Inline Furnace (HybroHeat^®)

The HybroHeat^® concept developed and patented by IAS combines the advantages of heating in a gas furnace, in particular the cost advantages of gas as an energy source, with the advantages of inductive heating.

Unlike the gas+induction concept “standalone” both heating concepts are integrated in one line, which eliminates handling and non-productive times for the transfer of the preheated billets to the downstream induction system.

Coming from the log store, the logs are first preheated in a highly efficient gas furnace type HP7 from  OMAV Spa, also a company of the SMS group.

The gas furnace is divided into several zones. In the preheating zone, indirectly heated with exhaust air from the combustion zone, the logs are preheated to approx. 200 °C; in the heating zone, the temperature is then raised to approx. 400 °C – depending on the alloy and the process requirements, among other things. The last heating zone is formed by an induction coil, which in turn is subdivided into several zones, depending on the maximum length of the later billet, and enables an axial temperature profile to be set. After heating, the log is fed to a saw, which is also an integral part of the HybroHeat^® concept and, depending on the press and process requirements, saws the finished, heated log section.

A special feature of the induction coil, in addition to the direct integration into the line, is the possibility of saving a coil zone, since the end of the billet remains in the gas furnace during inductive heating and this ensures the necessary basic temperature.