Aluminum casthouses are under pressure to use more post-consumer recycled aluminum without sacrificing melt quality, recovery rates or productivity. Lightweight scrap, machining chips and other low-density feeds are difficult to charge into conventional melting furnaces, making efficient scrap feeding and submergence important. Zmag America, Ltd. is positioning permanent-magnet engineering as one way to address both metal circulation and scrap recovery.
From eddy-current separation to molten-metal magnetic circuits
Zmag's technology is rooted in industrial magnets and magnetic circuits. The company began in magnetic engineering and the commercialization of eddy-current separation, a method for recovering non-ferrous metals from mixed streams, before extending its work to molten-metal applications. Its patented zPMC permanent magnetic circuit forms the basis of equipment that stirs, circulates and submerges material in molten aluminum. Unlike conventional electromagnetic stirring arrangements, zPMC uses a permanent magnetic circuit to create the field that moves the metal. Zmag describes the resulting movement as a virtual impeller because circulation is generated without conventional immersed mechanical impellers. In an August 2025 interview, Zmag America President Eishin Takahashi said limited familiarity with the technology was a barrier to wider adoption in the United States, noting that aluminum producers globally tend to be conservative and more comfortable with equipment and processes they already know.
MagStir, MagPump and Typhoon target different furnace tasks
MagStir is a non-contact stirring system for aluminum melting and holding furnaces, intended to homogenize bath temperature and alloy composition. It is available in configurations for furnaces from 15 to 200 metric tons. Because it does not require an immersed mechanical stirring component, it offers casthouses a way to improve melt circulation without adding moving parts to the molten-metal environment.
MagPump extends the magnetic approach to pumping and circulation. Zmag says the unit fits a standard pump well without furnace modification and has no physical impeller, no consumable parts and minimal downtime; the company markets it as a nearly hands-free alternative to mechanical pumps. Typhoon is designed for scrap submergence and chip melting. It introduces lightweight scrap and machining chips beneath the molten-metal surface rather than leaving them at the top of the bath, using a magnetic circuit to create vortex-like movement that draws material into the melt and supports heat exchange and recovery during remelting.
Installations and trials provide operating experience
Zmag cites several installations and trials. New Zealand Aluminium Smelters installed MagStir in a casting furnace and later extended its use to additional furnaces; a 2017 technical case study examined the installations and reported improvements in temperature control during furnace preparation. A MagStir unit was also fitted to a Rio Tinto-operated Boyne Smelters casthouse furnace in Queensland, Australia, in 2019.
At TST Inc.'s TANDEM Division in Fontana, California, MagPump replaced an existing mechanical pump during a seven-week trial. Zmag reports smooth operation and reduced disturbance to the molten-metal surface, while TST plant management reported that 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 its use in side-well, multi-chamber furnaces was discussed, along with potential applications in gas injection and scrap submergence.
At Neuman Aluminium's Marktl facility in Austria, a Typhoon chip-submergence system was included in a furnace modernization project aimed at expanding the use of low-density post-consumer scrap. The targeted material included lightweight fractions with a bulk density of about 375 kg/m³. Neuman had set a target of processing one metric ton per hour while continuing to melt solid charge in the same furnace; during operation, the Typhoon system processed almost twice the planned scrap quantity within the expected time, according to the published account, without disrupting normal furnace operations. Zmag also reports low operator involvement and no negative impact on melt or finished-product quality. The system operates at 5 to 15 kW, including its air-cooling blower, and can submerge up to five metric tons per hour of machining chips, the account states; vortex intensity can be adjusted to suit operating requirements and to maintain metal movement when scrap or alloying material is not being charged.
Competitive landscape includes electromagnetic and automation suppliers
The market includes established suppliers. ABB supplies its AL-EMS electromagnetic stirring system and reports more than 430 installations globally; in April 2026 it announced an order from Arconic for a fifth stirrer at a Hungarian casthouse. Presezzi Extrusion Group offers the L.E.C. Low Energy Consumption Stirrer through its Melting Technology division, alongside other casthouse equipment. Pyrotek provides electromagnetic pump systems and LOTUSS low-turbulence scrap submergence technology; its EMP systems use electromagnetic forces to circulate molten aluminum and support metal transfer and scrap charging, while LOTUSS uses a circulation pump and refractory well to submerge lightweight scrap. Rockwell Automation operates in adjacent industrial automation, with furnace and ladle-shop control systems, rather than offering a like-for-like permanent-magnet stirring product.