Can-Eng Furnaces International Ltd. has been contracted to deliver a number of different furnace types to multiple customers in the United States and Canada for the heating and heat treatment of aluminum and steel closed-die forgings. The furnace configurations either under construction in the company shops or in the early stages of commissioning include rotary hearth, chain conveyor, roller hearth, mesh belt and cast-link belt. These furnaces will be delivered to Georgia, North Carolina and Ontario. They will be used in the production of powertrain, suspension and steering/linkage components for the automotive sector.

A Virginia-based manufacturer of high-quality plumbing tube commissioned a SECO/WARWICK solution heat-treat furnace to expand its capabilities to include aluminum extrusions. This is the first installation of new aluminum-processing equipment at the plant. Tubing extrusions and other shapes up to 26 feet long are loaded horizontally at floor level into a load carriage. The carriage containing the load is then pulled by a hoist from one end until it is vertical next to the furnace. The carriage is then secured to the supporting structure, allowing the hoist to lower the load down and out of the carriage. The load is lowered into a powered rotating carousel, which contains two submerged drywells that extend below the floor into the water-filled pit. The load is then supported by the carousel, allowing the hoist to be released. The carousel rotates until the load is in position directly below the furnace. The furnace door opens, and a second hoist retrieves the load, pulling it up into the furnace chamber for heating.

Lucifer Furnaces supplied a top-loading furnace with a maximum temperature of 2300°F (1260°C) to a tooling manufacturer. Heavy-gauge, coil-wound, low-watt-density heating elements in six removable holders are controlled as three separate zones to provide uniform heating. The furnace chamber, which measures 48 inches high x 18 inches wide x 18 inches long, is insulated with 6.5 inches of multilayer insulation for energy-efficient operation and low outside shell temperature. This furnace joins a second Lucifer Furnace already in use for the production of dies to cut fabric to make N95 masks for the medical industry.

Many stakeholders involved in heat treating try to find answers as to why their products are discharged 100-300°F below the furnace setpoint temperature. We shall only consider continuous annealing furnaces used in metal heating for the purposes of this article.

Custom Electric Manufacturing (CEM), which was acquired by Sweden-based Kanthal in 2018, will go to market under the Kanthal brand effective Jan. 1, 2021. Headquartered in Wixom, Mich., CEM has been supplying original equipment and replacement heating elements for both electric and gas furnaces for more than 35 years. The background to the acquisition is that Kanthal plans to strengthen its footprint in the North American market.

Rex Heat Treat, a commercial heat treater specializing in the aerospace market, became the first company to install and commission SECO/WARWICK’s new Super IQ gas carburizing furnace. The hybrid system combines a conventional furnace and a vacuum furnace in one unit. Rex Heat Treat has commissioned several vacuum furnaces over the past several years at its Lansdale, Pa., location as part of a plant modernization initiative. The new furnace will allow the heat treater to upgrade its through-hardening and carburizing capabilities alongside its legacy harden and temper furnaces while using the existing loader, baskets and washing system.

In the global industrial heat-treating market, tens of thousands of products are sent through conveyorized ovens or furnaces each and every day. The thermal processing of these products – whether heat treating the core material or even curing a surface coating – is often critical to the quality or performance of the finished product. Whether aluminum brazing a radiator or curing paint on a car body, achieving the correct process times and temperatures is essential.

2020 has been quite the year for in-person meetings, with almost all being cancelled nationwide since April. Every association has had to adjust, innovate and create an alternative learning and networking experience for their industry.

Let’s investigate how high temperature is used in large industrial equipment and processes.

No. 1040 is a 2200°F (1204°C) inert-atmosphere pit furnace that can be used for heat treating automotive parts in baskets.