Large Rotary Hearth Reheating Furnace

Client

Leading UK metal component manufacturer

Services / Products

• Supply of large rotary hearth reheating furnace
• CFD design studies
• Mechanical, electrical and control design
• Manufacture and procurement of system elements
• Project management
• Site installation
• Commissioning and temperature uniformity trials

Scope of Service

Prior to forging, steel stock of various qualities and sizes requires heating to the temperature at which it can be shaped by the available presses. The production of large pipes by extrusion forging particularly requires that large work pieces, in this case up to 9 tonnes in weight, be heated uniformly to the high temperatures necessary to achieve the required material plasticity for this operation.

To meet the onerous duty required for this application, the temperature distribution within any furnace used for this process has to be extremely uniform.

Using the concept of a working envelope within the furnace, the required temperature uniformity for this unit was required to be +/-14°C at operating temperatures between 600°C and 1280°C.

Given that the life of the furnace was expected to be long, fuel efficiency was also considered important, in order to minimise operation costs.

Consequently, heat regeneration technology and low thermal mass principles were incorporated into the design of the unit. Additionally, the furnace structure, both mechanical and refractory was specifically designed to provide extended service under the tough operating conditions which apply in any forge.

Benefits of our work

• Reliable, energy efficient and temperature uniformity reheating facility provided
• Cost effective and competitive in market sector
• Able to produce forged components for other market sectors
• Energy consumption in production 50% lower than those previously used for same role