Casthouses are under pressure to raise their use of recycled metal without sacrificing melt quality, recovery rates or production efficiency. Lightweight scrap, machining chips and other low-density fractions are difficult to charge into conventional melting furnaces, making efficient scrap feeding and submergence central to recycling performance. Consistent bath temperature and chemistry are equally critical, so circulation and stirring equipment must move metal, transfer heat and limit process interruptions and metal loss.
Conventional mechanical pumps rely on immersed rotating components that can deteriorate through exposure to molten aluminum, dross accumulation and contact with refractory debris. Zmag America, Ltd. works in this specialized corner of casthouse technology, developing magnetic engineering solutions for molten-metal circulation, furnace stirring and scrap recovery.
From eddy-current separation to molten metal
Zmag's technological base is the industrial application of magnets and magnetic circuits. The company traces its history to magnetic engineering and the commercialization of eddy-current separation, used to recover non-ferrous metals from mixed material streams, before extending into molten-metal applications. Its patented zPMC (Zmag Permanent Magnetic Circuit) underpins equipment that stirs, circulates and submerges material in molten aluminum.
The distinction from conventional electromagnetic stirring is central: rather than a conventional electromagnetic arrangement, zPMC uses a permanent magnetic circuit to generate the field that moves the molten metal, producing what the company calls a virtual impeller and circulation without immersed mechanical impellers.
Adoption barriers remain. In an August 2025 interview with AL Circle, Eishin Takahashi, President of Zmag America, cited limited familiarity with the technology as an obstacle in the United States, saying aluminum producers globally tend to be conservative and more comfortable with equipment and processes they already know.
MagStir for furnace homogenization
MagStir is a non-contact stirring system for melting and holding furnaces. It uses the permanent magnetic circuit to generate movement in the bath, supporting homogenization of temperature and alloy composition. Zmag offers configurations for furnaces of 15 to 200 metric tons, and the non-contact principle removes the need for an immersed mechanical stirring component.
Installation experience extends beyond the United States. New Zealand Aluminium Smelters fitted the technology in a casting furnace and later extended it to additional furnaces, with a 2017 technical case study reporting improvements in temperature control during furnace preparation. A MagStir unit was installed at Rio Tinto-operated Boyne Smelters in Queensland, Australia, in 2019.
MagPump as a circulation alternative
MagPump applies the same approach to pumping and circulation. It fits a standard pump well without furnace modification, uses no physical impeller, and is marketed as a nearly hands-free system with no consumable parts and minimal downtime.
At the TANDEM Division of US secondary producer TST Inc. in Fontana, California, a seven-week trial saw MagPump replace an existing mechanical pump in a furnace. Reported findings included smooth operation and reduced disturbance to the molten-metal surface; plant management also said the system avoided the splashing seen with conventional pumping as the metal level fell during draining. The technology was presented at the TMS 2023 Annual Meeting and Exhibition, where side-well, multi-chamber furnace applications and potential gas injection and scrap submergence roles were discussed.
Typhoon targets low-density scrap
Typhoon addresses scrap submergence and chip melting, introducing lightweight scrap and machining chips beneath the molten-metal surface rather than letting them float on top. Its magnetic circuit generates a vortex-like movement that draws material into the melt, supporting heat exchange and recovery during remelting.
At Neuman Aluminium's Marktl facility in Austria, a Typhoon chip-submergence system was built into a furnace modernization project to expand processing of low-density post-consumer scrap, including lightweight fractions with a bulk density of about 375 kg/m³ that had challenged conventional charging and melting. Neuman had targeted one metric ton per hour while continuing to melt solid charge in the same furnace; the company reported the system processed almost twice the planned scrap quantity within the expected time without disrupting operations, with low operator involvement and no negative effect on melt or finished-product quality.
According to the published technical account, Typhoon operates at 5–15 kW including its air-cooling blower and can submerge up to five metric tons per hour of machining chips. Vortex intensity is adjustable, so the system can maintain molten-metal movement when scrap or alloying material is not being charged.
A crowded supplier landscape
Several established suppliers compete in furnace stirring, molten-metal circulation and scrap submergence, though not all offer direct equivalents. ABB supplies its AL-EMS electromagnetic stirring system, reporting more than 430 installations, and in April 2026 announced a further Arconic order for a fifth stirrer at a Hungarian casthouse. Presezzi Extrusion Group offers the L.E.C. Stirrer through its Melting Technology division, while Pyrotek covers electromagnetic pump systems and LOTUSS low-turbulence scrap submergence, which uses a circulation pump and refractory well. Rockwell Automation sits in adjacent automation, supplying furnace and ladle-shop control systems rather than permanent-magnet stirring equipment.
As producers take on more difficult recycled feedstock, managing molten-metal movement without conventional immersed mechanical components may become a more relevant consideration.