Western Extrusions Corp. in Carrollton, Texas, ordered technology and equipment for a new secondary aluminum casthouse for producing extrusion billet. Western is one of the leading independent aluminum extruders in North America and its Carrollton facility is among the largest in America at a single site.
The billet casting center will be supplied by Almex USA. The scope of supply includes two 110,000 lb Ultra-Ultra-Low NOx melting furnaces with an energy-efficient regenerative combustion system, a LARS® molten metal degassing and purification system, a MEGA™ DC casting machine, and a complete casting water management system. Almex will provide facility design and all other peripheral casting line equipment required to produce high quality extrusion billet.
The plant will also be equipped with Almex’s latest generation of automation and control system, the CASTRIGHT® III, which integrates all process equipment enabling them to work together seamlessly. It also offers an array of supervisory control and data acquisition features for Western Extrusions’ plant shop supervisors and management.
The casthouse will produce 6xxx aluminum alloy billet (such as 6063, 6061, 6005A) using process scrap from the company’s operations, as well as other purchased recyclable materials. The use of scrap material reflects Western Extrusions’ commitment to sustainability and environmental consciousness.
To guarantee end-product quality and seamless commissioning, Almex will provide Western Extrusions personnel with comprehensive equipment, process, and technology training and support through the plant’s start of production. This all-inclusive approach towards plant knowledge-building is derived from the supplier’s expertise in aerospace alloy markets, making the Western Extrusions casthouse project the beneficiary of quality management techniques and casting technologies to meet and exceed their billet demands.
Detailed engineering and equipment fabrication is underway, and first billet is planned for 2020.