UK foundry first user of new austenitic steels

British steel foundry Furniss & White has become the first company in the world to manufacture castings using an “innovative new series of high-strength austenitic stainless steels”.

Furniss & White, which specialises in high-integrity, stainless-steel castings, fabrications and precision machining, signed a long-term agreement to produce its castings using high-performance alloys from materials technology company N’Genius Material Technology’s N’Genius series under licence.

The Sheffield-based firm has successfully completed a range of manufacturing procedure qualification tests at its facilities in various grades from the N’Genius Series and will be providing castings for engineering products made using these advanced materials to its customers.

The N’Genius Series, which is patent protected in 30 countries, represents the “total reinvention” of conventional austenitic stainless steels – commonly known as the 300 series.

N’Genius Material Technology CEO Dr Ces Roscoe, who is also the inventor of the N’Genius Series, states that Furniss & White is a company that shares N’Genius’ passion and drive.

Additionally, Roscoe expressed that the company is delighted to be collaborating with Furniss & White on what is “destined to be an industry-changing technology”.

“With a long history of steelmaking, Sheffield is widely regarded as the birthplace of stainless steel and it seems fitting that it will essentially be ‘reborn’ in the same city more than a century later,” he explains.

Established in 1980 and employing more than 110 people, Furniss & White serves the pumps, valves, filter and engineering industries with castings with finished weights from about 0.5 kg to 2 600 kg, in a range of materials including carbon and low alloy steels, stainless steels and nickel alloys.

The firm manufactures an extensive selection of cast products for application in sectors including oil and gas, chemicals, petrochemicals, mining, marine, defence and power generation.

Furniss & White MD Sam Scholes explains that, for over 44 years, Furniss & White has built a strong reputation as a high-quality British manufacturer of high-integrity castings made in its modern foundry in the UK.

“Now, as an approved licensed N’Genius manufacturer, we are writing an exciting new chapter in our history, and to be the first foundry in the world to have this capability makes us extremely proud,” he elaborates.

Further, he expressed that Furniss & White expects that these “game-changing” N’Genius materials will be extremely popular with its existing customers and help in accessing new opportunities in other markets, including the US and Canada, and in clean energy industries, such as hydrogen.

The N’Genius Series, which can be manufactured in both cast and wrought product forms will possess all the typical benefits of conventional austenitic stainless steels.

These include “excellent” ductility and toughness at ambient, sub-zero and cryogenic temperatures, but with vastly “superior” strength and corrosion resistance.

The N’Genius series is a complete family of grades that provides an extensive choice of high-performance, high-strength austenitic stainless steels including materials that are cost-effective alternatives to certain nickel alloys.

It is suitable for all products, all service conditions and even the harshest of process media environments, N’Genius concludes.