“Otto Junker outperforms other companies in the field of furnaces for aluminium by two significant technologies: High-convection heating technology and induction heating technology,” Klaus Schmitz, Dipl.-Ing, Vice President Sales, Thermoprocessing Plants for Aluminium- and Copper at Otto Junker

Klaus Schmitz started working with Otto Junker in 1996 as a Project engineer for the Thermoprocessing of Plants. Subsequently, he was promoted to Project Manager, Leader of Product Group, and Division Manager of Thermoprocessing plants for Copper alloys. Since 2017, he is serving the German company as Vice President Sales, Thermoprocessing Plants for Aluminium and Copper. Born in 1968, Klaus Schmitz completed his master's degree in mechanical engineering from RWTH Aachen University.

AL Circle: Can you briefly overview Otto Junker's history and contributions to heat treatment in the aluminium industry?

Mr Klaus Schmitz, Dipl.-Ing: Mr Otto Junker founded our company exactly 100 years ago, in 1924. The foundation was mainly based on a patented casting mould for brass, which was invented by his father Andreas Junker. Accordingly, the business was very much connected to the copper and brass industry semi’s industry at that time. Beyond the aforementioned casting moulds, electrically heated strip annealing furnaces, including strip processing (today’s DAP lines), already became part of Otto Junker’s product range in 1931. Industrial applications of aluminium came up in the 1930s, and based on our experience with brass semi’s, the Otto Junker Company was involved with this from the beginning. In the 1940s, Otto Junker for aluminium already supplied reverberatory melting furnaces, ingot and billet preheating furnaces for hot rolling mills, extrusion presses and forging applications, as well as coil annealers and heat treatment furnaces for strip, plate, tubes and profiles.

AL Circle: How does Otto Junker differentiate itself from other companies in the field of furnaces and plants for aluminium and aluminium-based alloys?

Mr Klaus Schmitz, Dipl.-Ing: Otto Junker outperforms other companies in the field of furnaces for aluminium by two significant technologies: High-convection heating technology and induction heating technology - both technologies are used in one company. High-convection technology is the most advantageous heating technology for temperatures up to 900°C. Based on the aforementioned roots of Otto Junker in brass and aluminium, this technology has been the DNA of Otto Junker for more than 90 years now. In 1950, Otto Junker started the first induction melting furnace in his manufacturing workshop. Very soon, the production of induction furnaces began on his own. Since more than 70 years, also Induction technology is core expertise of Otto Junker Company. Furnaces for steel semis cannot work very well with high-convection. For this reason, at Otto Junker, the applications for the aluminium industry are not a side product of steel industry applications, but aluminium is the main application of everything Otto Junker does.

AL Circle: Otto Junker is known for its innovative technologies. Could you highlight some of the latest advancements in heat treatment processes and equipment explicitly tailored for aluminium?

Mr Klaus Schmitz, Dipl.-Ing: In the R&D technology centre at our headquarters in Germany and in cooperation with RWTH Aachen University, which is located about 25km away only, Otto Junker continuously develops cutting edge technology. There have been 9 patent applications in the last three years. Highlights of our developments for sure are the HiPreQ®-quench for smooth quenching of thinner gauge aluminium strips like Auto-body-sheet (ABS), our reverberatory furnace with an integrated coreless inductor, and electro-magnetic pump or the rotary kiln for recycling contaminated scrap, which was recently installed in our R&D centre.

AL Circle: How does Otto Junker incorporate energy-efficient and sustainable practices into its furnace and plant designs for aluminium heat treatment?

Mr Klaus Schmitz, Dipl.-Ing: Sustainability is a highly relevant topic at Otto Junker. In the R&D field, we developed energy storage and recovery applications in cooperation with university partners and supported by the German government. The first field installation of this is scheduled for this year.

For new furnaces, we can offer a “hybrid-heating” application, which means gas-heating and electric resistance heating in parallel or - what looks more feasible for many customers - installations prepared for switch-over “from gas-heating to electrical resistance heating” as well as installations prepared for switch-over “from natural gas-heating to Hydrogen-heating”. And finally, for existing furnaces, we evaluate and offer upgrades in regard to energy efficiency and sustainability in close cooperation with our customers. In most cases, this starts with mutual workshops of our experts and the customer’s production team.

AL Circle: What are some key industrial applications where Otto Junker's heat treatment solutions have significantly impacted aluminium products' quality and performance?

Mr Klaus Schmitz, Dipl.-Ing: In the specific regard of quality and performance, I see the HiPreQ®-quench in strip annealing lines (CALP-Lines with flotation furnace) as the most relevant improvement. The CALP-lines, which are in operation with this feature already some years now, show much less distortion of thin gauge strip compared to old lines and compared to competitor’s technology.

AL Circle: Can you provide examples of how Otto Junker has customized its offerings to address unique challenges its clients face in the aluminium heat treatment sector?

Mr Klaus Schmitz, Dipl.-Ing: Otto Junker furnaces, in the most cases, are highly customized to the specific targets and sometimes to specific challenges of our clients. As targets, we understand quality requirements and throughput requirements but also adoptions in regard to new product fields and applications by our customers - e.g. the innovative field of battery foil applications for electrical vehicles. As challenges, we understand the customer’s restrictions, which need to be overcome in order to reach the targets. First of all, these are restrictions in regard to space, accessibility or media supplies. For instance, many clients who consider switching from gas-fired to electrically heated face the issue of limited power supply from their grid. This can be partially overcome by using digital twin-modelling and adopting the annealing cycle accordingly.

AL Circle: In what ways does Otto Junker invest in research and development to stay at the forefront of innovation and provide solutions that meet evolving industry needs?

Mr Klaus Schmitz, Dipl.-Ing: Every year, Otto Junker makes relevant efforts for R&D activities. This includes the operation of our R&D centre with many installations from rotary kilns and annealing furnaces to a multi-frequency coreless induction melting furnace. At the same time, we have close relations with relevant institutes at RWTH Aachen University for industrial furnaces and induction technology, as well as those institutes for metallurgy. Beyond performance and quality improvements, the main focus is on sustainability.