expansion, reducing stress that developed in the mastic joints between components and led to less maintenance during tests. Pyrotek makes a variety of precast components used to distribute molten metal to mould positions in VDC billet casting tables. These components are pre-fired and ready to use. Along with base-insulated tabletop refractory, Pyrotek offers monolithic and shellinsulated tabletop refractory. Pyrotek offers all products needed to operate and maintain VDC billet casting tables, including thimbles, transition plates, mastics, gaskets and seals, flow-control products, coatings and lubricants and casting accessories. •• www.pyrotek.com •• Booth: 11E30
STAS acquires technologies from o.d.t. Engineering For another year, STAS will be present at Aluminium 2018 in Düsseldorf, Germany, the largest show of its kind in world of aluminium. A team of experts will be present at booth 10D50 to promote some its most recent product developments and exchange with the global aluminum community on the current and future trends of the industry. 2018 is an important year for the Canadian company. Among other important achievements such as the commissioning of dozens of equipment units for the line 6 at Alba (Bahrain), STAS recently (April 2018) formalised the acquisition of technologies from the Australian company o.d.t. Engineering specialised in the design and supply of casting and material handling equipment and production consumables for aluminum and magnesium cast houses. The company enjoys an enviable reputation for design innovation, efficiency and quality fabrication and is, like STAS, a family-owned company. The sale and transfer of the purchased assets include the capacity, without limitation, to operate the business exclusively worldwide and brand the name o.d.t. Engineering, with the exception of repair and spare parts. Assets purchased include several technologies such as ingot casting and stacking lines (ICS) for aluminium and magnesium (ingot weight range between 6-25kg), sow casting and stacking lines (SCS), as well as complementary products such as cast-iron wheels, moulds, plans, designs, drawings and any Intellectual Property rights pertaining to all previous items. STAS is now engaged in the marketing, sales and fabrication of new equipment related to the acquired technology as well as any equipment upgrades with the support of key o.d.t. personnel. With this strategic move, STAS further establishes its position as a world-class, full-stack supplier of innovative equipment for the aluminum sector and paves the way for new business opportunities to come. ‘’What we want is to be able to offer integrated, robust and agile solutions to global producers from the potroom to the end of the casting line, and thus respond to the demand from many customers to be a ‘one-stop shop’ and simplify operations and service’’, explains Louis Bouchard, Executive President at STAS, who took over his new role last year after 15 years with the company. Since the late 1980’s, STAS’s mission is to partner with
its customers from the aluminium industry to help them achieve their production goals with various equipment and solutions for the cast house as well for the electrolysis, carbon and crucible shop areas. ‘’With o.d.t. technologies now listed in our global product catalogue, our company vision to become an inevitable supplier for anyone involved in the aluminum production chain is now more real than ever before’, says Bouchard. ‘’For our employees and collaborators, this is a natural extension to what we can already design, produce and deliver as aluminium professionals. We see many opportunities and we will work hard to integrate the two organizations into one successful, integrated business model’’. With a global team of + 180 employees – including more than 60 new employees who joined over the last year - and a vast network of agents and partners located around the globe in strategic locations -, STAS is clearly giving itself a boost with this acquisition and has big plans for the future. New technologies such as the Billet Surface Inspection system (BSI 3D) and the Pot Ramming Machine, both in-line with the latest 4.0 industry standards, have already experienced commercial successes and can compete with any other similar technologies in their respective product line. To ensure future growth and to be ready for the future, the company’s Technology & Innovation team is also partnering with different producers to develop tools and solutions to bring the industry to the next level i.e. through automated, smart and connected machines applying the same guiding principles that led to company to where it is today: innovation, simplicity of design, quality and a focus on the long term benefits and the added value that technology can bring to the production of aluminum. STAS has been providing engineering innovations for nearly 30 years with superior product quality and leading-edge technology. Their team of experts and international agents are dedicated to providing best-inclass customer solutions for the aluminium industry and will continue to enhance and expand their products with the passion and dedication their customers have come to expect. •• stas.com •• odt.com.au •• Booth: 10D50
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Fontes Refractories
33 route de Castres 31250 Revel France
+335 62 71 32 32 info@fontes-refractories.com •• 32 Aluminium Show Newspaper
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28/08/2018 14:27