Who
says the odds are not in your favor?
By Dan Alabran, Aftermarket Services Manager
Jupiter Aluminum Corporation, is a privately held producer of aluminum
coil, founded in 1992, serving customers in building products,
metals service centers, transportation and license plate
coil. Jupiter Aluminum contracted SECO/WARWICK to rebuild two
atmosphere coil annealing furnaces located in their Hammond,
Indiana facility.
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Furnaces before Rebuild |
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Profile of Finished Unit |
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Furnaces after Rebuild |
This relationship began with Jupiter Aluminum purchasing two
40-year-old atmosphere batch-type coil annealing furnaces on the
secondary furnace market. The goal was to increase their internal annealing
capacity nearly100%. Jupiter Aluminum and SECO/WARWICK worked closely together to insure the
project was completed successfully, within budget and on
schedule. After
reassembling and performing the required steel work to the
furnace shells by Jupiter Aluminum, SECO/WARWICK began the task
of rebuilding both of these furnaces.
The scope of work involved re-engineering and re-working many of the
existing furnace systems and sub-systems to yield furnace
performance levels that would be comparable to furnace equipment
built today. Simply speaking, SECO/WARWICK was contracted to
reassemble the furnaces once the shells were erected. Though
simply spoken, never an easy task to achieve. During the
redesign of the furnace, improvements and upgrades were
incorporated. A few noteworthy improvements include:
- Insulation system of the furnace -
Both furnaces were completely re-insulated with state of the
art, lightweight, insulating materials. These insulation
materials were covered with SECO/WARWICK’S proprietary
composite lining. The
Mesh and Mortar system consists of a stainless steel knitted
mesh which is placed over the hot face insulation materials
and covered with high temperature mortar. This special mortar creates a bond
between the mesh and the top layer of insulation. When
allowed to dry properly, the system provides a monolithic
lining, which is impervious to the velocity changes within
the furnace. Advantages of the SECO/WARWICK system include,
faster heat-up rates, reduced heat loss, lower shell
temperatures, simple to maintain and repair.
- The airflow recirculation baffles
and the system for securing these to the superstructure was
re-engineered, manufactured in our shop and installed within
these furnaces. This is one important part of many that
supported the project success. As originally designed, the
baffles supported a top-down airflow pattern, which in
SECO/WARWICK’s opinion is incorrect for this furnace type.
Vertical up flow is more conducive to uniform airflow
distribution and therefore heating as well. High-grade
materials were used to manufacture these replacement baffles
thus offering years of serviceable life.
- The existing recirculating fan assemblies were completely
reworked, balanced and installed in the furnace with
gas tight sealing. It is interesting to note that these fan
assemblies were reconfigured to provide the proper airflow
pattern.
- An atmosphere monitoring system
in the form of a controlling oxygen analyzer was provided to
insure the proper atmosphere level within the furnace and to
comply with published safety guidelines. The provided system
communicated with the state of the art PLC based temperature
control system to insure fail-safe operation. The control system
was provided by Jupiter Aluminum, with input and direction from
SECO/WARWICK.
- An
atmosphere flow control system was provided to maintain the
proper atmosphere flow level into the furnace during purging and normal operations. This
consisted of valving, gauges, flow switches, pressure
switches, etc. Further, the atmosphere was uniformly
distributed within the furnace by means of a distribution
manifold supplying nitrogen to the negative side of the
axial flow fan assemblies and permitting the action of the
fans to equally distribute the atmosphere. The atmosphere
exhaust system incorporated the SECO/WARWICK self-regulating
pressure control valve and relief arrangement that maintains
a positive pressure within the furnace.
- The existing indirect fired combustion system was completely
redesigned
to incorporate current industry standards such as NFPA and
those applicable insurance regulations. To help reduce the
overall project cost, SECO/WARWICK was able to savage nearly
all of the “U” style radiant tubes, radiant tube burners
and the combustion blower. However, the remaining combustion
components for the system were new. To simplify the burner
ignition system and future maintenance interaction, the
burners were converted to direct spark ignition with great
success. Many other design features were incorporated into
the final re-design such as flame supervision, pipe train
layouts, etc. that
simplified the overall system and yielded improved results,
and most importantly, system reliability.
- As originally designed, these furnaces were “tray type”
furnaces. A load of aluminum coils were loaded on a steel
framework or tray outside the furnace and then placed into
the furnace by a charging machine. This is certainly an
acceptable method for loading a furnace when multiple
furnace are involved. However, the charging machine option
was not available for this application due to the physical
location of the equipment. Therefore, both furnaces were
converted to “car type” furnaces. In this case,
SECO/WARWICK designed and built a high temperature
fabricated load cars for this application, which is used to
convey aluminum coils into the furnace. Since the car is
designed for the application, the car stays within the
furnace during the annealing operation and is only pulled
from the furnace at the end of the cycle. This fundamental
change resulted in the re-design of the furnace floor system
and the supporting structure for the load car.
To facilitate the above furnace improvements and upgrades,
SECO/WARWICK provided all of the labor services including
millwrights, fabricators, insulators, pipe fitters and other
crafts. This allowed SECO/WARWICK to maintain the project
schedule and minimize downtime. On completion of the
installation, furnace start-up commenced with the furnaces being
released to production within two weeks.
Overall, the project was a success both in furnace operational functions
and the return on the capital investment. In the words of
Jupiter Aluminum’s maintenance superintendent and Chief
Engineer, Brian Patrick: “I am certainly pleased with SECO/WARWICK’S work. We
would certainly recommend SECO/WARWICK for this type of project.“
Jupiter Aluminum Corporation has earned a reputation of supplying
quality products in an efficient manner. The Company prides itself on its association with key
customers, commitment to key market segments, flexibility and an organizational structure that assures
prompt, effective decision making. For more information on Jupiter Aluminum, phone
+1-219-932-3322, or visit their website at www.jupiteraluminum.com.
SECO/WARWICK welcomes the opportunity to put our tried and proved
furnace rebuild service to work for you. The depth of experience
and talent within SECO/WARWICK permits us to offer a single
source comprehensive and technical rebuild service that far
surpasses general industrial services. This is a cost effective
solution to improved efficiency and process performance from
your existing furnace system. For more information, contact our
Aftermarket Services Group at +1-814-332-8400 or visit our
website at www.secowarwick.com
and select Parts, Service and Rebuilds.
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