A small subset of vacuum heat treaters have long found helium for quenching to provide some very substantial benefits, benefits which are best summed up by gas supplier Air Products;
“Vacuum furnace gas quenching using helium can result in higher production rates, improved metallurgical properties, and can reduce overall process costs. Lower heat-transfer properties of argon and nitrogen can require expensive furnace modifications, higher quench pressure and increased blower speeds to achieve the same cooling rates achieved using helium.
Helium’s heat transfer coefficient is 60% greater than that of nitrogen at the same pressure. Also, helium is less dense than nitrogen or argon, which makes it easier to move in the furnace. Furnace fans need less power to circulate helium, therefore, increasing fan speed or pressure becomes a cost-effective practice in accelerating cooling. Additional benefits of helium gas quenching include:
- Like argon, helium is inert and will not react with components being treated. Nitrogen is considered inert in most cases, but can form nitrides in certain materials.
- Parts clean up is minimal compared with oil quenching.
- Helium quenching can open new markets for heat-treating processes that may be limited by conventional gas quenching. For example, heavier loads or parts with thicker cross sections can be quenched at a faster rate.”
The one very definite drawback to helium is the high (and rapidly increasing) price of the gas itself which is why most users of helium utilize helium recovery systems. The reasons for the dramatic price increases include both supply and demand;
“Helium plays a critical role in a number of high-tech applications, from barcode readers to semiconductors to liquid-crystal display (LCD) panels. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines can’t work without it. Google, Netflix and Amazon have been buying massive quantities of it for their data centers.
Helium is an important but finite resource that must be extracted from the ground. In fact, it’s exclusively a byproduct of natural gas mining.
As a result, supply is getting tight. Helium is notoriously difficult and expensive to store, for the very good reason that it escapes every known container over time. Ever wondered why balloons lose their helium so fast? It’s because the gas’s atomic radius is so small, it can literally diffuse through any solid. Much of it floats up into the upper atmosphere and eventually gets torn away by the solar wind. Helium is the second-most abundant element in the universe, and yet the day is fast approaching when it may no longer exist on Earth.”
All of these factors have combined to triple the price of helium over the past 3 years with more price increases in the works. The end result of these price increases is that many if not all vacuum heat treaters are very aggressively looking at alternatives to helium gas quenching in vacuum furnaces.
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A company that will almost certainly be making our list of the 50 largest commercial heat treaters in North America is a firm based in South Lyon, Michigan, USA by the name of Sun Steel Treating. While the company is a “full service” organization they are best known for their Ion Nitriding, Vacuum Hardening and Salt Bath Hardening capabilities. Narrow it down a bit more and you will see that they are part of a very small, elite group of commercial heat treaters in that they really specialize in Ion Nitriding with a total of 12 Vessels, the largest of which is 72″ H x 108″ W x 180″ L and a 60,000 lbs./load. Stay tuned to see where they land on our list of the largest commercial heat treaters.
“Since 1958, Sun Steel Treating has specialized in providing our customers exceptional quality, expertise, and timeliness. Whether it’s hardening alloys, carbon steels, tool steels or high speed specialty steels, our engineers know the precise metallurgical processes to apply. Sun Steel Treating continually strives to be the most environmentally responsible heat treating facility.
In 1981, Sun Steel Treating pioneered the use of plasma Nitriding as a viable surface hardening treatment. Sun Steel Treating has Trade-marked and registered this process as Ionitriding®. Sun Steel Treating has also pioneered combining the benefits of Ionitriding® and Steam Treating to develop IonWear®. Sun Steel Treating continues to make improvements in equipment, technology, and processes to meet the diverse application needs of modern manufacturing. Sun Steel Treating continues to lead the field in both capabilities and quality.”
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We see that long time heat treater, Harvey Hornung just started as a Sale Engineer at furnace builder Surface Combustion, Inc., of Maumee, Ohio, USA.
Harvey’s career has spanned quite a number of years and includes several as General Manager at Nevada Heat Treat and a stint with another furnace builder in the USA.
