CEC Takes Order for Basketless Heat-Treating System

Consolidated Engineering Co. has been contracted by a metalcasting operation in Mexico to supply a basketless heat-treating system for diesel cylinder heads. The Kennesaw, GA, developer and supplier of heat-processing systems did not name the buyer.

CEC said the company intends to produce about 730,000 diesel cylinder heads in a new line of production.

The supplier reports that this installation will be the first heat-treating system at the foundry capable of air-quenching diesel heads using individual nozzles for each head. The application will result in minimal “part-to-part variation,” according to CEC.

Also, it will be this foundry’s first heat-treating system without baskets, in which each casting is loaded and/or unloaded directly from/to a conveyor, which also will increase part-to-part uniformity.

CleanCast combines accelerated heat treatment, decoring, and heat retention by moving castings rapidly from the unmolding station to the furnace, in an automated heat treating cell.

CEC indicates that choosing this system over a standard roller-hearth furnace with baskets, and over other basketless systems, reflects CleanCast’s lower operating costs; flexibility to adapt to engine blocks (if needed); modularity, also for future expansions; the ability to remove sand from the castings; and the ability to perform temperature uniformity surveys during production.