100 COMPANY PROFILES

101AWJ 2014

HycastGame Changer Casthouse Solutions

®

In 1990 Hycast AS was established by Hydro to be a commercial manufacturer and market organisation for casthouse technology developed in-house at Hydro’s R&D centre at Sunndalsøra. The first product was an inline degasser but shortly after casting technology for extrusion ingots, and stations for pot line metal fluxing followed. Most of the Hycast products have been captive during these two decades.

Today the Hycast product portfolio covers the whole casting centre and includes;

RAM Removal of Alkali Metal.

Crucible treatment for alkali metal removal, the removal of alkaline metal is carried out by the introduction of aluminium fluoride (AlF3) to the liquid aluminium through a rotor using argon as a transport medium. The RAM system is a customized system that is tailor-made for the tapping system on the smelter.

Hycast® RAM - characteristics and results

• High removal efficiency for alkaline metal and carbides

• Environmentally friendly - no need for chlorine in the cast house process line

• Reduced inclusion level in the pot- line metal transferred to the casting furnace

• Dross formation in casting furnace is reduced due to low Na content

• Optimized furnace cycle time due to minimized or eliminated in- furnace melt treatment

• Patented rotor design and injection system

SIR Inline Melt Refining.

The Hycast® SIR sets the benchmark for the in-line refining of molten aluminium at casting centers.

Hycast® SIR - characteristics and results

• Excellent removal of Hydrogen and inclusions (especially Oxides and Carbides) - especially impor- tant in locations with a high humidity

• For extrusion ingot lines, no mechanical filtration system is required downstream the I-60 SIR

• Exceptionally low dross generation due to inert atmosphere in the reactor

• Low operational cost - few rotors and very low Argon consumption

• Fully automated - environmental and operator friendly

• Small footprint in terms of floor space requirements

• Unique and patented melt refining concept

• Drain free reactor unit

• Available with Chlorine for im- proved Alkali removal efficiency

CMV Casting Machine Vertical.

Hycast® CMV internally guided casting cylinder and mould carriage system. The Hycast® CMV comprises of a vertical casting machine with a single acting internally guided hydraulic casting cylinder for extrusion ingot and sheet ingot casting. The mould carriage system is supplied as a tilt frame on a fixed foundation, or a rollaway mould carriage system with or without an integrated tilt-frame.

Hycast® CMV - characteristics and results.

• Founded on solutions proven to be successful in full-scale operation

• Mould carriage tailor-made to customer-specific requirements

• Mould carriage can be customized for extrusion ingot as well as rolling slab casting

• State of the art internally guided stroke cylinder

• Breakaway-torque limiter for cylinder guide protection

• Easy access to critical components, e.g. torque limiter

• Platen with open steel frame, industry-proven safety system in an automated system

• Fully automated casting sequence obtainable in combination with Hycast® CCS

GC/LPC GC – Gas Cushion / LPC – Low Pressure Casting, extrusion ingot casting technol-ogies.

The Hycast® GC (Gas Cushion) Billet Casting Technology is ideal for production of high quality extrusion billets with excellent surface quality and extrudability. The system is proven worldwide over more than two decades in casthouses owned by Hydro Aluminium and its partners. Hycast® LPC (Low Pressure Casting) Billet Casting Technology is ideal for the production of larger diameters and hard alloys.

Hycast® GC / LPC - characteristics and results

• GC diameter range 127mm - 405mm (5” - 16”)

• LPC diameter range 127mm - 735mm (5” - 29”)

• Other diameter available upon request

• Patented dual graphite rings for optimal oil and gas distribution

• High pit utilization due to opti- mized mould arrangement

HycastGame Changer Casthouse Solutions

®

• High productivity, pit recovery, excellent and consistent surface quality

• A fully automated casting sequen- ce can be obtained by combining the Hycast® Billet Casting Tech- nologies with the Hycast® CCS

AFM/FM AFM – Adjustable Flexi- ble Moulds / FM – Flexi-ble Moulds, sheet ingot casting technologies.

The Hycast® AFM (Adjustable Flexible Mould) Rolling Slab Casting Technology is developed to reduce the number of moulds needed to produce ingots with optimized geometry and surface quality. Hycast FM® (Flexible moulds) have been used within Hydro Aluminium for more than a decade. Flexible moulds with fixed width and moulds with fixed geometry may also be provided – an option for smaller dimensions.

Hycast® AFM - characteristics and results

• Geometry range: Thickness 330mm -700mm, Width 1100mm- 2500mm

• Adjustable range: 300mm -400mm

• Unique and patented flexible mo- uld technology to ensure optimal ingot geometry from start to end, and for varying casting speeds

• High productivity, pit recovery and excellent and consistent surface quality

• A fully automated casting sequen- ce can be obtained by combining the Hycast® AFM with the Hycast® CCS and the Metal Level Control System

Hycast Service Knowledge and Competence.

Hycast supports customers to con-

stantly achieve better quality at lower operation cost and thereby increases the competiveness of its customers.

• Technology and process develop- ment

• Complete casthouse support for customers

• Project management, engineering (mechanical and electrical/auto- mation)

• Close link to Hydro Aluminium’s R&D facilities, including Reference Centre

• Cooperation with NTNU and SIN- TEF in Trondheim, Norway

The business model of Hycast is to be an engineering company for aluminium casthouse projects. Manufacturing is done by a limited number of qualified suppliers. Innovation is a highly priori-tized task and new product develop-ment is done in close collaboration with Hydro’s R&D and production systems, technology partners, customers and suppliers. The core competence of Hycast is actually multi-disciplinary. Aluminium metallurgy knowledge is the basis for all our products and services but process understanding, mechanical and electrical engineer-ing, automation and project execution are equally important competences at Hycast. Over the years a substantial number of small and large projects have been completed in most corners of the world. HES have been the back-bone of Hycast from day one. Since the start in 1990, no Hycast employee has been injured at work! No fatal-ity related to the operation of Hycast equipment has ever been reported. Hycast was the first to deliver a tech-nology portfolio that eliminated the need for Chlorine in the cast house. This was made possible by combining the AIF3 pot line fluxing (RAM) with the SIR inline melt refining unit. The casting processes delivered by Hycast are highly automated and minimize

the need for operators to be in close proximity to the casting pit during all phases of the cast. The Hycast Safety Philosophy is embedded in the auto-mation system, including hardwiring of all emergency functions.

In the past Hycast has introduced new technologies to the market. In 2012, Hycast introduced the Adjustable Flexible Moulds (AFM) for sheet ingot casting. The new AFM technology is based on the proven Hycast flexible mould technology a unique and patented technology that ensures optimal sheet ingot geometry from start to end, and for varying casting speeds. Additionally the AFM reduces the number of mould sets needed in the casthouse as the technology has an adjustable range of up to 400mm depending on the mould width. During TMS 2014, Hycast presented the Low Pressure Casting (LPC) technology for extrusion ingot casting; the foundation of this new technology is based on proven Hycast GC technology. LPC is a new direct chill casting technology for applications where surface quality matters. It’s also ideal for production of larger diameters and hard alloys. The LPC provides a new standard in surface quality as well as thinner inverse segregation zone compared to other technologies.

Service and support is a challenge when working globally. To meet this challenge Hycast is staffed with highly skilled, experienced and mobile service engineers. In addition, in many cases customer assistance may be done from the Hycast office by accessing the cast house systems online for investigations and trouble-shooting. Hycast supports customers to constantly achieve better quality at lower operation cost and thereby increases the competiveness of its customers.

For more information see; www.hycast.no

Contact: hycast@hydro.com

102 COMPANY PROFILES