Plant engineering for the aluminum industry: melting furnaces, casting systems and heat treatment furnaces from a single source.
Gautschi Engineering GmbH
Ranshofen (AT) · Taicang (CN) · Wadsworth, Ohio (US)New on Amplifa
About Gautschi Engineering
Gautschi Engineering GmbH, headquartered in Ranshofen, Austria, has been active as a supplier of plants for the aluminum industry since 1922. The company delivers products ranging from individual systems to complete casthouses: melting and holding furnaces, vertical D.C. casting machines, ingot casting machines with robotic stacking, as well as heat treatment furnaces such as pusher furnaces, chamber furnaces, pit furnaces and the Compact Coil Furnace. The range of services covers consulting, design, engineering, manufacturing, commissioning and service, including process control systems, spare parts and modernizations. Together with its sister company HPI, Gautschi operates the Casthouse (R)Evolution Center (C-R-C), a fully functional industrial casthouse for vertical and horizontal direct chill casting focused on alloy development, customer demonstrations, training and special production runs. Customers include aluminum groups operating worldwide as well as smaller, owner-managed foundries; Gautschi is part of the family-owned EBNER GROUP.
- Site
- Ranshofen
- Processes
- Melting and holding furnaces (round-top melting furnace, 10-170 t liquid metal capacity,, Vertical casting machines (vertical D.C. casting machine, Airglide® mold system, 5-150 t casting, Ingot casting machine and stacking lines (robotic stacking, 6-25 kg ingot weight, up to 22 t/h, Pusher furnaces (heat treatment, furnace charge up to 810 t), Chamber furnaces (protective gas annealing, homogenization, batch-wise), Pit furnaces (references up to 470 t furnace charge, homogenization), Compact Coil Furnace (CCF, single-coil furnace, 75% energy savings, 55% protective gas savings), VAREGA® regenerative combustion system for aluminum melting furnaces
- Materials
- Aluminum, Aluminum alloy 2xxx, Aluminum alloy 6xxx, Aluminum alloy 7xxx, Aluminum alloy 7150, Pure aluminum (smelter grade), Casting alloys (foundry alloys), Pure aluminum (Smelter Grade)
- Certificates
- Certifications
- Founded
- 1922
- Industries
- Aluminum industry (primary aluminum), Aluminum industry (secondary aluminum/recycling), Foundries (casthouses), Rolling mills and extrusion plants, Aluminum industry (primary and secondary aluminum), Foundries/casthouses
- 01
Consulting
- 02
Design/Engineering
- 03
Manufacturing
- 04
Assembly
- 05
Commissioning
- 06
Service, spare parts and modernizations
Materials & Alloys
Aluminum
The central material for all Gautschi furnaces, casting systems and process technologies.
Aluminum alloy 2xxx
For the production of billets and ingots on vertical casting machines.
Aluminum alloy 6xxx
Standard alloy for extrusion billets and rolling ingots.
Aluminum alloy 7xxx
High-strength alloys, in particular for aerospace applications in the casting process.
Aluminum alloy 7150
Shows less crack formation with the Gautschi Airglide® mold system than with competing systems.
Pure aluminum (Smelter Grade)
Processed on ingot casting machines with robotic stacking.
Casting alloys (Foundry Alloys)
Also a target material of the ingot casting machines and stacking lines.
Locations
Ranshofen
ATHeadquarters, engineering, manufacturing, C-R-C technology center
- Part weight / size
- Casting weight 5–150 t; liquid metal capacity 10–170 t
- Materials
- Aluminum alloys (2xxx, 6xxx, 7xxx, 7150)
- Vertical D.C. casting machine VDC90 (5–150 t)
- Horizontal casting system (HPI)
- Vertical casting system
- Round-top melting furnace (10–170 t)
- Pusher furnace (up to 810 t charge)
- Chamber furnace
- Pit furnace (up to 470 t charge)
- Compact Coil Furnace (CCF)
- Ingot casting machine with robotic stacking (6–25 kg, up to 22 t/h)
Taicang (Suzhou)
CNSales/service company Gautschi Industrial Equipment (Suzhou) Co., Ltd.
