Successful HTWG Electrical Engineering Day on 14.11.2024

Industry 4.0, sustainable energy supply and electrification are the topics that will shape our future. In keeping with our motto ‘Green the new heat for extrusion’, we are happy to be participating for the first time in the Electrical Engineering Day of the HTWG Konstanz University of Applied Sciences - Technology, Business and Design Talent Fair in order to attract motivated and talented electrical engineers to our company.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First EHKO ready for delivery to Finland

The worldwide first electrically resistance-heated highspeed-convection oven (EHKO) in inline design for the continuous heating of aluminum logs is ready for delivery. The newly developed furnace type has been put into operation and intensively tested at extrutec's site in Menden over the last few weeks. The system configuration consists of an EHKO for base heating, an induction furnace arranged directly in line for tapering the billet and a downstream hot log saw. The induction furnace is manufactured in-house by extrutec subsidiary TCT Induktionstechnik. The tests carried out on the system once again confirm the calculated and simulated values such as heat transfer and the extremely high efficiency of 87%. The system will be put into operation in Finland in the next few weeks.

Ground-breaking ceremony for new building at extrutec’s Moos headquarters

Today's official ground-breaking ceremony marks the start of construction work for the site expansion at extrutec's main office in Moos. A second office building will be constructed within the next 12 months. The new building is a response to the positive business development resulting from the expansion of the product range and the company's global orientation. The new building will be specially designed to meet the needs of extrutec's technology and development department. As with the extrutec machines, attention will be paid to minimising energy consumption, which will be ensured by geothermal heating and a photovoltaic system, among other things. Completion is planned for November 2025.

 

 

Official launch of the new 10-inch extrusion line at the Hammerer Aluminium Industries plant in Chisineu-Cris

The official opening ceremony for the P5 extrusion line took place today at HAI's Romanian site near the town of Cris. The press line, which mainly produces products for the construction and industrial sectors, is equipped with modern heating technology from extrutec. Hammerer deliberately chose a particularly energy-efficient and at the same time highly productive system. The equippment delivered by extrutec consists of a vertical log storage system, the Eco Shower Unit (log preheating), a gas/induction inline furnace and a hot log saw. The combination of system elements is marketed by extrutec as the Eco Heating Process due to its high efficiency. In addition, extrutec supplied an overhead die furnace with automatic service shuttle. extrutec is pleased to continue to be a part of HAIway.

 

 

 

A great extrutec family day

Once again this year, we took the opportunity of the warm summer days to invite all extrutec employees and their families to a joint get-together at our headquarters in Moos. Employees from all extrutec locations took the opportunity to show their families the premises in the immediate surroundings of Lake Constance. The day-to-day work at extrutec and the latest projects, such as the extension to the headquarters, were presented at various stations. Shared celebrations and a family atmosphere are part of extrutec's company philosophy. "We at extrutec are passionate about what we do, so a family atmosphere is essential," says company founder and CEO Uwe Günter.

 

 

 

Extrutec Company Trip 2024

The annual extrutec company trip took place at the beginning of June. This year's destination was the city of Bamberg in Franconia (Bavaria, Germany), which is known above all for its many family breweries. On the way, a visit to the Gutmann company was on the agenda. The extrutec systems in operation were demonstrated in detail by the Gutmann employees. Other highlights of the trip included a beer hike followed by a tour of the brewery and a guided tour of Ulm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

New P61 extrusion line officially opened at HAI’s main plant in Ranshofen.

Today, the official opening of the HAI Group's latest extrusion line took place at the Ranshofen headquarters. The automotive line with a 60MN extrusion press is identical in construction to the P60, which went into operation last year. Extrutec was again awarded with the delivery of the heating system including standalone induction furnace with billet clamping systems and a profile cooling system with Alpha Flex technology for this project. A taper quench was also installed to supplement the heating system. An overhead die furnace and a heating furnace for heating press plates complete the extrutec scope of supply. We would like to thank Hammerer for the outstanding project cooperation and are delighted to be part of the HAIway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

60th anniversary of Norsk Hydro Offenburg

60 years of excellence and innovation - We congratulate Norsk Hydro Offenburg on its 60th anniversary. One of the most energy-saving heating concepts from extrutec is in operation at the Offenburg site. The system combination of inline gas/induction furnace with water preheating represents the most efficient gas-based heating method and is known under the brand name eco heating process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New extrutec power supply for inductive heating on the P44 at HAI in Soest

After the HAI P44 press line at the Soest plant was fitted with a new extrutec profile cooling system over Christmas 2022/2023, the conversion of the power supply to the induction taper furnace from 1993 was realised in summer 2023.

The original Elhaus gas furnace and the furnace control system for preheating were replaced by extrutec back in 2012.

The switchgear of the induction taper furnace was originally designed as a masonry circuit with a balancing device.

Due to the mechanically operating load contactors, which switch on the load zones and the balancing circuit, which cause an asymmetrical mains load depending on the load case, the original design now had a number of significant disadvantages. Due to the age of the mechanically stressed switchgear, the focus was also on aspects such as optimised process control and significantly improved energy efficiency.

 

The extrutec scope of delivery for this conversion project included the following work:

  • Conversion to state-of-the-art IGBT converter technology with extrutec Power Focus technology and integrated energy management system as a so-called uncompensated converter of the MIBu type, which can operate without compensation capacitors
  • A complete new control system based on Siemens TIA Portal which is linked to the main control system
  • Conversion of the block storage (tray conveyor) in front of the furnace (block preloading transfer table)
  • 800 KVA power transformer and renewal of the power distribution system
  • New water recooling system with frequency-controlled pump
  • Modification of conveyor technology - components such as push-back rod and block conveyor system between gas and induction furnace

 

Due to the high capacity utilisation of this press line, the conversion was divided into three sections in consultation with our customer HAI, so that the conversion could also be carried out during the year at weekends, including public holidays.

 

The objectives of the furnace conversion were

  • Uniform grid load in every operating state
  • Mains power factor independent of load behaviour
  • Stepless power control
  • Constant power at each sub-zone as the inverter can operate in constant power mode.
  • PID control behaviour
  • Extrutec Power Focus TechnologyTM = better utilisation of the power unit
  • Utilisation of the available space and the existing power distribution with minimal changes
  • Utilisation of the original induction furnace, which has, however, been continuously improved over the years
  • Improved energy efficiency, which was made possible in particular by the elimination of the balancing circuit and the compensation capacitors, as well as a new recooling system.

 

The conversion of this challenging project was completed on time in summer 2023 and impressively demonstrates that targeted measures can achieve significant improvements even in older existing systems at reasonable investment costs.

A project like this can only be realised flawlessly if many experienced experts work together. This expertise is available at extrutec in the induction technology/electric furnace construction division under the management of Stefan Beer.  Complex conversion and modernisation projects can be implemented worldwide.