Abstract: A reverberatory aluminum melting/holding furnace is formed of an enclosure for containing a molten metal bath in which a workload to be processed is immersed, a plurality of gas-fired burners for heating the metal bath, and a control system for measuring heat absorbed by the furnace refractory so as to rapidly bring the furnace to a pre-set metal bath temperature without any significant overshoot. The enclosure has a wall layer of insulating refractory material disposed on its interior. The control system includes a first thermocouple element disposed adjacent the "hot face" of the wall layer, and a second thermocouple disposed adjacent the "cold face" of the wall layer. The plurality of gas-fired burners are switched from a "high fire" to a "low fire"/off condition in response to the temperatures sensed by the first and second thermocouple elements prior to reaching of the pre-set metal bath temperature.

Abstract: An ingot pusher furnace includes means for reducing heat loss from the charging and discharging ends of the furnace so as to produce a more efficient and uniform heating of the ingots. The pusher furnace includes support rails which extend between a first opening in the front wall and a second opening in the rear wall and terminates inside of the charging and discharging doors. The charging and discharging doors extend below the support rails in their closed position so as to provide a positive seal. A first rail drawbridge is arranged adjacent the charging door to facilitate movement of the ingots into the furnace enclosure. The second rail drawbridge is arranged adjacent the discharging door to facilitate movement of the ingots out of the furnace enclosure.