Wadsworth (Ohio)
USSales/service company Gautschi North America LLC
Industries
Processes & technical limits
| Processes | Tolerance | Max. part | Weight | Lot size | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melting and holding furnaces (round-top melting furnace, 10-170 t liquid metal capacity,Casting | – | – | 10 t – 170 t liquid metal capacity | – | Aluminum (liquid metal, various scrap types) |
| Vertical casting machines (vertical D.C. casting machine, Airglide® mold system, 5-150 t castingCasting | – | – | 5 t – 150 t casting weight | – | Aluminum alloys (in particular 2xxx, 6xxx, 7xxx, 7150) |
| Ingot casting machine and stacking lines (robotic stacking, 6-25 kg ingot weight, up to 22 t/hCasting | – | – | 6 kg – 25 kg | – | Pure aluminum, Casting alloys |
| Pusher furnaces (heat treatment, furnace charge up to 810 t)Heat treatment | – | – | 810 t furnace charge | – | Aluminum rolling ingots |
| Chamber furnaces (protective gas annealing, homogenization, batch-wise)Heat treatment | – | – | – | – | Aluminum (strip/foil, extrusion billets, rolling ingots) |
| Pit furnaces (references up to 470 t furnace charge, homogenization)Heat treatment | – | – | 470 t furnace charge | – | Aluminum rolling ingots |
| Compact Coil Furnace (CCF, single-coil furnace, 75% energy savings, 55% protective gas savings)Heat treatment | – | – | – | – | Aluminum |
| VAREGA® regenerative combustion system for aluminum melting furnacesHeat treatment | – | – | – | – | Aluminum |
| Scrap processingEngineering | – | – | – | – | Aluminum scrap |
| Alloy development, customer demonstrations, operator training and small/special production runsCasting | – | – | – | – | Aluminum |
| Engineering, design, manufacturing, assembly, commissioning and complete casthouses from aEngineering | – | – | – | – | Aluminum |
11 Anlagen & Maschinen
| Machine | Manufacturer / model | Quantity | Working area | Year built | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vertical D.C. casting machine (vertical D.C. casting machine) | Gautschi Engineering VDC90 | – | 5-150 t casting weight | – | Ranshofen, Austria / customer systems worldwide |
| Horizontal casting system (horizontal continuous casting facility) | HPI High Performance Industrietechnik GmbH | 1 | – | – | C-R-C, Ranshofen, Austria |
| Vertical casting system (vertical casting facility) | Gautschi Engineering | 1 | – | – | C-R-C, Ranshofen, Austria |
| Round-top melting furnace (round top melting furnace) | Gautschi Engineering | – | 10-170 t liquid metal capacity | – | – |
| Pusher furnace (pusher furnace, also electric) | Gautschi Engineering | – | up to 810 t furnace charge | – | – |
| Chamber furnace (chamber furnace) | Gautschi Engineering | – | – | – | – |
| Pit furnace (pit type furnace) | Gautschi Engineering | – | up to 470 t furnace charge | – | – |
| Compact Coil Furnace (CCF, single-coil furnace) | Gautschi Engineering CCF | – | Energy savings 75%, protective gas savings 55% | 2019 | – |
| Ingot casting machine with robotic stacking (ingot casting machine with robotic stacking) | Gautschi Engineering | – | Ingot weight 6-25 kg, up to 22 t/h | – | – |
| Shaft furnace (shaft furnace) | Gautschi Engineering | – | – | – | – |
| Roller-hearth furnace for aluminum | EBNER (EBNER GROUP) | – | – | – | – |
Additional services
Reference customers
Quality
Gautschi describes its systems as featuring precise, robust designs, high levels of automation and fully automatic production via PLC controls and industrial computers; the C-R-C serves the continuous further development of molds and casting systems, including aspects such as safety, quality, metal yield and productivity.
| Evidence | Ranshofen |
|---|---|
| Certifications |
Company History
- 1922
Founded as 'Caloriewerke Gautschi & Brand' by Rudolf Gautschi in Singen, Germany; manufacture of small furnaces for various applications.
- 1935
Relocation to Schaffhausen, Switzerland.
- 1948
Relocation to Tägerwilen, Switzerland, as 'Gautschi Electro-Fours SA'.
- 1969
Sale of the company to RUHRGAS AG.
- 1984
Acquisition by KHD Humboldt Wedag AG; turnkey foundry plants for primary and secondary aluminum.
- 1995
Development of the VAREGA® regenerative combustion system for aluminum melting furnaces.
- 1998
Merger with MAERZ to form 'Maerz-Gautschi' under the RHI Engineering Group.
- 2002
DBAG acquires all RHI companies; founding of the holding company HTE.
- 2005
Acquisition of the Airsol Veil® and Airglide® patent and trademark rights from Hydro Aluminium; founding of a subsidiary in Beijing.
- 2008
Separation from MAERZ; renaming to Gautschi Engineering GmbH.
- 2010
Acquisition by EED Holding AG of the EBNER GROUP; Gautschi Industrial Equipment (Suzhou) is added.
- 2017
Gautschi North America LLC is added; HPI becomes part of the EBNER GROUP.
- 2019
Start of construction of the Casthouse (R)Evolution Center (C-R-C); introduction of the Compact Coil Furnace (CCF).
- 2020
Relocation to Ranshofen, Austria; start of operations in the C-R-C; introduction of a new generation of rolling ingot molds.
- 2022
100th company anniversary.
- 2025
Laser upgrade (Twin Delta) of the VDC90 vertical casting machine for a Chinese customer completed.