BENKO Expands its Product Line into the Industrial Furnace Market

BENKO PRODUCTS has recently acquired Robbins Industrial Furnace Co., Inc (RIFCO) to expand its product line into the Industrial Furnace market.

RIFCO Industrial Furnaces & Kilns - By BENKO PRODUCTS
By BENKO PRODUCTS

RIFCO has been designing, fabricating & installing “custom” industrial furnaces since 1994 with the most popular type being a Car Bottom Furnace. To capitalize on the many designs, sizes & features RIFCO has developed over the years, Benko Products has begun to develop a complete line of “Standard” RIFCO Brand size Car Bottom Furnaces with many proven options to customize a Car Bottom Furnace specific for your needs.

RIFCO’s technical and management team now combined with BENKO’S technical and management team boasts over 150 years of combined experience designing, building and re-building industrial heating equipment. The fact that RIFCO has rebuilt existing furnaces as well as building new since 1994, has proven to be a tremendous asset that has sets the RIFCO Brand apart in a significant way from many competitors. RIFCO’s proven ability and experience rebuilding and modifying existing equipment has enabled us to recognize and anticipate potential performance problems. Whether they are problems related to poor initial design, improper operation, or in use hazards of operation, the RIFCO Brand has been able to provide innovative solutions to these problems on hundreds of furnaces. The new RIFCO Brand, “Standard Size”, Car Bottom Furnaces incorporate many of these features.

The RIFCO Brand Car Bottom Furnaces can be found in many industries, namely; Steel, Forging, Heat Treating, High Tech Ceramics, Steel Fabricating Facilities and more. Typically the furnaces operate between 1,000o F and 2,500o F although we have built “industrial grade” furnaces that operate below 1000o F.

Car Bottom Furnaces offer many advantages over other type of furnaces at a slight price premium (depending upon options chosen) which often pays for itself many times over due to its flexibility. So often companies have a specific thought as to how the furnace may be used which works for the short term BUT it always seems that loading restrictions, size, material handling capabilities, etc. change and the new furnace is less than adequate to meet their needs particularly when considering that a well-built furnace can last for many years. Note: RIFCO has rebuilt/upgraded existing furnaces which date back to the 1920’s.

Although we are trying to sell you on the benefits of a Car Bottom Furnace design, it is extremely important that the design includes means to address the short comings of this style furnace (talk about selling the negative). These include;

  • Car to furnace seals leak- (cold spots/poor temperature uniformity)- this problem is often not addressed with the initial design or it is difficult to maintain resulting in burnt up & warped car structure which then leads to car refractory issues. The RIFCO Brand has a design to fix this!
  • Door seals leak- (cold spots/poor temperature uniformity) - many companies rely on manually, pneumatically, hydraulically or mechanically operated systems to address this issue. The RIFCO Brand has a design to fix this! If gravity is still working, the door will seal.
  • Door structure issues- often doors will leak (see “Door Seals” above) which burns up the door structure. The RIFCO Brand has a design to fix this!
  • Door refractory linings fail prematurely- The RIFCO Brand has a design to fix this!
  • Door weight- many doors are unnecessarily heavy taxing door lift systems and requiring counterweights. The RIFCO Brand has a design to fix this! Temperature stratification (vertical)- Hot at the roof & cold at the hearth. The RIFCO Brand has a design to fix this!
  • Temperature stratification (horizontal)- temperature uniformity can be lacking from side to side & from front to back.
    The RIFCO Brand has a design to fix this!
  • Car refractory issues- these include;
    • Expensive repairs.
    • Long “down times” when repairs are made.
    • Dedicated loading positions keep moving.
    • Thermally inefficient design/construction.

The RIFCO Brand has a design to fix this!