EBNER was the first industrial furnace maker to design what is now the most common furnace type for annealing larger amounts of copper tube coils (both flat “pancake” coils and tall “level wound” coils) and straight copper tubes: a roller-hearth furnace facility with a vacuum lock, first built at EBNER in 1958.
Implementing vacuum locks ensures process atmosphere consumption is kept as low as possible. Providing a suitable lubricant is used, copper mill products can be bright annealed without prior degreasing.
For selected alloys, a HICON jet cooler can be installed downstream of the furnace to achieve specific material properties. Generally, a cheaper water-cooled radiant cooler is used to achieve the required mechanical values and surface characteristics.
The EBNER design and its advantages:
Gas-tight furnace and cooler, enabling best bright surface finish for copper and most alloys
Low process atmosphere consumption thanks to vacuum locks at inlet and outlet ends
Uniform microstructure
Automatic process control and charge tracking
A HICON system is a prerequisite for a high throughputs of level wound coils