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Located in Warren, Michigan, USA Metallurgical Processing in Warren, Michigan, USA has been in business since 1954 https://www.metallurgicalprocessing.com/index.html Being located next door to Detroit it is absolutely no surprise that the company is almost exclusively dedicated to the auto industry. To take it one step further the company almost exclusively runs batch IQ furnaces offering processes such at carburizing, nitrocarburizing, carbonitriding and Ferritic Nitrocarburizing.
Under the direction of long time heat treaters Jeff Pyne and Kevin Brown the company has been thriving over the past number of years and will quite possibly make our list of the 50 largest commercial heat treaters in North America.
“The Metallurgical Processing Company (MPC) has been dedicated to serving the needs of Automotive OEM’s, Appliance, Defense, Oil and Gas and other demanding industries, solving their most difficult metal heat treating issues. MPC was established in 1954 and has grown in step with the automotive industry to meet all engineering and quality standards our clients demand. We are passionate about providing value to our customers through comprehensive engineering support and consistent results. We specialize in working with OEM engineering and design staff to deliver unique and quality solutions on even the most difficult metal processing problems, allowing us to become trusted partners to many top tier automotive OEM’s. This attitude and the relationships it builds is helping build the business. In order to support the growth, MPC is proactively investing in new furnaces and therefore capacity.”
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August 5th of this year GE Aviation will be auctioning off a 2016 continuous vacuum furnace manufactured by CI Hayes. This is a beauty of a furnace, however it is so specialized it is hard to predict how the auction will go.
We will update you after the auction. “2016 CI Hayes Vacuum Furnace Model CV-202436-PH, Operating Temp: Preheat Chamber 1100°C, Process chamber 1450°C, the load can enter the quench chamber at 1450°C., Nitrogen, just below atmosphere (~900 mBar). The quench chamber vents to just below atm, then cools using a water-cooled heat exchanger with a blower, 2016 Tuthill KT300 Vacuum Pump.”
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In the case of a heat treater near Grand Rapids, Michigan the accidental leak of ammonia (required in nitriding applications) caused a great deal of concern as you can read below. To those use to the smell it is no big deal, however to the uninitiated the first whiff can be a rather scary experience.
Incidentally Anhydrous ammonia is a substance used in manufacturing the illegal drug Methamphetamine, a drug easily made and extremely addictive. A few years ago it appeared to become relatively well known to manufacturers of the drug that ammonia could be found in outside storage tanks at many heat treaters. The result was the theft of ammonia in a number of cases which is why outdoor storage tanks are now in most cases guarded by razor wire, lights and video cameras. In this case the leak was promptly and competently contained with no real issues.
“WYOMING, Mich. (WOOD) — An anhydrous ammonia leak in Wyoming drew hazmat crews to a company and prompted warnings for neighbors before being contained Tuesday morning. The leak was discovered around 10 a.m. in the 500 block of 32nd Street SE at Roger B. Chaffee Memorial Boulevard, the Wyoming Department of Public Safety said in a release. Employees at State Heat Treating Company, which performs chemical treatments on metals for the automotive, furniture, medical and military industries, said they noticed the leak and quickly called 911. About 300 to 500 gallons of vaporized ammonia escaped from one of the company’s tanks, Wyoming DPS Lt. Eric Wiler said. Hazmat crews responded to deal with the colorless, compressed, corrosive gas and managed to close the tank valve.
Authorities had issued an evacuation order, which was later revised to a shelter in place order with instructions to close windows and turn off air conditioning. Both of those orders were lifted around noon after the leak was contained. Though anhydrous ammonia can cause respiratory health problems if inhaled, no injuries were reported. Authorities shut down 32nd Street from Roger B. Chaffee Boulevard to Eastern Avenue while emergency responders were on the scene. Wyoming DPS and the Grand Rapids Fire Department were investigating what caused the leak. The city of Wyoming said Tuesday it was unaware of any previous problems at the the heat treating company. The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration said it had not noted any inspection problems within the last five years and did not currently have an open inspection for the company.”
