ThyssenKrupp Steel AG last year approved a plan to invest EUR 13.5 million in a vacuum induction degassing and pouring (VIDP) furnace for the production of nickel-base alloys. Once the project is completed in summer 2003, ThyssenKrupp VDM will have the largest melting plant for special alloys in the world, with heat weights of 20 to 30 metric tons. The new VIDP furnace will also be used by ThyssenKrupp VDM to produce nickel- and cobalt-base superalloys for the aerospace industry. The remelting facilities (ESR and VAR) were taken into operation at the company’s Unna plant over the course of the last two years. The size and features of the facility will permit cost-effective operation and high production levels, with tap-to-tap times of less than six hours. The contract to build the VIDP facility was awarded to ALD Vacuum Technologies AG. The furnace will start operation only a year after the contract was awarded.
