••• About Us

Apogee Technology, Inc., headquartered in Verona, Pennsylvania, was founded in July 1993 to develop advanced and leading edge molten aluminum processing technology. Among Apogee’s first innovations were master alloy rod feeders and the highly successful REVROT™ Process, a metal treatment technology for removing impurities from molten aluminum by rotary fluxing. Over 20 patents protect the REVROT™ Process, which has been shown to reduce metal treatment times up to 50% by virtue of its high sheer bi-directional rotation and precision control of reactive process gasses. REVROT™ units have been relied upon in the casting operations of over 20 major aluminum operations in the United States and Canada, including several Fortune 500 Companies, and countless smaller and specialized metal castings and research centers.

In 1997, Apogee Technology began development of advanced heating technology for its REVROT™ in-line metal treatment systems. This successful development resulted in a three-year Department of Energy cost-sharing grant in 2001 under the Office of Industrial Technologies. The focus of the project was to develop an advanced aluminum melting process capable of an energy requirement less than 750BTU/lb of aluminum melted, with 1% melt loss and high special efficiency. The result of the effort was the Isothermal Melting Process (ITM), an aluminum melting and holding technology which demonstrated 97% (487 BTU/lb) net thermal efficiency and 617BTU/lb gross thermal efficiency (including holding losses). Melt loss was found to be only 0.41%. Crucial to the success of ITM were two technological advancements: high heat flux direct immersion heaters capable of watt densities in excess of 70W/in² and heated refractory panels known as Baffle and Side Pocket Panel (BSPP), capable of 30W/in².

Since that time, Apogee has taken Isothermal Melting beyond the laboratory with the world’s first commercial ITM deployed at Aleris International, a valuable industrial partner and cost sharing partner to Apogee. This 5,000lb/hr unit utilizes direct immersion heaters with watt densities of 130W/ in², revolutionizing what was previously thought possible. While the unit is still in beta testing, Aleris has identified additional ITM placements throughout its operations pending favorable and scalable results.

At present, Apogee Technology is engaged in a new Department of Energy award intended to further the Isothermal Melting Process and its component technologies by demonstrating new strategies for in-plant molten metal management. Some of these include over the road transportation of molten inventory via self-heated ladles, and direct introduction of molten inventory to the casting process without the need for holding furnaces. Apogee Technology holds over 100 patents, and is the source of research in a number of areas outside of process heating, including metal filtration, slab treatment, stirring, non-wetting composite coatings, chlorine generation, and others.