Solar Manufacturing Inc. announced that Stack Metallurgical Services of Portland, Ore., purchased a vacuum heat-treating furnace. The Model HFL-5748-2EQ has a work zone that measures 36 inches wide x 36 inches high x 48 inches deep with an operating temperature up to 2500°F and a work-load capacity of 5,000 pounds. The energy-efficient hot-zone insulation package includes a graphite-foil hot face backed by four layers of ½-inch graphite felt, all housed in a 304 stainless steel support ring. A large Stokes mechanical pump, a Stokes Roots blower pump and a Varian diffusion-pump system are included for vacuum operation to 1 x 10^-5 torr.            

The diffusion-pump heaters are monitored and controlled by a Solar ConserVac™ system for minimal power consumption. The external gas-cooling system incorporates a 150-HP motor and supporting heat exchanger for rapid cooling of the workload at 2-bar (15-psig) gas pressure through fixed multiple graphite-tapered gas nozzles surrounding the workload. A SolarVac 5000™ computerized instrument package, featuring an interactive touch-screen panel and Wonderware™ software, provides user-friendly furnace control and operation.