Air Liquide has long worked hand in hand with the metallurgical industry to offer its customers a comprehensive range of gas applications, equipment, technical support and related services, enabling them to improve the efficiency of their processes and the quality of their products, while better protecting the environment.

For all market segments, (including foundry), metal recycling and heat treatment) gas applications have not only been developed, but on-site gas production technology has reduced the cost of gas use.

Metal Fusion

Air Liquide offers all equipment and services enabling optimum use of this technology, including:

• Special equipment for melting cast iron in rotary furnaces (ALJET line)
• Equipment for injecting oxygen in cupola furnaces (ALJET line)
• Oxy-gas or oxy-heavy fuel oil burners, optimized to maximize heat transfer to the metal (ALBATCH and ALJET lines).
• Monitoring systems for optimum control of combustion, power distribution and safety (FLAMOXAL system).
• An application-specific oxygen supply system, which ensures reliable supply and optimises pressure and purity, using cryogenic storage tanks or Compact VSA on-site production units (5 to 150 tons/day per line) or SIGMA cryogenic production units up to 300 tons/day per line.
• Various engineering and consultancy services for optimising furnace design and reducing operating costs to a minimum with powerful modelling tools: the ATHENA code and ALJET-ECO software. Exclusive or preferential agreements with service companies or engineering firms enable us to propose a comprehensive turnkey offer.
• Technical assistance for on-site installation and commissioning, operator training and oxygen safety.

Metal Treatment And Refinement

Air Liquide can custom design atmospheres to fit all furnace configurations.

For each type of metal treatment, Air Liquide offers a wide range of blast-pipes for simultaneously injecting various gases while optimising pipe life. Air Liquide invented the double nozzle for simultaneously injecting oxygen and natural gas in converters.

Our modelling programs and experienced specialists can help our customers optimise gas quantities and pressure to obtain the best possible results at the lowest operating costs.

The GAZAL process uses porous plates and plugs to obtain the best dispersion of active or neutral gases, while agitating molten metal to ensure uniformity.

Air Liquide offers a full range of pure gases and mixtures for degassing aluminium.

The on-site production of nitrogen using the FLOXAL™ membrane process is particular well-suited for this application and enables us to propose the optimum nitrogen purity for the particular alloy and the type of finished product desired.

GAZAL porous plugs are easily adapted to furnace ladles and Air Liquide specialists can optimise plug position and size, as well as the selection of gases and pressures.

Metal Fusion Related Applications

• The SPAL process for protecting molten metal in induction furnaces reduces both melting loss and gas pick-up.
• The ALBLACK process for automatically lubricating ingot moulds. This patented process applies a carbon black deposit to molds using an oxy-acetylene flame.
• The CLEANBLAST process for cleaning foundry moulds with carbon dioxide
• The use of oxy-fuel gas burners for cleaning and preheating casting ladles
• The use of FLOXAL™ nitrogen or carbon dioxide to make casting moulds
• The use of argon to treat foundry sullage.

Heat Treatment

Air Liquide offers a full range of atmospheres and services, including ALNAT heat treatment processes.

These processes were designed to:

• Bring you innovation

  Air Liquide has several dozen patents for improving heat treatment processes.

  Today, in addition to new processes like ALNAT I, we offer a wide range of services (such as computer modelling, training, the designing and implementation of solutions, technical support, etc.) to optimise our product offer.

• Improve Your Quality

  This is why, for example, we audit your facilities. Regularly checking your furnace atmospheres and related equipment not only ensures quality and safety for your company, but also for your most demanding customers. These services range from atmosphere analysis to trouble-shooting the most complex problems.

  Partnering with Air Liquide may improve your quality by:

  • Regulating the heat treating atmosphere
  • Optimising cycles
  • Increasing equipment flexibility
  • Reducing scrap
  • Continuously monitoring treatment operations and traceability

  For each type of heat treatment, we can propose a tailor-made solution to control dew point, oxygen concentration, carbon potential or carbon flow during annealing.

• Help you control costs

  Each particular treatment requires a suitable atmosphere. Case-hardening, non-decarburising, reducing or neutral atmospheres, which often contain mostly nitrogen, must all provide high quality at the lowest possible cost. FLOXAL™ and ALNAT line can meet these requirements.