Solar Atmospheres of Western Pennsylvania completed a hot-zone replacement on one of its larger horizontal car-bottom vacuum furnaces. This is the second hot-zone rebuild over 17 years of furnace operation. The furnace, which has a work zone measuring 54 inches wide x 54 inches high x 144 inches long and a load capacity of 50,000 pounds, has been in service since 2003 and is the first furnace built by our sister company, Solar Manufacturing. It has a maximum operating temperature of 2800°F (1538°C) and performs many different daily thermal cycles ranging from 500-2750°F (260-1510°C).

Many factors come into play during the vacuum sintering process, from the size and materials used in the furnace hot zone to whether debinding and sintering processes are combined in a single unit.

Vacuum sintering is one of the unsung heroes of industrial metallurgy. In this crucial process, materials are heated in a vacuum environment until they are almost at the point of melting.

Brazing furnaces today often contain a lot of very heavy fixturing materials in their brazing chambers. This “fixturing” includes all the heavy-metal structures in the furnace hot zone (e.g., grates, trays, racks, baskets, etc.).

This article will highlight advanced furnace design features, illustrating both yearly power savings and possible power-company rebates.

In a furnace, the hot zone is crucial for the temperature distribution, cleanliness of operations and energy consumption of high-temperature processes.