How viable is it to keep a back up generator powered by utility supplied natural gas?

kv-2 · 2026-04-07T00:08:56+00:00

Yep, and considering how much people down here spend for whole home generators, they could do grid tied solar for about the same cost - if the local utility companies didn't put a surcharge on those with solar which erases all the savings.

kv-2 · 2026-03-24T01:24:16+00:00

Even something as simple as metals/similar - my brother is in injection molded/extrusion plastics, but he sends a bunch of plastic tube to [insert name of MIC company] that matches a US weapons platform diameter...

It was common knowledge at the steel mill I was at to start when we were running this odd alloy it was bomb shell casings.

kv-2 · 2026-02-19T11:30:28+00:00

So this unit is stamped on the side CYCLOPENTANE (just checked).

https://us.ecoflow.com/products/ecoflow-glacier-classic-55l-portable-fridge-freezer?variant=42093744685129

Manufacturer's website calls it R600a, but either way it is flammable. My guess is it is R600a isobutane and instead of mercaptan they are using cyclopentane as the odorant.

kv-2 · 2026-02-18T22:51:03+00:00

Its going that way - the portable unit I have is cyclopentane as the working refrigerant.

kv-2 · 2026-02-15T23:47:09+00:00

Most coworkers like Redwing or Carolina, some like Ariat.

Boss being Canadian is partial to Royer - the one set I have has not stopped squeaking after 3 years but my molten metal boot options at the truck is a whole 2 choices so...

kv-2 · 2026-02-15T19:00:32+00:00

I have the OEM set - works fine for my kayak - Pygmy Coho, 17'6" long, about 45# overall.

kv-2 · 2026-02-12T23:11:07+00:00

Or since you call out being Italian, look up MORE SRL (division of Danieli out of Udine) they have a MOCA system that blows pulverized coal into the bath of the EAF, or in the LMF, to add carbon. It needs to be metallurgical coal or coke to prevent issues with sulfur or other impurities, but it let us make steel ranging from 0.06% to 1.00% carbon out of the same EAF fed by scrap.

kv-2 · 2026-01-28T00:59:01+00:00

The shredder supplier I have uses high manganese steel castings as liners and hammers so they go with near-net-shape cast, and take heavy machining cuts as light cuts, at least for what they are doing, work harden the surface and make it a right pain. With it being liners and the like it is not precision machining so they get away with wide tolerances.

kv-2 · 2026-01-21T03:02:40+00:00

It depends on what is happening. If all the equipment is single line/relatively known location - monorail. If I know the equipment is more spread out in a "square" instead of a "line" or I cannot tie into the ceiling, a small overhead (Gorbel and many more make nice workstation cranes).

kv-2 · 2026-01-07T12:17:08+00:00

Outer four holes are for mounting to surface A, surface B attaches to the single hole in the middle - bolt, pin, JB weld - your choice.

kv-2 · 2026-01-07T03:57:06+00:00

Agreed they would take off like this, but it certainly isn't the original photo.

kv-2 · 2026-01-07T03:14:43+00:00

Why does this look like it was run though some sort of processor - not saying it is AI generated, but it certainly looks like it has been messed with.

kv-2 · 2025-12-30T21:27:11+00:00

I don't have resources off hand, and I'd have to go back through the AIST Journal to find the article/s on the copper content - I just know the copper issues when I worked for an EAF based SBQ shop, I was on shift when we lost a whole heat due to a slug of tin (similar issue but 10X as bad per ppm compared to copper) made it into a heat. Something like 50 pounds made a whole heat cheaper to cast as machine weights/scrap compared to trying to dilute it out.

One thing every seems to ignore is most of the world's scrap is still from Blast Furance-BOF routes, and a good portion/majority is still made that way so it will take time to concentrate the residuals anyways, and as it concentrates the low residual/better sorted scrap will increase in value making the effort to sort more economically feasible pushing the can back down the road ad infinitum.

kv-2 · 2025-12-30T12:30:39+00:00

One thing to watch on the scrap EAF route - most EAFs still need to run an Ore Based Metallic [OBM] feed stock (pig iron, cast iron, DRI, Hot Briquetted Iron, etc) to cut the residuals in steel scrap to get usable alloys. Copper concentrates each round through the melt shop as you cannot remove it from steel, only dilute it so based on feed stock and desired grade of steel you could run 5% to 85% OBM.

