Holding Furnaces

Holding and storage furnaces are used in continuous and discontinuous melting operations. In continuous casting operations, unforeseeable disruptions can occur, so that holding and storage furnaces are also used there as “buffers”.

In discontinuous melting operations, holding and storage furnaces ensure the availability of sufficient quantities of metal ready for casting and at a constant metal temperature.

The holding furnace shown here was planned, manufactured, assembled and commissioned by Tegisa GmbH in 2019 and handed over to the customer for production.

The holding furnace is used to receive a quantity of liquid metal from various melting furnaces and to fill more than 10 casting furnaces. In order to reach these furnaces, the holding furnace is designed to be mobile and stands on a 80 meter long driveway.

At the end of the driveway is the furnace parking position, which provides safe access for maintenance and cleaning work.

The useful quantity in casting operation is 3.5 t with a connected load of 275 kVA.

The holding furnace is moved by electric drives and achieves a positioning accuracy of ± 1 mm over the entire travel distance of 80 meters in automatic mode.

All assemblies such as power cabinets, control cabinet, pressure control and gas burner station that have to be positioned close to the furnace are placed on the carriage.

For controlled filling of the casting furnace, the holding furnace is pressure-tight and designed as a siphon. The filling siphon takes the liquid metal from the tiltable melting furnace, the melt flows from the pressurized furnace chamber via the pouring siphon into the forehearth and is dosed there with a pneumatically operated plug control into the pouring furnace. The metal bath level in the forehearth is kept constant by means of pressure control. Load cells between the furnace and the carriage measure the weight difference for actuating the plug control.

Media such as natural gas, nitrogen, compressed air and cooling water are fed to the traversing vehicle with an energy chain (media drag chain).

The power connections for the power and control components are made via traveling double current collectors, which sit on permanently installed sliding contact rails. In addition to the sliding contact rails, a WLAN communication system, a redundant position measuring system and a position-independent extraction system are also installed along the route.

When changing the inductor or for emptying the melt, the furnace vessel can be hydraulically tilted up to 95°.

This type of furnace can be used for various alloys. Contact us  if you are interested in further informative discussions.