THE NEW FRONTIER OF INDUCTION MELTING

A great architect once invented the “less is more” concept to suggest that, at the project stage, you should always choose minimalism over complexity.

This exact same rationalprinciple guided us in the project of our new induction furnace for metals  T-Barmaster Spaceless.

In our T-Barmaster, spacers are key. In fact, they guarantee an even distribution of heat inside the mold and ensure a safe, homogeneous, high-quality melting.

So, to save as much space as possible, we redesigned our tunnel furnace from scratch. It was a hard task that forced us to face many challenges, but at the same time it was a chance for us to create a one-of-a-kind machine.

The most performing solution is also the eco-friendliest.

Industries are always in search of new ways to increase productivity at the lowest price. But clearly, this approach does not match with sustainability. In the last years, industries have had to change their priorities and lean on new strategies to produce in a more sustainable way.

And it was such an ecological and responsible perspective that led us to design our new tunnel furnace  without spacers. In fact, we realized that new technologies can be exploited to work more rationally, which means saving more energy and, consequently, reducing our carbon footprint.

T-Barmaster Spaceless combines safety, efficiency and sustainability. With our new furnace we can reduce our environmental impact because

• It helps us reduce the consumption of raw materials (in the case of ingot molds, graphite)
• It optimizes the consumption-production ratio (more ingots per production cycle)

The idea at the heart of our new Spaceless furnace is that we can take advantage of technology and improve it. Starting from this principle, we re-designed our tunnel furnace optimizing its qualities and what we obtained is a brand-new machine which

• Saves space.
• Saves energy.
• Guarantees the best performance.

Let’s compare our new T-Barmaster Spaceless to our standard T-Barmaster:

 

	T-Barmaster One	T-Barmaster One Spaceless
N° of ingots per production cycle	8 molds + 8 spacers	10 molds
Inductor power kW	24	20
Ag/Au kilobar/h	12/14	20

 

With our T-Barmaster Spaceless we managed to reach excellent levels of production - 1kg bar per 1 kW consumption, increasing the number of ingot molds per cycle while drastically reducing the consumption of graphite.

The key for innovation is sophisticated automation.

Pushers play a key role in the movement of ingot molds through the different processing chambers (melting, solidification and cooling) in a closed-circuit system.

There are four pushers involved in the process, but one of them – the one in charge of pushing the ingot mold to the melting chamber and, subsequently, to the solidification chamber – represents the real innovation of this furnace.

This pusher has indeed two levels of push and features a water-based cooling system that protects it from the high temperatures. It is activated by a brushless engine that is in a protected environment together with other electrical elements, far from the melting area.

Gate Valve instead of Pinch Valve

In our traditional furnaces, ingot molds inlet and outlet are regulated by Pinch Valves, pneumatic valves which prevent oxygen from entering the furnace.

In the new T-Barmaster Spaceless, ingot molds are segregated two at a time instead of in continuous blocks. This has enabled us to replace the Pinch Valves with gate valves.

Once the ingot molds are in, the furnace closes the gate valves and is saturated with inert gas to ensure minimal graphite consumption and the best conditions for the precious metal to solidify.  

A high efficiency heart

The beating heart of the T-Barmaster furnace is the brand new high efficiency converter developed by our partner Italimpianti Orafi. Completely integrated into the furnace, this converter is as large as a computer case, ensures significantly reduced energy consumption and is extremely quiet. Moreover, it is designed to be easily replaceable and hence maintainable in a plug & play philosophy.

Conclusions

The performances of the T-Barmaster Spaceless induction furnace for metals is unparalleled, and we are confident that it will set the new standard to be achieved in the production of furnaces with an ever lower impact on consumption and the environment.

In the new T-Barmaster Spaceless we have brought our new work philosophy to life:

• Reduction of energy consumption
• Reduction of raw material
• Reduction of machine footprint
• Industry 4.0 ready

A philosophy that fully espouses the emerging Industry 5.0, which promotes a sustainable, resilient, and human-centred industry.