Höganäs AB, a metal-powder technology company, installed a new combined vacuum sintering and low-pressure carburizing (LPC) furnace at its PoP Centre in Sweden. The new furnace will allow the company to offer state-of-the-art technology for sintering and hardening of PM parts in pilot scale. The furnace provides precise control of the carbon profile and, thanks to gas cooling, reduced distortion compared to oil quench. It can also be used to combine de-lubrication and sintering of parts with heat treatment into a single process cycle, starting with green parts and resulting in heat-treated and surface-hardened parts. Höganäs intends to grow the market for PM parts in high-strength applications, with load-carrying gears as its main target.