The homogenizing and annealing furnace for aluminium slabs and billets supplied to and installed into the Rusal facility in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, was specifically designed in order to guarantee the maximum degree of flexibility as per the requirements of a top-performance R&D facility.

The heat-treatment plant consists of one electrically heated homogenizing furnace movable on wheels, two fixed bases with supports and one removable cooling chamber stored on the furnace roof when not in operation.
The furnace performs by means of recirculating forced air heated through electrical porcupine-type heaters; three high efficiency recirculation fans blow the air through an internal adjustable nozzle system.
Aluminium slabs and billets (series 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9), square and round sections ranging from 300x700 mm up to 800x3200 mm, and having lengths from 1000 mm up to 6800 mm, can be processed by the plant.

The movable cooling system includes an innovative exhaust ejection system, which makes it possible to minimize the external layout of the chimney. The movable design of the furnace on the double bases allows the operation in parallel of both the furnace and the cooling chamber.
The furnace is classified as per the highest aerospace standard norms AMS2750 E:

• Temperature class 1 (±3°C)
• Temperature uniformity survey with no load tests
• Temperatures 530°C and 630°C
• Instrumentation class D

The furnace achieved the performance test figures in record time and reached the highest level of performance, especially in temperature uniformity.