Zmag America is promoting a family of permanent-magnet systems for aluminum casthouses that addresses three distinct molten-metal tasks: furnace stirring, metal circulation and scrap submergence. The company’s zPMC permanent magnetic circuit is positioned as an alternative to immersed mechanical impellers and conventional electromagnetic stirring, using a magnetic field to move molten aluminum without placing rotating hardware in the bath.
The operational context is the growing use of post-consumer recycled aluminum. Lightweight scrap, machining chips and other low-density materials are difficult to feed into conventional melting furnaces, making efficient scrap feeding and submergence important for melt quality, recovery rates and production efficiency. Casthouses also need consistent temperature and chemical composition through the molten bath, which places demands on circulation and stirring equipment.
Conventional mechanical pumps rely on immersed rotating components that can deteriorate through contact with molten aluminum, dross accumulation and refractory debris, according to the article. Zmag’s approach is intended to avoid that exposure by generating metal movement through a permanent magnetic circuit, which the company describes as a virtual impeller.
MagStir for furnace homogenization
MagStir is a non-contact stirring system for aluminum melting and holding furnaces. It is available in configurations for furnaces from 15 to 200 metric tons and is designed to homogenize temperature and alloy composition without an immersed mechanical stirring component. New Zealand Aluminium Smelters installed the technology in a casting furnace and later extended it to additional furnaces; a 2017 case study reported improvements in temperature control during furnace preparation. Rio Tinto’s Boyne Smelters in Queensland, Australia, fitted a MagStir unit to a casthouse furnace in 2019.
MagPump and Typhoon
MagPump extends the magnetic approach to pumping and circulation. It is designed to fit a standard pump well without furnace modification, uses no physical impeller and is marketed as a nearly hands-free option with no consumable parts and minimal downtime. At TST Inc.’s TANDEM Division in Fontana, California, a seven-week trial replaced an existing mechanical pump. The published findings described smooth operation, reduced disturbance to the molten-metal surface and avoidance of the splashing seen with conventional pumping as the furnace metal level fell during draining. The technology was also presented at TMS 2023, where its use in side-well, multi-chamber furnaces and potential for gas injection and scrap submergence were discussed.
Typhoon focuses on scrap submergence and chip melting. Its magnetic circuit creates a vortex-like movement that draws lightweight scrap and machining chips beneath the molten-metal surface, supporting heat exchange and recovery during remelting. At Neuman Aluminium’s Marktl facility in Austria, the system was incorporated into a furnace modernization project to process low-density post-consumer scrap with a bulk density of about 375 kg/m³. Neuman set a target of one metric ton per hour while continuing to melt solid charge in the same furnace. According to the published account, Typhoon processed almost twice the planned scrap quantity within the expected time without disrupting normal operations, with low operator involvement and no reported negative impact on melt or finished-product quality.
The system operates at 5-15 kW, including its air-cooling blower, and can submerge up to five metric tons per hour of machining chips, according to the technical account. 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.
Competing suppliers and adoption
The market for furnace stirring, circulation and scrap-submergence equipment includes established suppliers, though their offerings are not all direct equivalents to Zmag’s permanent-magnet design. ABB supplies its AL-EMS electromagnetic stirring system and reports more than 430 installations; 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. Stirrer through its Melting Technology division. Pyrotek provides electromagnetic pump systems and LOTUSS low-turbulence scrap submergence technology, while Rockwell Automation works in adjacent furnace and ladle-shop control systems, including a modernization project for Mozal Aluminium.
Zmag America president Eishin Takahashi said in an August 2025 interview that 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 prefer equipment and processes they already know. Zmag argues that as producers incorporate more challenging recycled feedstock, managing molten-metal movement without conventional immersed mechanical components could become increasingly relevant. The case examples describe reported operating results; they do not establish performance across all furnace types, scrap mixes or operating practices.