The demand for casted aluminum parts with complex geometries and short delivery times is increasing and foundries have the challenge to produce these components economically feasible, with top quality and with though delivery times. GHI Smart Furnaces developed the Prime Casting plants, to assure and enhance the competitiveness of aluminium casting plants, including the most efficient, safest, and sustainable technologies.
GHI leveraged its 82 years of experience in aluminum casting plants to optimize the equipment engineering, include state-of-the-art technologies and provide a complete smart solution. As a fact, the company recently supplied this solution to leading companies such as CIE Automotive in Spain, and Conalum in Mexico, that will be commissioned in the next months.
The key equipment of the plant are the melting towers, with high performance and energy efficiency, which are fully sensorized to have a complete control of the input and output materials, and reach the maximum levels of energy efficiency and production, aspects that impact directly on the bottom line of the plant.
The melting tower is the most suitable equipment for melting ingots and medium size scrap and returns, due to its great efficiency in terms of recovery and energy consumption. GHI can guarantee a metal yield of 99,5% and agas consumption of 65 Nm3/t with primary ingots as raw material. This fact is by far the most competitive solution in the market.
Prime casting plants include auxiliary equipment, such as automatic skimming machines and loading systems and that improve the operation of the plant.
The cleaning door of GHI’s melting towers, covers the entire width of the melting chamber, and together with the automatic skimming system, allow an easier and safer accessibility and therefore a better cleaning operation. This results in better quality aluminium, lower maintenance costs and a longer lifetime of the melting tower.
The automatic loading system allows a continuous loading and safe handling of the equipment. The raw material storage "buffer" provides autonomy to the loading process, thus ensuring the maximum melting rate of the furnace. As optional, GHI provides a double-level loading system for ingots and baskets with inhouse returns.
The molten aluminium from the melting tower is transferred to the holding furnaces, where it is alloyed, and the chemical composition is homogenized.
In order to get high quality allloys, the furnaces are equipped with porous plugs that allow a continuous and smooth stirring which results in high quality metal. GHI has an extensive experience with porous plug systems, with more than 500 references installed worldwide
Finally, the metal is poured into transport ladles to continue with the next steps of the casting process.
By other side, GHI provides a combined solution of melting tower and holding tilting furnace, integrating both in one only piece of equipment. This ALL-IN-ONE solution is oriented to those plants with limited layout and where the performance and the quality is a must.
GHI offers a new concept of complete and intelligent plant with the highest performance in the market and a 4.0 solution that allows customers to move from data-driven insights to data-driven actions.
All the equipment is sensorized, the captured data is analysed in the Beyond 4.0 platform with tailormade algorithms and big data systems under the most robust cybersecurity systems. The casting process is analysed by specialized GHI engineers to optimize the cycle time, improve the process control, and provide predictive and preventive maintenance anywhere in the world. GHI supports casting companies in their digitizing process and integration into the 4.0 industry.