SECO/WARWICK received an order for a ferritic nitrocarburizing (FNC) furnace with ZeroFlow technology from Harsha Engineers Ltd., a bearing cage manufacturer based in India. The furnace is equipped with a vacuum system, gas control system, turbo cooling, atmosphere cooling system, and post-oxidation system to get material a very uniform gray color and achieve other tribological properties to meet the specifications of bearing manufacturers. The nitrogen-potential control allows measurement and regulation of nitrogen atmosphere potential by measuring the hydrogen content in the furnace atmosphere. All the process parameters – like ammonia flow, carbon dioxide flow, ratio of carbon dioxide to ammonia and furnace pressure – are automatically regulated. The furnace control system employs a cascade-based temperature control system to regulate the furnace temperature very closely to meet customer requirements.

ZeroFlow technology allows for maintaining full versatility of conventional gas nitriding while optimizing process gas consumption. Harsha will use this technology for ferritic nitrocarburizing of bearing cages. It was ordered to improve the quality of nitrocarburizing, reduce total cycle and operation costs, meet specific color requirements and provide excellent batch uniformity.