The Al Serve System was developed by HOEI METAL Co. Ltd and is distributed in selected markets by Lethiguel. This system, incorporating a transport ladle, enables in-plant transportation of liquid aluminum and holding furnace refilling operations.
Overview of the pressure dosing system
Molten aluminum is transferred from a melting furnace into a dedicated pressurizing transport ladle and then to any die casting machine without any contact with air.
A pressure dosing system can be embedded on a forklift or not, several configurations are available to arrange the right solution in the right place, for the right application.
Liquid metal transfer with a sealed ladle offers an important safety during transits (no splashes) and drastically brings down the oxide and dross formation.
The filling of the transfer ladle generates an average of 5.2 kg/Ton of oxides with the standard pouring system, down to 0.9 kg/Ton with Al Serve vacuuming system.
3 Steps
Preheating of molten aluminum transport ladle
The ladle is pre-heated before use. Caution: in general, when pre-heating is neglected, thermal issues can occur! Lethiguel and HOEI have conducted tests to determine the perfect sintering process for Al Serve.
Filling molten aluminum from a melting furnace into a ladle
Molten aluminum from the melting furnace is drafted through a pipe by decompressing the inside of the transport ladle. This transfer is automatically stopped by detecting the level of molten metal in the transport ladle
Transfer of molten aluminum from the transport ladle to a die casting machine
By pressurizing the inside of the transport ladle with compressed air, molten aluminum is discharged through a pipe. The application pressure is controlled depending on the weight of molten metal inside the pot. Again, the low limit of molten metal inside the transport ladle is detected with a measuring device. Alternatively, the process can be automatically stopped with an alarm when the die casting machine reaches full capacity.
The advantages of Al Serve
- Safer system than a conventional tilted ladle: no lifting up high and no rotation needed.
- Reduced amount of oxide inclusions as the metal’s exposition to air is minimized.
- Scrap drastically reduced (5kg/ton)
- Easy operation that does not require skilled labor
- Both filing and dosing operations are processed with one device which improves efficiency and productivity.