WCA July 2013

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Wire & Cable ASIA – July/August 2013
Treatmentof wires
(heat treatment, furnaces, descaling,
pickling, acid tanks and chemicals)
True cleaning
specialist
For almost two decades GEO
Reinigungstechnik (GEO) has
specialised in continuous cleaning
equipment for wire, cable and strip.
This includes in high-speed appli-
cations, the manufacture of medical
products, the contact-free cleaning
of precious metal and aluminium alloy
strips for the production of precision
stamped parts, as well as the fully
automatic cleaning of high-grade
steel ribbon for the production of high
temperature superconductors.
In combination with plasma treatment
or in the production process of fasteners
such as bolts and nuts, GEO components
and systems are used in a multitude
of production and finishing stages.
Typical cleaning applications include
the removal of oil, grease, stearates,
soap and dust following the drawing
process and final cleaning before
further operations such as coating.
Demanding applications often require
wet chemical processes which are
generally supported by compact high-
performance ultrasound units and high
pressure nozzles to boost the cleansing
capacity of the purifying agent.
Today’s high quality demands on
the cleaning processes can normally
be realised with proven GEO
components, complemented by state-
of-the-art systems for continuous bath
monitoring, take-up and pay-off units
and much more according to individual
requirements.
Depending on the applications, further
methods like steam cleaning and
mechanically supported washing,
either separately or in any combination,
are available. For less demanding
applications the ‘primary wire wipe’
system is the ideal choice.
The wire to be cleaned passes between
two strips of absorbing tape material,
which moves in opposite directions
laterally so that a clean tape surface is
continuously presented to the wire.
In this way the wire does not come into
contact with contaminated wipers as
is the case when rags or stationary felt
pads are used.
GEO’s product range is completed by
powerful air wipes and a wide variety of
spiral brushes with metal and synthetic
filaments.
GEO-Reinigungstechnik GmbH –
Germany
Website:
Heat treating and testing furnace
No 871 is an electrically-heated 2,000°F (~1,093.3°C) gas-heated box furnace from
Grieve, currently used for heat treating and high temperature testing. 650,000 BTU/HR
are installed in three modulating natural gas burners with a floor mounted combustion air
blower. Workspace dimensions are 30" wide x 48" deep x 30" high.
The unit has 7" insulated walls comprised of 5" of 2,300°F ceramic fibre and 2" of 1,700°F
block insulation. The 6½" floor insulation is made of 4½" of 2,300°F firebrick and 2" of
1,900°F block insulation.
The plate hearth is made of firebrick and is supported by firebrick piers. Controls onboard
No 871 include a Partlow MRC 7000 recording and programming temperature controller
and an electrically-operated vertical lift door.
The Grieve Corporation – USA Website:
Bare wire very quickly acquires a number of other
qualifiers, none of them to be desired: fungible,
brittle, corroded, rusted, oxidised, degraded,
deteriorated, “scabbed”.
The transformation of lead into gold is alchemy,
and it is the stuff of fairy tales. The transformation
of bare wire into a reliable, saleable product –
utilised with confidence by the building, automotive
and power transmission industries worldwide
– is known as surface treatment. It is the special
province of dedicated professionals like those
reviewed in this section of Wire & Cable ASIA.
❍ Ultrasonic wire and strip cleaning system from GEO
❍ The No 871 furnace from Grieve