Łukasiewicz — the Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals, a member of the Łukasiewicz Research Network, selected Seco/Warwick as the supplier of a VIM vacuum furnace.
The furnace is for melting metals and metal alloys on a laboratory scale as a result of a tender for the supply of research equipment. It will be used to develop new types of alloys, make individual castings, and conduct research on melting processes.
The purchase was financed from a targeted subsidy for the implementation of an investment related to scientific activities for the purchase of research equipment granted by the Ministry of Education and Science (currently the Ministry of Science and Higher Education). Seco/Warwick is cooperating with Łukasiewicz – Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals (Łukasiewicz – IMN) for the second time. The Institute already has one similar solution from the vacuum metallurgy segment. The furnace on order, with a maximum operating temperature of 2,000˚C, is a single-chamber VIM furnace with induction heating for melting, designed to produce metal and alloy castings weighing up to 20 kg in vacuum, or under pressure using an inert gas (argon).
The VIM furnace is a compact solution with small dimensions, designed for work in research laboratories. It can be equipped with a sampling system, an alloy additive feeder, and many other functionalities which allow for flexibility in conducting research and development work. The multitude of additional options makes research institutions willing to choose Seco/Warwick solutions, because they provide the ability to conduct various observations.
“Scientific institutions are one of the group of recipients for our solutions,” said Sławomir Woźniak, CEO, Seco/Warwick Group. “For example, we have supplied solutions to the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), which ordered a non-standard, 12-meter vertical rotary retort furnace for the heat treatment of a gyrotron part, as a contribution to the ITER experimental thermonuclear reactor. We have also supplied laboratory furnaces for the Institute of Precision Mechanics. We invest heavily in research and development ourselves. We have our own R&D centers, which allow us to continuously improve the technology we offer.”
The Seco/Warwick Group has been recognized for years as one of the companies investing heavily in innovation. The Group was recognized by the Ministry of Development, who awarded the company the Medal of Merit for Polish Invention on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Patent Office.
The group has its own metallographic laboratory and two R&D centers (in Poland and the United States), and cooperates with many scientific institutions, because it is aware that the development of both the group, partners, and the industry depends on this joint work. The European R&D branch has in its ranks a department (Seco/Tech) where advanced tests, trials, commercial heat treatment, and thermochemical processes are performed, and a metallographic laboratory – Seco/Lab, where a group of experts and researchers work on new technological possibilities, in order to make metal heat treatment more cost-effective, more efficient, and more ecological.
Seco/Warwick also has an R&D department for vacuum induction melting (Seco/Melt). It is here, on a melting furnace with induction heating for vacuum metallurgy with a crucible capacity of 20 kg, that advanced melting and casting of non-reactive metals and their alloys is performed (for external entities, institutions, universities, and commercial customers). These processes are tests, trials, and commercial processes. The furnace enables users to produce Equiax (EQ) castings, as well as castings in the directional crystallization (DS) technology, and single crystal castings (SC) using the Bridgman method.
Łukasiewicz – the Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals is a renowned scientific unit which has been working for the non-ferrous metals industry for more than 70 years. The technological and technical solutions offered cover all stages of the manufacturing and processing of non-ferrous metals, from ore processing to pyro- and hydrometallurgical technologies, material manufacturing technologies, recycling of post-production waste, and environmental protection processes.
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