New rolling line for profiles at voestalpine Wire Technology

With a pressure of 6,000 bar, food is gently preserved in high-pressure containers. To illustrate: This corresponds to a pressure at a sea depth of 60 km. Such special processes require high-performance technology and extraordinary machine components.

This is where the profiled wire from voestalpine Wire Technology comes into play. These special flat wires for the reinforcement of high-pressure containers for the pressure treatment of foodstuffs are produced in the new rolling line for profiles (KPWA for short) at the voestalpine Wire Technology location in Bruck an der Mur.

But what happens with this type of food preservation? The packaged food is surrounded by water and exposed to extreme isostatic pressure from all sides in a pressure chamber. This preserves the consistency and ingredients of the food, while complex harmful organisms such as bacteria & viruses die.

Reinforcement wires are required for these high-pressure chambers, as explained by the head of process technology, Franz Pötzelsberger, i.e. the high-pressure containers are surrounded by a special profiled wire that can counteract the great forces that are built up inside the container for food preservation.

The advantage of high-pressure treatment is that the pressure is distributed exactly evenly throughout the product and you don't have to wait until the temperature has reached the core, as it is the case with heating. According to the Organization of the German Agricultural and Food Industry, these advantages should be reflected in an annual increase in products treated in this way of more than 15% over the next few years. 

The fact that voestalpine Wire Technology can keep up here is due to the skills of our employees and the new "KPWA".

But the investment in the new KPWA is not just about gaining a foothold in food processing, but rather positioning itself as a full-solution supplier in the profiled wire sector. The new facility is extremely flexible and ensures access to new markets.

Sales Manager Fiton Sadikaj also emphasizes this: "We are facing even more complex challenges than before. For this, the KPWA 7 expands the dimensional range of our profile wires." The range of products now starts at 2 mm² instead of 6 mm² wire cross-section and opens up additional fields of application with an extraordinary height-width ratio.

"In addition," emphasizes application engineer Hubert Köberl, “we are further increasing the surface quality and thus being optimally equipped for the high demands of our customers. Together with the customer, we fine-tune the underlying steel alloy and optimize the processing, for example in terms of fatigue strength or corrosion resistance."

The employees of the profiled wire division of voestalpine Wire Technology place high demands on their work and their products. "The more demanding, the better," says Sylvia Holly.

The quality requirements of customers are already implemented and fulfilled at the Wire Technology location in Bruck and proven with high-quality products e.g. with reinforcement wires for flexible oil and gas field pipes - also in acid gas-proof execution - complicated contoured profile wire solutions for hose couplings and demanding applications for circlips and spiral springs in the automotive industry.