StrikoWestofen was invited to address delegates at the 2017 Advanced Die-Casting Technology Seminar in Taiwan, to discuss with hundreds of experts how the production efficiency of the die-casting industry in the region can be enhanced. 

Mr Kevin Zhu, South China Sales Manager at StrikoWestofen, used the die-casting of structural components as an example to demonstrate the benefits of advanced melting technology: enhanced durability, reduced energy consumption and minimised metal loss lead to an overall reduction of manufacturing costs and increased productivity.

Improved melting capability key to casting industry success in Asia Pacific

In 2017, growth of the world economy is slowly picking up, reaching a growth rate of around 3.1%. To respond to an increasing demand for metal castings, the die-casting industry in Asia Pacific has started to pay more attention to quality and service. But to achieve sustainable growth, it also has to  look at improving its melting capability.

StrikoWestofen is ideally placed to provide solutions to this issue. The engineering and R&D divisions at the operations centre in Wiehl, Germany, have been dedicated to technological innovations in melting technology for decades.

StrikoMelter®: taking melting efficiency to the next level

During the seminar, Mr. Wan Li gave a brief introduction to the StrikoMelter, a furnace technology that allows foundries of any size to ensure the most efficient production.

The most important factor leading to increased costs in liquid aluminum manufacturing is metal loss in the melting process. According to tests in real foundry environments, StrikoMelter furnaces can melt over 99.7% of raw material into liquid metal during the casting process where the industry average is 97%. In addition, StrikoMelter is able to achieve high energy efficiency. For instance, only 60m³ of natural gas will be consumed to melt one tonne of aluminum alloy. Based on an innovative structural design and durable components, StrikoMelter furnaces have a lifetime of 7300 days, which ensures high availability and long maintenance intervals to minimise operating costs in foundries.

A quick return on investment

With a standard annual capacity of 10,000 tonnes, StrikoMelter has a gas consumption of around 60m3/t, 15m3/t lower than traditional furnaces where the rate of metal loss is about 3%, almost 50% less than that of traditional furnaces. With an investment of CNY 3-5 million, around CNY 4.5 million can be saved every year, which means operation costs can be recovered within only one year.