Extral Aluminium, a Polish company specializing in aluminum extrusions, installed a new nitriding system as part of the expansion of its operational footprint. The expansion project included the construction of a new building to house a new extrusion press line and nitriding system. This expansion project enables the company to diversify its range of extruded products, while maintaining a focus on sustainability and energy efficiency — thus bolstering the company’s manufacturing capabilities to better serve the construction, automobile, and machinery industries.
Prior to the project, Extral Aluminium outsourced its nitriding operations to a local heat treater due to quality issues encountered with an underperforming in-house nitriding unit. However, this latest investment enables them to bring nitriding operations back in-house, ensuring better control over the quality and consistency of their nitrided dies, while also benefiting from expedited turnaround times.
The turnkey nitriding system includes an NX-1015 pit-type furnace with a 2 ton (4410 lb) load capacity and Nitreg® technology, offering proven nitriding treatments that optimize die performance and throughput, while concurrently reducing tooling costs. The system is able to nitride H11 and H13 extrusion dies of various sizes and contributes to the company’s sustainability objectives by providing more efficient use of process gases and electricity.
“Working with Extral on this project has been a pleasure,” said Marcin Stoklosa, project manager at Nitrex. “I have known the key contacts at Extral for nearly a decade, having met them and discussed their needs at various trade shows across Europe. Seeing customers invest in their business and achieve their goals, especially when it aligns with our values of innovation and sustainability, is always rewarding.”