Can-Eng Installs HTS for Aluminum Cylinder Heads

Can-Eng Furnaces International Ltd. reports it recently installed and commissioned a high-volume T-6 heat-treatment system for an automotive manufacturer in the Southeast. The basketless system (BHTS) is treating cast-aluminum cylinder heads, and was designed for an integrated operation with the engine plant. It is a cellular processing system that integrates transfer devices, robotic automation, solution and aging furnaces, a rapid-quench transfer device, a water-quench system, part identification, and a user friendly advanced controls package. “Once fully implemented, this system will double the manufacturer’s current casting heat treatment capacity,” according to Niagara Falls, NY-based Can-Eng Furnaces. Can-Eng adds that its BHTS provides the engine manufacturer with “a significant reduction in energy consumption and emissions, while also reducing the floor space requirements over conventional roller-hearth treatment systems.” The new installations will make it possible to reduce work-in-progress inventories, and to improve product quality and cycle times thanks to individual part handling. Also, maintenance requirements will be minimized because the number of drive components and quenching apparatus parts have been reduced, compared with standard chain-conveyor systems.