Hubbard, Ohio-based Ellwood Engineered Castings has been following through on plans announced in 2018 to add an aluminum castings furnace to diversify its traditional iron foundry business.
A video segment posted to the Youngstown, Ohio-based Business Journal Daily website includes a tour of the new Ellwood aluminum casting line’s raw materials staging area, showing both scrap metal and primary aluminum ingots and sows that will be used as feedstock.
The video clip features interviews with Jeff Nicol, Ellwood’s vice president of technical sales, who says the facility is preparing to begin producing castings in August. The scrap shown in the video includes aluminum wheels and aluminum sheet scrap. Nicol indicates the metals will be purchased and stored in a segregated fashion for internal chemistry reasons.
The aluminum production area in Hubbard includes two pre-melt furnaces for large primary ingots and one main production furnace. The company indicates a potential phase two expansion would involve the addition of a second production furnace.
Nicol and Ellwood anticipate their aluminum castings will largely supply the automotive and aerospace sectors.
Ellwood’s previous history has been tied to the production of iron castings, including gray iron castings up to 160 tons in weight and ductile iron castings that can weigh up to 60 tons, according to its website.
The firm’s iron foundry melt shop consists of three, 55-ton induction furnaces that have the ability to melt up to 10,000 tons per month of pig iron and ferrous scrap. Many of the ingot molds in the company’s current product line are used in steel mills.
Source: Brian Taylor, recyclingtoday.com
