IHEA has been developing a variety of initiatives over the past six months relating to sustainability and decarbonization in the industrial heating equipment industry.
“We are rolling out the first initiatives we’ve been working on,” said IHEA Executive Vice President Anne Goyer. “There’s no question there is a great deal of uncertainty for many in our industry when it comes to determining how to begin addressing the issues of sustainability and decarbonization. With many years of experience and expertise from our membership, IHEA is ready to help the industry through the daunting task of lowering carbon emissions in an objective and unbiased manner.”
The first initiative was to develop a Sustainability area on the IHEA website that features the foundation of information the industry needs. This section of the IHEA website will evolve as time goes by. Content and resources will be added on a regular basis, and visitors will always find something new that will be of value. To access this information, go to www.ihea.org and click the “Sustainability” tab on the navigation bar at the top of the home page.
The first three items under Sustainability on the website include:
Frequently Asked Questions
The Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section on IHEA’s Sustainability page will be an evolving list of answers to the most popular questions asked today. Visitors are encouraged to submit their own questions that will be answered by industry experts. If you don’t see a question you would like answered, complete the FAQ submission form at the bottom of the page and the question and answer will be added to the website.
Glossary of Terms
Hoping to alleviate much of the confusion involved in sustainability and decarbonization discussions, the glossary provides a quick review of commonly used sustainability and decarbonization terminology. This section on the IHEA website will evolve as the initiatives grow.
Resource List
The IHEA Resource List is a growing collection of important resources to help the industry find a wide variety of information related to sustainability and decarbonization. It includes links to websites that IHEA members have found useful.
In addition to the new Sustainability section on the website, IHEA is launching a complimentary webinar series meant to walk people through many of the issues they are or will be dealing with related to decarbonization.
The first four series include:
- May 11: Thermal Processing Carbon Footprint.
- June 15: Defining Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions to Target NET-ZERO.
- July 20: DOE Tools and Programs for GHG Reduction.
- August 24: Ongoing Sustainability: Industry Best Practices for Continual Improvement.
More info: www.ihea.org/sustainabilitywebinars
Member spotlight: Super Systems Inc.
SSi was established in July 1995 by Bill Thompson, father of current CEO Steve Thompson, and it has been serving the thermal-processing industry ever since. Gold probes have been a mainstay of the business for more than 25 years, and the company’s probes continue to set the standard for oxygen detection and carbon calculation. As time passed, many other technologies have been introduced, such as dew point analyzers, gas analyzers, process controllers, software, and flow technology. Almost all products are the result of customers’ requests for more heat-treatment-specific solutions. SSi began with the heat-treater in mind. That focus continues to guide the company in developing new products and technologies to help its customers meet industry standards of quality and repeatability.
SSi now has 110 employees and serves many major industries, including aerospace, automotive, military/defense, engines/propulsions, machine building, agriculture, and medical.
SSi will always be known for the Gold Probe, but today the company’s product line includes so much more: controllers, flow meters, analyzers, software solutions, and engineered systems — all products SSi is proud to offer the thermal processing industry today.
The SSi team has extensive industry experience in addressing technological demands to help its customers be more efficient and produce better-quality products. SSi products help deliver cost-effective, precise, and reliable solutions to its customers’ heat-treating processes. Today’s heat treater is looking for ways to consistently run parts and eliminate scrap and rework. Industrial process controls such as the SSI Modular Matrix provide that foundation. The expandable I/O allows the system to extend to all inputs, making processes efficient and error free. In addition, SSi’s SCADA package (SuperDATA) provides all stakeholders with real-time and historical information to make intelligent decisions from virtually anywhere.
SSi provides a wide array of technology specific to each application, software, or hardware. In its state-of-the-art facility, the company has the resources to design and build technology from the circuit board up. SSi employs professionals in the areas of electrical, computer, metallurgical, and mechanical engineering to deliver the latest technology to the industry.
SSi began with the Gold Probe. It has been enhanced over the years, but it is still the probe the company supplies for applications where carbon or lack of oxygen are important. SSI manufactures infrared (IR) analyzers, and they are the standard of the industry with in-house developed firmware and IR technology. SSi has a line of industrial gas and liquid flow meters that provide precise control, second to none, with many different options to address the right application. The company has been addressing the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) for years with its SCADA system. SSi developed SuperDATA for process data collection, and it is used globally by commercial and captive heat treaters. Customers can capture millions of data points daily to provide historical proof of process and real-time business intelligence.
SSi’s eFlo 2.0 flow meter is designed for harsh environments and uses superior technology for measuring gas and liquid flow. The eFlo 2.0 can come with a keypad or touchscreen interface and is offered in a variety of sizes and motorized manual valves. SSi’s technology provides temperature and pressure compensation to provide precision control of gas and liquid flow rates.
The Matrix Series Controller provides a flexible platform for meeting a large variety of control applications. The expandable I/O for analog and digital cards allows for right-sizing an application. The instrument has all the built-in features for sophisticated thermal-processing applications, includes a customizable HMI allowing the right interface to be created for the application, as well as built-in data logging. SSi’s Modular Matrix is applicable in vacuum, nitriding, carburizing, annealing, solution, aging, ferritic nitrocarburizing, endothermic gas, nitrogen methanol, multi zone, and more.
SSi’s SuperDATA software package is an HMI SCADA system designed specifically for the thermal-processing industry. This package allows personnel on the shop floor to use data for immediate decisions and proof of process. This software was created with the goal of giving business stakeholders the key performance data yielding quality heat-treated parts in the most efficient manner.
SSi has a dedicated R&D team that is constantly looking for ways to improve existing products or bring new technology and ideas to the industry. In the last 12 months, the company has stayed the course of continuing this practice where equipment design has been improved in order to provide more precision in atmosphere evaluation and control. A new instrument platform headed to the market provides modular I/O and enhanced features for many types of heat-treating processes. Software enhancements are continuously developed with operational efficiencies and industrial automation in mind.
Looking to the future, SSi plans to continue to lead the way. SSi is also placing an emphasis on minimizing the carbon footprint of its customers and the thermal-processing industry as a whole. Its products directly play a role in efficiency, reducing scrap and reducing rework, which ultimately allows those using SSi’s products to reduce their carbon footprint as well as save time and money. SSi has offices in five countries with business partners spanning the globe.
Company info: Super Systems Inc. 7205 Edington Dr. Cincinnati, Ohio, 45249; Phone: 513-772-0060; Fax: 513-772-9466; Info@supersystems.com
Calendar of Events
IHEA Induction Seminar
May 16| Alabama Power Technology Applications Center | Calera, Alabama
Classroom instruction and hands-on demonstrations in the lab on the basics of heat induction, including induction theory, heat sources and simulation problems. Includes copy of IHEA’s Induction Process Heating Handbook for Industrial Applications. Registration fee is $125.
Safety Standards & Codes Seminar
May 23 | Donald E. Stephens Convention Center | Rosemont, Illinois
Process Heating & Cooling Show
May 24| Donald E. Stephens Convention Center | Rosemont, Illinois
The 2023 Process Heating & Cooling Show is a place for anyone involved with industrial heating and cooling processes. This event will bring together industrial cooling and heating equipment makers with plant and process personnel from numerous companies in the process industries, including those working in oil and gas, electronics, pharmaceuticals, food, beverages, packaging and plastics.
» Register at www.process-heating.com/heat-cool-show
For details on IHEA events, go to www.ihea.org/events
