CPT International 4/2019

Figure 1: Adam
Hönig Iron Foundry
is based in Kempten,
in the south of Germany.
Figure 2: Casting of
a machine bed
weighing 8.5 t.
Figure 3: Structural parts made of
EN-GJS-400-15, each weighing 484 kg.
produce about 1,000 t of good castings
per month. Adam Hönig is certified
according to DIN EN ISO 9001: 2019 and
commits to high quality and environmental
standards.
The great number of different grades
and casting weights calls for highly
flexible meltshop equipment, such as
the two induction furnace tandems
from ABP, which both fully meet this
requirement. Tandem 1 consists of two
3-t crucible furnaces, type ITMK 6000,
and a 1,800 kW/250 Hz converter for
the power supply. The second tandem
consists of two 6-t crucible furnaces,
type FS 60 (Figure 4), and a 3,500
kW/250 Hz converter. Both tandems are
equipped with the TwinPower system
which enables the power to be distributed
– by electronic means - in any desired
ratio between the two furnaces of a
tandem [1].
The meltshop is a one-shift operation.
At the end of a shift, when the last
heat has been tapped, the hot crucible
is charged for the first heat of the next
production shift, and left to cool down
to near room temperature. The next
morning at six o’clock, the melting operation
is resumed. For this purpose, starting
at 3 o’clock in the morning, the
cold 6-t furnaces are automatically switched
on to be heated up in the cold
start-up mode, which raises the furnace
temperature linearly to 1,000 °C. For
the 3-t furnaces the heating program
starts at 4 o’clock. In this way, by 6
o’clock, all furnaces are ready for
full-power operation with the charge
having reached a temperature of
1,000 °C.
Developments at Adam Hönig
towards Industry 4.0
With the support of the Kempten University
of Applied Sciences and funding
by the German Federal Environmental
Foundation, Adam Hönig has
developed a data management system
designed to make the production process
more transparent and optimize the
processes in order to reduce energy and
material use [2]. This entails the acquisition
and evaluation of process data
from the charge make-up and mould
making down to the shake-out. The
digital monitoring process is performed
via a smart phone app. Bar code labels
attached to the ladles and flasks, for
example, are scanned by the staff and
the information is sent to a database
(Figure 5). In this way, it is possible to
track what mould was filled at what
time with what alloy. This information
can be used to speed up, for example,
the production of castings of high priority
without having to increase the production
capacity. Additionally, it can be
used to further enhance the energy and
resource efficiency because by optimizing
the sand-metal ratio it can be assured
that only exactly the quantity of
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