SECO/VACUUM, a SECO/WARWICK Group company, received an order for a vacuum tempering/gas nitriding furnace with a load capacity of 13,200 pounds from a Toronto-based manufacturer of flight-critical helicopter masts, turbine shafts and engine thrust links. The furnace, which can process loads up to 63 inches in diameter x 175 inches deep, will be used for nitriding and nitrocarburizing. The Canadian company is adding new heat-treatment capabilities to handle larger loads and configurations and to increase production capacity.

With a working temperature range of 300-1300°F (150-700°C), the pit furnace offers low ammonia consumption and includes a burn-off stack to neutralize gas emissions, making it environmentally responsible. SECO/VACUUM’s retort nitriding furnaces achieve optimum results by using uniform high convection heating, precision nitriding potential and ammonia control, and vacuum purging to reduce operating costs to process a variety of metals. Proprietary ZeroFlow control technology uses only ammonia as a process gas, which reduces gas usage and emissions.