Aluminum casthouses are under pressure to use more post-consumer recycled metal without sacrificing melt quality, recovery rates or production efficiency. Lightweight scrap, machining chips and other low-density materials are difficult to feed into conventional melting furnaces, so efficient scrap feeding and submergence have become central to recycling performance. The same operations also need consistent temperature and chemical composition throughout the molten bath, which puts a premium on circulation and stirring equipment that can move metal and support heat transfer without causing excessive interruptions or metal loss.
Conventional mechanical pumps remain widely used, but they depend on immersed rotating components. Those components can deteriorate through contact with molten aluminum, dross accumulation and refractory debris. Zmag America Ltd. is positioning a different approach: magnetic engineering for molten-metal circulation, furnace stirring and scrap recovery. Rather than refining a mechanical impeller, it removes the impeller from the bath and uses a magnetic circuit to generate movement.
From eddy currents to molten metal
Zmag's roots are in industrial magnets and magnetic circuits. The company traces its history to magnetic engineering and the commercialization of eddy-current separation, a technology used to recover non-ferrous metals from mixed material streams. It later expanded into molten-metal applications and developed its patented zPMC, or Zmag Permanent Magnetic Circuit, as the foundation for equipment that stirs, circulates and submerges material in molten aluminum.
The distinction between permanent-magnet and conventional electromagnetic systems is central. Instead of a conventional electromagnetic stirring arrangement, zPMC uses a permanent magnetic circuit to create the field that moves the molten metal. Zmag describes the resulting movement as a virtual impeller, because circulation is generated without conventional immersed mechanical impellers.
MagStir and MagPump: non-contact circulation
MagStir is a non-contact stirring system for aluminum melting and holding furnaces. It uses the permanent magnetic circuit to generate movement in the molten bath and to support homogenization of temperature and alloy composition. Zmag offers configurations for furnaces from 15 to 200 metric tons. Because the operating principle is non-contact, MagStir removes the need for an immersed mechanical stirring component, improving melt circulation without adding moving parts to the molten-metal environment.
The installation record extends beyond the United States. New Zealand Aluminium Smelters installed the technology in a casting furnace and later extended its use to additional furnaces. A technical case study published in 2017 examined those installations and reported improvements in temperature control during furnace preparation. A MagStir unit was also fitted to a casthouse furnace at Rio Tinto-operated Boyne Smelters in Queensland, Australia, in 2019.
MagPump extends the same magnetic approach to molten-metal pumping and circulation. It is designed to fit into a standard pump well without requiring furnace modification. Unlike a conventional mechanical pump, it has no physical impeller. Zmag markets it as a nearly hands-free alternative with no consumable parts and minimal downtime. At the TANDEM Division of US secondary aluminum producer TST Inc. in Fontana, California, a seven-week trial replaced an existing mechanical pump in a production furnace. The reported findings described smooth operation and reduced disturbance to the molten-metal surface. TST plant management also reported that the system avoided the splashing seen with conventional pumping arrangements as the furnace 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. That presentation also pointed to potential applications beyond primary circulation, including gas injection and scrap submergence.
Typhoon: pulling light scrap beneath the surface
Typhoon addresses a different bottleneck: getting difficult scrap into the melt. The system is designed to introduce lightweight aluminum scrap and machining chips beneath the molten-metal surface rather than letting these materials remain at the top of the bath. Its magnetic circuit generates a vortex-like movement that draws material into the melt, supporting heat exchange and recovery during remelting.
Neuman Aluminium's Marktl facility in Austria provides a concrete example. The company incorporated a Typhoon chip-submergence system into a furnace modernization project to expand its ability to process low-density post-consumer scrap. The targeted material included lightweight fractions with a bulk density of about 375 kg/m³, which had challenged conventional furnace charging and melting.
Operating results exceeded the initial expectations. Neuman had set a target of processing one metric ton per hour while continuing to melt solid charge materials in the same furnace. The Typhoon system processed almost twice the planned scrap quantity within the expected time without disrupting normal furnace operations, according to the published account. The company also reported low operator involvement and no negative impact on melt or finished-product quality. Typhoon operates at 5–15 kW and can submerge up to five metric tons per hour of machining chips. Its vortex intensity can be adjusted to suit operating requirements, allowing it to maintain molten-metal movement when scrap or alloying material is not being charged.
What the evidence shows, and where adoption stands
Taken together, the installations illustrate the practical argument for non-contact magnetic equipment. MagStir targets temperature and composition homogenization, MagPump targets circulation and transfer without a physical impeller, and Typhoon targets the feeding and submergence of low-density scrap. The reported benefits are operational: smoother surface behavior, fewer immersed components, low operator involvement and, in the Neuman case, throughput above the initial target. These are case-specific results rather than a blanket guarantee of performance across every furnace, scrap mix or casthouse layout.
Adoption also depends on familiarity. In an August 2025 interview with AL Circle, Eishin Takahashi, president of Zmag America, identified limited familiarity with the technology as a barrier in the United States. He observed that aluminum producers globally tend to be conservative and more comfortable with equipment and processes they already know. That matters in a sector where furnace downtime and metal quality carry high costs, and where established suppliers have long installation records.
A competitive field with different technical routes
The market for aluminum furnace stirring, molten-metal circulation and scrap submergence includes several established suppliers, though not all offer direct equivalents to Zmag's permanent-magnet approach. ABB supplies its AL-EMS electromagnetic stirring system for aluminum melting, holding and alloying furnaces, with more than 430 installations reported. In April 2026, ABB announced a further order from Arconic for a fifth stirrer at its Hungarian casthouse, following earlier installations at the same facility.
Presezzi Extrusion Group, through its Melting Technology division and North American presence, offers the L.E.C. Low Energy Consumption Stirrer for melting and holding furnaces, alongside aluminum remelting equipment and complete casthouse operations. Pyrotek has a broader casthouse equipment presence, including electromagnetic pump systems and its 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. Pyrotek's UK operations include EMP Technologies Ltd., which designs, sells and installs metal-melting and circulation systems incorporating electromagnetic pumps. Rockwell Automation operates in the adjacent industrial automation segment rather than offering a like-for-like permanent-magnet stirring product; its aluminum-sector work includes furnace and ladle-shop control systems, as shown by a modernization project for Mozal Aluminium's casthouse operations.
The competitive field is not a simple magnetic-versus-mechanical contest. It spans permanent-magnet circuits, conventional electromagnetic systems, pumps, refractory wells and automation. Zmag's differentiation rests on using a permanent magnetic circuit to create a virtual impeller and on extending that principle from stirring to pumping and scrap submergence.
The outlook
As aluminum producers incorporate more challenging recycled feedstock, the ability to manage molten-metal movement without relying on conventional immersed mechanical components is likely to become a more relevant consideration. The Zmag cases show where the technology has been applied and what operators reported in specific trials and installations. They do not settle the wider question of how quickly casthouses will move away from familiar mechanical or electromagnetic systems. That will depend on site-specific performance, operating experience and the willingness of producers to adopt equipment that asks them to rethink a long-established part of the furnace.