Solar Atmospheres Inc. announced the acquisition of commercial heat treater Vac-Met Inc., which has locations in Warren and Fraser, Mich. The addition of Vac-Met to the Solar family of companies will increase the number of commercial vacuum heat-treating and brazing facilities to five plants across the United States. Vac-Met’s goals of providing state-of-the-art commercial heat treating, primarily in a vacuum environment, aligns perfectly with Solar’s mission. Joseph White will continue to head the day-to-day operations of Vac-Met’s nine vacuum furnaces. He will report to Robert Hill, president of Solar Atmospheres of Western PA. 

Solar Atmospheres is one of the world’s largest providers of commercial vacuum heat-treating services. Solar’s thermal processing produces bright, scale-free parts with minimal distortion.

In response to the challenges of California’s energy market, Solar Atmospheres of California (SCA) installed and commissioned what it says is the state’s largest commercial Solar + Energy Storage System. By combining on-site generation, an advanced energy storage system and an AI-powered analytics platform, SCA can optimize energy use by automatically switching between on-site generation, battery power or grid power. The digitally connected energy storage network includes a 772-kW PV solar system and a 1,561-kW/3,122-kWh Tesla battery storage system.

Solar Atmospheres purchased and commissioned a Hitachi scanning electron microscope (SEM). The FlexSEM1000 II will allow the commercial heat treater to meet customer needs, such as strict requirements for low-level contamination from carbon, oxygen and/or nitrogen post heat treating. In addition, the SEM will enable Solar to fulfill materials characterization and microstructural determination requests beyond basic metallography and hardness testing. This investment is a response to the changing needs of Solar’s customers.

SECO/WARWICK delivered an all-metal high-vacuum furnace with a work-chamber size of 1,200 mm x 1,200 mm x 1,200 mm to Hauck Heat Treatment Group’s recently expanded plant in Eindhoven, Netherlands. According to the companies, it is the largest furnace of its type currently in operation in the Benelux region. It is also the third furnace SECO/WARWICK has delivered to Hauck’s Eindhoven facility. In addition, SECO/WARWICK has established a strong cooperation with Hauck’s plant in Poland, where new vacuum furnaces are scheduled to be delivered.

Ipsen USA installed a vacuum furnace at Stack Metallurgical Group’s site in Spokane Valley, Wash. Formerly known as Inland NW Metallurgical Services, Stack Spokane is one of the company’s four locations offering a range of metal-processing services. Installation of the 2-bar vacuum furnace, which will be used to process critical aerospace components, was completed in late 2019. Stack operates four Ipsen furnaces in Spokane and 12 more at its site in Portland, Ore.

Baker Furnace, a division of Thermal Product Solutions, installed a quench tank for a commercial heat treater as part of its aftermarket services. The company had two quench tanks (one hot water and one cold water) and three drop-bottom furnaces and needed a third quench tank to optimize quench loads per day. The quench tank has three impellers capable of 27,000 GM on a 15,000-gallon tank. This style of agitation allows for thick, large castings to dissipate heat faster.

Industrial Heating, in cooperation with the Metal Treating Institute and the MTI Educational Foundation, invite you to nominate an MTI member company for the 2019 Commercial Heat Treater of the Year award. You can nominate any company you feel is qualified – including your own if you are a commercial heat treater. This honor will be given to one MTI commercial heat treater that demonstrates they are “making a positive impact on their community and their industry.”

Commercial heat treater Specialty Steel Treating of Fraser, Mich., invested in an AFC-Holcroft UBQ (universal batch quench) furnace and a UBT (universal batch temper) annealing furnace as part of a larger multiyear equipment standardization program intended to replace older equipment provided by another supplier. The UBQ and UBT furnaces are near duplicates to equipment recently provided by AFC-Holcroft as part of the same program. Delivery of the UBT is expected in the second quarter of 2019 to the site on Malyn Road in Fraser, with the UBQ to follow in the third quarter to the Commerce Road plant in Fraser.

Premier Thermal Solutions (PTS), acquired Al-Fe Heat Treating, a commercial aluminum heat treater with four plants in Defiance, Ohio; Saginaw, Mich.; Wadsworth, Ind.; and Wabash, Ind. PTS provides commercial metal heat-treating services to a variety of industries through its wholly owned subsidiaries, Atmosphere Annealing and NitroSteel. PTS has five facilities in four locations across the Midwest.