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“Quakertown, PA – Vacu Braze has crossed a significant milestone in the heat treatment industry with the acquisition of new NADCAP (National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program) certifications. Years in the making, this recognition affirms Vacu Braze’s commitment to offering continually higher quality, conformity, and innovation for clients in the aerospace and defense industries. Over the past several years Vacu Braze has overcome many stepping stones to acquire certifications including AS9100D, GT193, and ISO 13485. These achievements have elevated the heat treatment facility to the forefront of medical and aerospace manufacturing. To accommodate the strict standards and requirements of these fields shows that Vacu Braze has put in place processes, equipment, and staff that are capable of producing leading-edge results.
Throughout 2020 in particular tremendous strides were made towards this accreditation. These included improvements to quality management systems, equipment optimization for temperature control and monitoring precision, as well as process generation and engineering. This effort was spearheaded by Sarah Lombardo, the Quality Manager at Vacu Braze. She led the facility’s dedicated team through the implementation of optimizations and new processes while production continued at full capacity. In her time at Vacu Braze Lombardo has redefined quality systems and standards, making all of this possible.
Further work is underway at Vacu Braze to acquire additional NADCAP certifications while improving and expanding innovative capabilities for clients across a range of industries. Vacu Braze is a precision heat treatment facility located in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. At the forefront of thermal processing, their work has been trusted by industry leading manufacturers in the medical, aerospace, defense, and power generation fields. vacubraze.net“
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While some businesses saw an economic slowdown in the last year, Ipsen USA took advantage of rare downtime by completing several operational projects focused on continuous improvement. The initiative resulted in a nearly 20% increase in floor capacity for new furnace builds during what could be a record-setting year for Ipsen’s Vacuum Technology Excellence Center. “We adjusted operations to not only benefit our shop workers, but also our customers through more efficient production processes,” said Ipsen USA President and CEO Patrick McKenna. “With the anticipated production spike, we will need the extra space and productivity in the coming months.” The projects were conceived with one goal in mind—operational excellence. Inspired by lean manufacturing techniques, the projects included:
Analyzing, organizing and adjusting stockroom inventory so that levels are true to demand.
Improving workflows, and forming dedicated storage and staging for an electrical wiring cell.
Redesigning the shop floor layout to streamline operations from receiving through final assembly.
Ipsen plans to increase available floor space beyond the additional 20% by the end of this year as more microprojects are finished.
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Founded in 1964 TREMEC is a manufacturer of transmissions and transmission components for a number of industries including automotive, heavy truck, agriculture and defense. Based in Mexico the firm has locations in the US, Mexico and Belgium with 3 of the facilities boasting in house heat treating capacity. According to the press release below from the company they were recently awarded the General Motors “Supplier Quality Excellence 2020” distinction.
The “Monty Heat Treat News” team has visited two of the company’s locations in Mexico, TREMEC, Pedro Escobedo and TREMEC Queretaro, Mexico both of which have impressive in house heat treatment departments. The Pedro Escobedo site includes a few batch IQ furnaces alongside two single row pusher lines which are dwarfed by the size of the heat treatment department in Queretaro. Both are impressive heat treats which helped contribute to the GM distinction being awarded to the company. These photos show the in house heat treat department at the Pedro Escobedo facility.
“I am pleased to share with you that our customer General Motors recently recognized Tremec with the “Supplier Quality Excellence 2020” distinction, for the highest quality in the manufacture of transmissions for its Camaro and Cadillac cars.
GM annually awards this recognition to different suppliers in its supply chain worldwide that stand out for the production of components for different platforms. Our Transmissions business was chosen from more than 600 suppliers located in Mexico.
This award fills us with pride and confirms once again the commitment and focus of the team to meet and exceed the requirements of our customers with excellence in quality, design, innovation and cutting-edge technology. I thank our customer GM and congratulate the entire Tremec team on this great achievement.
In the photo below we see part of the TREMEC heat treat team and on the right Mr. Salvador Alvarado Murillo, General Manager of SSi Mexico.
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