Wisconsin Oven designed and built a horizontal spray-quench furnace for C/A Design, a supplier to the defense industry based in Dover, N.H. The furnace will be used for the solution treatment of aluminum. It is designed to soak the product load at temperature in the furnace before a pusher mechanism rapidly moves the load into the spray quench, which offers reduced distortion in comparison to submersion quenching. The maximum temperature for this system is 1150°F (621°C), and it has sufficient capacity to heat a 200-pound aluminum load plus the work grid and product fixture.

A temperature uniformity survey was documented for +/-10°F at 985°F (530°C) to verify the furnace has the capability to meet AMS 2750G, Class 2 Furnace and Instrumentation Type D requirements. The spray quench is located in front of the furnace, and has vertical-lift, pneumatically operated doors on each end. The spray-quench system utilizes 50 fine-mist nozzles located above, below and on each side of the quench chamber to rapidly cool the product from all sides. Each nozzle is independently selectable from the touchscreen HMI, and a variable frequency drive allows the pump speed to be adjusted to maintain a constant pressure to each spray nozzle.

Click here to watch a video of this system in operation.