G-M Enterprises, a Nitrex company, received a multimillion-dollar order from a global manufacturer of metal injection molding (MIM) products for two horizontal vacuum furnaces. These 2-bar sintering furnaces have a work area measuring 36 inches wide x 30 inches high x 84 inches long (900 x 762 x 2,100 mm), a 4,400-pound weight capacity, a maximum operating temperature of 2600°F (1430°C) and uniformity of +/- 10°F (+/- 5.5°C). A multistage debinder trap system designed to thermally extract binder from the parts is integral to the vacuum system. Sintering and debinding occur in a single cycle using a unique system design that is optimized to handle the maximum designed load capacity. Consequently, there is never a need to operate below the rated load capacity to achieve the required part quality.

Industrial Heating, during a Q&A session at FNA 2020, announced that it will support the Reshoring Initiative with a $2,500 sponsorship. The mission of the Reshoring Initiative is to bring good, well-paying manufacturing jobs back to the United States by assisting companies to more accurately assess their total cost of offshoring and to shift collective thinking from offshoring is cheaper to local reduces the total cost of ownership. As part of this new relationship, the Reshoring Initiative will provide Industrial Heating with editorial content throughout 2021.

It is a well-known fact that too many recordable safety incidents will result in the good people from OSHA showing up to hang around and ask a lot of questions. Nobody wants to get hurt on the job. Everyone at the facility has some other place to be once their shift is over, and many employees have family waiting for them. With that being said, why would people continue to operate poorly maintained manufacturing equipment and material-handling machinery? 

Abbott Furnace Company designed, manufactured and installed a 6,000-SCFH endothermic gas generator at Sintergy Inc. in Reynoldsville, Pa. The generator has an innovative retort design that allows a single retort to produce endo gas at this rate without sacrificing gas quality and maintaining a 6:1 turndown ratio. According to Sintergy, a manufacturer of powder-metal components, it is only seeing ±1°F in dew-point variation from setpoint. Abbott included state-of-the-art controls with an Allen-Bradley PLC, data logging, dew-point and methane sensors, and an updated gas safety system.

With our diverse editorial coverage, there are a number of associations in our industry. I personally belong to APMI International (MPIF) for powder metals and additive manufacturing as well as AIST (Association for Iron & Steel Technology). That’s in addition to IHEA and MTI, of course.

After much analysis, feedback from attendees and the uncertainty of COVID-19, the MTI Board of Trustees has approved transition to a virtual format for Furnaces North America 2020. Attendees will be able to experience the virtual exhibit hall for free. For those wanting to view the three live panel discussions and 35 technical sessions, FNA is offering a special for attendees of $199 for each of the first two registrants from a company and $49 for every person after that. To qualify, everyone must register on the same online registration form. 

Wall Colmonoy – as part of its plan to improve product development, technical support and advancement – invested approximately $627,000 in the Research & Development Laboratory at its Pontardawe-based European headquarters. The R&D Lab has developed into a fully comprehensive suite of analytical equipment for characterizing powders, including laser diffraction, chemical analysis, dry powder and fluid rheometry, and optical and electron microscopy. With a move into materials for additive manufacturing, where powder properties such as particle shape and size are often more critical, there was a need to expand analytical capabilities.

To recap some of what we saw last month, we set out the basic concepts and began reviewing the experimental procedure and results. These results are discussed and summarized here.

Tempering occurs by heating the steel to below its critical temperature in order to transform the metastable body-centered tetragonal martensite structure that is formed during quenching into a more stable structure of fine carbide particles.

BNP Media has announced the launch of the Process Heating & Cooling Show, an interactive conference and exposition where executives and engineers from various industries – including oil and gas, electronics, pharmaceuticals, food, beverages, packaging and plastics – will learn from thought leaders and discover new technologies and trends exclusively for the process heating and cooling sectors. This new event will be held June 16-17, 2021, at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill.