For accurate forecasting and planning, it helps to understand the movement
of key industry indices. The following graphs, compiled by Air Products'
economists, illustrate three-year trends for utility and metals pricing as well
as industrial production. We'll continue to keep you updated once a quarter.
Industrial Production Indexes
Source: US Federal Reserve Bank Board of Governors
Click here to view the graph.
Utility Pricing Metrics
Source: Inside F.E.R.C., Bureau of Labor Statistics
Click here to view the graph.
Steel Prices
Source: Market Pricing
Click here to view the graph.
Key Metals Prices
Source: London Metals Exchange
Click here to view the graph.
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With today’s high fuel costs, industrial gas
suppliers often get asked if oxygen can save their customers money.
The economics depend on plant operations and particular business needs,
but usually oxygen makes sense when customers want to increase
production or reduce emissions of NOx and particulates. For a customer
who can take advantage of 20% to 30% more production at 15% to 20%
lower cost per pound of product, oxygen technologies are a great fit.
These customers often realize paybacks of two to three months with
doubled profit margins. However, if the only goal is to reduce fuel
costs, oxy-fuel combustion may not be the best approach.
To find out more about how oxy-fuel works, what factors have the greatest
effects on the economics, and the different technologies used for different
applications, view the entire article (PDF, 16 K).
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With business growing an average of 17% per year, Solar Atmospheres has
become one of the largest commercial vacuum heat treaters in the United States.
Solar operates a large horizontal vacuum furnace, and initial production
runs have been impressive, with cycle times for four titanium coils weighing
30,000 pounds cut in half and a power efficiency that exceeds design
specs and rated capacity by 50%. But the "big" story coming out of
Hermitage, Pennsylvania is a 24-foot vacuum furnace and the unique,
rapid gas quenching system developed to cool huge loads in a hurry.
Solar has been able to speed quench rates in its furnaces by 30%
by switching from 100% argon to 100% helium, using a highly efficient
power supply, and "overspeeding" the fans. "At these quench speeds,
I can cool thick sections of 4140 and 4340 stainless steels and bearing
steels right in the furnace, where before, they would have been removed
and quenched in oil," says William R. (Bill) Jones, Founder and CEO.
Between supplying high purity helium and providing exceptional technical
expertise, Air Products has been instrumental in the success of
Solar's new vacuum furnaces.
Read the full case study to learn about other helium solutions provided
to Solar Atmospheres (PDF, 503 K).
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New metals website offers technical information
As part of our effort to promote learning and technological innovations in the
metals industry, we have redesigned our metals website to make it easier to
navigate and find the information you're looking for. Visit
www.airproducts.com/metals for
technical papers and literature, Ask the Expert questions and answers,
useful safety and gas-related information, and more.
New alliance expands service, technology offerings
Air Products has entered into a marketing agreement with Surface Combustion, Inc.,
a leading manufacturer of thermal systems equipment used in metals processing
and heat treating, to jointly market an integrated portfolio of products and
services to the metals processing industry in North America.
In many instances, customers use industrial gas and generated atmospheres
for their process due to a combination of metallurgical and economical factors.
When taking these factors into account, this relationship allows both companies to
offer a unique, one-stop solution. The complementary mix of offerings includes a
variety of industrial gases, atmosphere generators, equipment, services, and technologies.
"The bottom line is that a joint marketing approach allows both companies to
better serve our mutual customers," explains Meri Lazar, Air Products'
metals market manager. "For Air Products, this means we are now in a
unique situation to offer a broad range of solutions and technologies to a
broader base of metals customers."
Assess Your Operation
Want to know how you can save thousands of dollars and create a safer work
environment? The Metals
Processing Assessment Center can help. Developed by a team of industry
experts from Air Products and ASM International, this 10-minute online
assessment will instantly generate a personalized report full of improvement
ideas that can:
- Reduce process variability and operating costs by thousands of dollars
- Improve asset utilization, part quality, and process monitoring and control
- Create a safer workplace.
Taking the assessment also enters you in our "Head of the Class" contest
for four days of world-class best practice training at ASM's campus in Ohio.
This includes tuition for the program, housing, breakfast, and lunch each day,
and one group dinner.
Log on—you have
nothing to lose and lots to gain.
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Choosing the right atmosphere for a process is not simply a matter of elaborate
equipment; it requires knowledge of which gases tend to react with the metal,
what must be controlled, how close the control must be, and the production patterns.
While many companies have developed their own methods of cost and
profitability analysis, many of these models do not consider all of the
cost-of-ownership factors that affect the real productivity of the operation.
Air Products can help you evaluate your operational costs to
determine the most cost-effective atmosphere for your operation.
To learn more, read "The
Theory and Economics of Atmosphere Selection,"
from the January/February issue of Heat Treating Progress (PDF, 376 K).
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Thomas Niehoff
Principal Industry Engineer
Q:
How can I optimize melting of contaminated metal scrap??
A:
Metal scrap that is
contaminated with combustibles
like oil, paint, or
plastic is difficult to melt
with conventional methods. Thermal
delacquering systems are often used to
pretreat the scrap before it is melted, but
these systems increase operational costs.
Processing contaminated scrap directly
in air-fuel melting furnaces also has many
drawbacks. In addition to the high combustion
gas volumes, the fumes of the
combustible material typically overwhelm
the baghouse systems in terms of gas
volume load, particles, and temperatures.
Also, particle load and contamination of
the furnace gases often do not allow
operating regenerative burner systems,
making energy-efficient melting hard to
achieve.
Get the rest of the answer.
View the "Ask the Experts" archive.
Send us your questions.
Each quarter, we'll select the most challenging question to
win a $100 gift certificate. Congratulations to Dave Brady, last quarter's winner.
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Our representatives will be at the following trade shows. We hope to see
you there to discuss your metals processing needs.
- ShipTech 2005, March 1-2, 2005, Biloxi, Mississippi
- Plant tour at Air Products Air Separation Plant, March 15, 2005, El Segundo, California
- WESTEC 2005 Exposition & Conference, April 4-7, 2005, Los Angeles, California
- CastExpo05, booth 5916, April 16-19, 2005, St. Louis, Missouri
- Metal Powder Industries Federation Conference, June 19-23, 2005, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- 23rd Heat Treating Conference and Exposition, September 26-28, 2005 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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Leave it to an avid soccer fan to understand the value of teamwork. A coach and
devotee of "football," as they call the sport in his native Britain, Russell Hewertson's
desire to work with others toward a common goal makes him an ideal person to
head up Air Products' commerical technology team focusing on combustion.
Russ has nearly 15 years of technical expertise overseeing air separation units,
nonferrous and aluminum melting, coil annealing, extrusion, rotary, and reverb
furnaces. Most recently, he has been working with steel foundries and other
industries to help integrate oxy-fuel systems.
Customer service is a priority for Russ. He often remains on call 24 hours a
day, seven days a week. And he's even resolved problems with issues such as
programmable logic controls at 2 a.m. (much to the dismay of his wife).
He enjoys the team effort he and his colleagues put in with customers.
"Here, you form long-term friendships," says Russ. "You see lots of different
challenges, operations, and personalities. And at the end of the day,
you helped someone be more competitive and delivered real value to them.
It's extremely satisfying."
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You can request more information or any of the documents referenced
in this issue by calling us at 800-654-4567, code 204, or by sending an email to
gigmrktg@airproducts.com.
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© Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. 2005
