The facility’s 10-inch, 3600-ton press will receive a water-and-overhead-air quenching system, a dual puller system and a flying cutoff saw. The saw will be incorporated with the existing handling table. The upgrades will be completed and online by early 2011.
The dual water wall/spray quench from Belco Manufacturing will have a three-zone, high-pressure spraying system with a dedicated cooling tower. Two air quench ducts will be integrated to the dual puller’s overhead rail to provide high volume cooling air onto the extrusions. The dual puller has two pullers that bypass each other, and both heads will come up to the flying saw. The pullers are designed to handle extrusion speeds above 200 feet per minute.
The cut-on-the-fly saw is a redesigned component to handle the speeds and heavy profiles from the extruder. The system design will allow for future upgrades, as necessary. “As Hydro is innovating in extrusion design we’re also making sure that our manufacturing capabilities are equally advanced,” said Ralph Westphal, general manager for the North Liberty facility. “This investment in improved capabilities and quality will benefit our existing customers, as well as permit us to serve additional markets; both can count on us as a long-term partner in their success.”
Located about 85 miles east of Chicago near South Bend, Hydro’s extrusion plant in North Liberty is a three-press operation that offers a wide variety of extrusions with fabrications and finishing services for transportation, industrial, electrical, electronics and other product markets.
About Hydro
Extrusion North America is a unit of Norsk Hydro, a global supplier of aluminum and aluminum products. Based in Norway, the company employs 23,000 people in 40 countries and has activities on all continents. Rooted in a century of experience in renewable energy production, technology development and progressive partnerships, Hydro is committed to strengthening the viability of the customers and communities we serve.
In North America, Hydro is a leading provider of extruded aluminum solutions including supply sourcing, extrusion, finishing, and fabrication of components, as well as contract manufacturing services, for a variety of industries.
For more information, please visit www.hydro.com/northamerica.
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