Thermserve has recently completed a major upgrade of Hydro Deeside’s DC casting centre at their 63,000 tonnes per year recycling facility in Wrexham, North Wales. Thermserve were the main contractor for the project, which was completed across two phases.

The first phase involved the installation of a new water cooling system, to prepare for the increased water flow rates required by the casting machine upgrade. We installed a new counter-flow cooling tower, increasing the cooling capacity by 50%, new supply and return pumps with high efficiency motors, a complete stainless steel piping system, a PLC-based control system, and a 15 metre high tower complete with a 50 cubic metre GRP tank, providing a constant water supply pressure.

Phase two replaced an existing casting machine with a larger, more efficient machine capable of casting 152mm, 178mm, 203mm and 228mm diameter billets, featuring a new platen and starting heads for up to 64 billets. This casting machine includes new specially-engineered safety systems: an electromechanical sliding platform to provide safe operator access over the casting pit to affix lifting gear to billets for extraction, and a built-in scissor lift for safe maintenance access to the mould tables.

Thermserve also provided a complete, higher-volume launder system, a remote-controlled mould table transfer vehicle, and a mould shop service platform and table manipulator.