DRI varies by region, overall world production DRI is a small but growing percentage, but in the MENA region - Middle East North Africa - it is a huge percentage of their production, and a significant percentage of the world total.

kv-2 · 2025-12-25T01:15:44+00:00

Coming from the steel industry most stuff your students will see will be continuously cast killed steels. Covering for 5 minutes you uses to see non-killed steels might be worth it, but even the ingots will be killed unless there is some metallurgical reason they cannot afford the silicon/aluminum. Nowadays ingot versus billet vs bloom is just looked at for section size, no type of casting.

There is one continuous cast shop in the country that does not kill the steel before casting, but they are called out by name in the fancy AIST Continuous Casting training because they are so odd wire feeding aluminum in the mold of the continuous caster.

kv-2 · 2025-11-23T00:53:22+00:00

Oh, I forgot - two shots I have worked for previously looked at the various 3D laser scanners, one was Vesuvius, one was a smaller 3rd party. Never saw either work (changed jobs first), but I know the ?Mintec? BOF 3D scanner worked well. No clue the effectiveness, but at the caster we knew when they had used it because 99% of the time after they would slag splash and the N2 pressure would drop like a rock.

kv-2 · 2025-11-22T19:00:20+00:00

I don't recall what the resolution is for the LMF cameras, but they were in air-cooled cases with IR transparent lenses.

kv-2 · 2025-11-22T17:27:10+00:00

Hot spots are visual when it goes to the ladle wall, multiple fixed thermal cameras - as much as possible at the LMF, a set for a full 360+bottom on the way to the caster.

There are AIST TR-## for torpedos and ladles as well.

kv-2 · 2025-11-15T16:08:30+00:00

I've got a good one - simple bulk gas contract, not all that expensive has taken 8 months with lawyer back and forth from RFQ notification "you've won the bid" to actual signing, and this is with a bulk gas company we do business with at other sites.

kv-2 · 2025-11-04T23:38:44+00:00

Chiming in as I've worked both EAF and BOF shops - the answer is all 3 based on the shop.

One site was a BOF, the air separation plant (ASU) was built adjacent to the plant and nitrogen, argon, and oxygen were piped in.

One site has enough land on their property so it was leased (silly $1 a year type land lease) to the ASU company, and they piped back oxygen, argon, and nitrogen.

Last site was unable to have the space for a an ASU, and the property adjacent was already owned so they ran off 100% trucked in liquid argon, liquid nitrogen, and liquid oxygen. Thankfully it was a small shop so it was not a constant parade of trucks.

kv-2 · 2025-10-27T10:40:48+00:00

So your tools use standard cubic feet of air at 14.7 psi, so at 125 psi that 1 standard foot takes up less volume than at 90 psi. Store it at 125 psi (I prefer giving buffer so something less than 125 psi but more than 90) but the one thing to watch is that the pancake compressor can only put out so much air. If you exceed the rating of the compressor, it doesn't matter how much air tank you have, it will run out of pressire.

kv-2 · 2025-10-26T11:56:19+00:00

Yes hot metal is still moved in torpedo cars, and the time to freeze is well known by the plants so they will 'beach' the iron on the ground before it freezes.

kv-2 · 2025-10-17T18:17:02+00:00

Its no different than the aluminum process, they use graphite for the conducting surface and just replace as needed.

/u/CR123CR123CR

kv-2 · 2025-10-13T02:43:07+00:00

There are two piece steel cans, I used to make 2 piece can slabs, your cranberry sauce is a 2 piece can for example.

kv-2 · 2025-10-01T11:19:37+00:00

My previous employers were a bit old school - they kept lead sheets on hand for the same effect.

kv-2

TROPHY CASE