Baker Furnace Inc. shipped a custom-built, high-temperature conveyor oven designed to heat treat rods used to manufacture commercial heating elements. The process also requires a nitrogen purge to create a specific atmosphere. At 35 feet long with an operating temperature of 1900°F, the engineering challenges for this application were a combination of the size and high temperature coupled with the fact that it required four different heating zones with a nitrogen injection in every zone. The first two heating zones measure 24 inches wide x 16 inches high x 12 inches long, while the two cooling sections measure 24 inches wide x 16 inches high x 20 inches long, both with nitrogen-injection supply lines to create an inert atmosphere.

The electrically powered oven was constructed as a “modular” system, which allowed Baker Furnace to conduct a complete on-site test before breaking it down to ship. It is equipped with a 24-inch-wide Inconel wire woven belt supported by an internal Inconel slider bed, which is driven with a gear-reduction motor. The entire system is controlled with an Allen Bradley touchscreen HMI and Allen Bradley PLC software.