Recently we had a press release from Canadian furnace builder Can Eng landing a few new orders. This photo shows a cast link belt line in the process of being shipped. While cast link belt lines have largely fallen out of favor over the past decade due to the advantages of mesh belt lines there are certain applications where they are still preferred. “Another system is being prepared for shipment to a prestigious manufacturer of State-of-the-Art transmission gears.  This high capacity Cast Link Belt Furnace is scheduled to be operational early 2021.

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“Ambrell Corporation, an inTEST Company and a leading manufacturer of induction heating solutions worldwide, now has the very first system it shipped out nearly 35 years ago. The system, known as Unit #1, was recently retired by Leonardi Manufacturing (www.leonarditreecare.com), a leader in the manufacturing of metal-based solutions. When Leonardi upgraded to a new Ambrell induction heating system in the fall of 2020, they offered to return Unit #1 so that it can be put on display at Ambrell’s global headquarters in Rochester, NY, USA.

Leonardi Manufacturing reported the Ambrell system was in operation every day since 1986. They moved the system to a new facility in 1991 and it remained there until the second half of 2020. It ran reliably day after day for nearly 35 years. The retired Unit #1 is being replaced with Ambrell’s EASYHEAT induction heating system.

“We used the 6 kW system for brazing carbide-to-steel for manufacturing our stump grinding equipment. It has been an incredibly reliable and dependable piece of equipment for almost 35 years,” said Joe Leonardi, Vice President of Leonardi Manufacturing. “It was critical to our manufacturing process and its durability and consistent performance is why we chose Ambrell once again.”

Over the years, Ambrell’s induction heating systems have become smaller, more versatile, and have been re-engineered to deliver greater performance. Ambrell’s systems easily integrate into a wide range of heating processes across a multitude of industries and they’re designed to meet Industry 4.0 manufacturing requirements. In addition, Ambrell provides an industry-leading two-year warranty across its entire line of induction heating equipment.

Scott Nolen, Vice President and General Manager of Ambrell, stated, “We’re excited to display Unit #1 at our headquarters location and we’re especially grateful to Leonardi Manufacturing. Their help and cooperation in returning the system to us is very much appreciated.” Nolen continued, “To have a system that was in operation for nearly 35 years is a testament to our engineering prowess, our manufacturing capability and the overall quality of the product. Today, these same attributes play a key role in Ambrell’s ability to consistently deliver heating solutions that are fast, precise, repeatable and safe.”

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As we speak McLaughlin Furnace Group is completing installation of a multi furnace Batch IQ Installation at the world’s largest commercial heat treater, UK based Bodycote. The location is in North America and commissioning of the equipment will be completed first quarter of 2021.

“About Bodycote; With more than 180 accredited facilities in 23 countries, Bodycote is the world’s largest provider of heat treatments and specialist thermal processing services. Through classical heat treatment and specialist technologies, including Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP), Bodycote improves the properties of metals and alloys, extending the life of vital components for a wide range of industries, including aerospace, defense, automotive, power generation, oil & gas, construction, medical and transportation. Customers in all of these industries have entrusted their products to Bodycote’s care for more than 50 years. For more information, visit www.bodycote.com.”

“About McLaughlin Furnace Group; In 2007 Jeff McLaughlin, founded McLaughlin and quickly become an industry leader. Then in 2017, McLaughlin purchased Vesco, a vacuum service company based in East Windsor, Connecticut, that opened in 1983. Today, the new McLaughlin Furnace Group, is recognized as an innovative pioneer in the heat treat industry. Blending cutting-edge technology with over 100 years of combined expert experience on staff, McLaughlin Furnace Group has set an industry standard for elite customer service and custom, go-to solutions.”

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Last week we had an article entitled “Vacuum Carburizing with Oil Quenching a Growing Trend in the Heat Treatment Industry”, which generated a great deal of attention because of a change in direction by several of the furnace builders themselves-lets start off with some brief background.

While many in the industry tend to think of vacuum carburizing as a new technology nothing could be further from the truth. Vacuum Carburizing or Low Pressure Carburizing dates back well over half a century and one of the first furnace manufacturers to really promote the technology was the CI Hayes Company of the US who at one point was turning out a system every two weeks (Consultants David Pye and Dan Herring have both written excellent articles about the history of vacuum carburizing).

The original systems by CI Hayes were typically (perhaps always) based upon oil quenching, however as other companies such as ECM of France started marketing vacuum carburizing systems it gradually became the norm to see vacuum carburizers using nitrogen or occasionally helium as the quenching medium. Over the past 30 years the technology has become very commonplace in certain industries-automotive transmission components would be the most obvious example. While the benefits of vacuum carburizing are well known other factors have prevented it from becoming more mainstream, chiefly price and compatibility.

At least two companies, ECM and SECO/WARWICK recently set out to address these issues and the end result is that both now has an offering which will fit into an existing Batch IQ (Sealed Quench) line. Since Batch IQ furnaces are the most common style of furnace in the world it makes complete sense to build a vacuum oil quench with the same working dimensions as a standard atmosphere furnace, typically 36” X 48” X 36”. At the same time the new systems are designed to fit with existing charge cars, washers and tempers. (We want to point out that Ipsen, the largest vacuum furnace builder in the world also has such a system. Unfortunately as of press time we had not had a chance to get comments from Ipsen).

With these new offerings the “compatibility” issue has been resolved and this has eliminated the need for new investments in charge cars, washers and tempers. Price will still be an issue as the new systems are still more expensive than a standard batch IQ, however the difference is smaller than it once was. Below we have comments from SECO/WARWICK and ECM about their new product offerings. We will watch with bated breath to see if we are witnessing a new, growing trend in the industry.

“For about a decade, Gord, SW has offered a Vacuum Carburizing line and still does today.  It is a top seller for our company.  A couple years ago we decided that our aerospace offering of a vacuum oil quench is too expensive for replacing standard gas carburizing.  For this reason we developed a new furnace line that is price competitive with standard IQ furnaces both on purchase price and operating costs.  This “Super IQ” furnace offers all the benefits of our vacuum oil quench, but does so with standard, non-vacuum oil quenching and allows for heavy and dense loading in the heating chamber for Low Pressure Carburizing.  So we matched the pricing, performance and loaders of the typical IQ furnace, but we have much better quality carburizing and through-hardening.  The final feature that sets us apart is our LPC Simulation software which is a must in order to properly carburizing various load configurations.  Our software allows one to quickly model the part and surface area, add in the material grade and how many pieces are in the load, and a recipe is given for the desired case depth.  What is neat here is that temperatures can be varied to show how 100F higher temperature can cut carburizing times in half!”. Mark Hemsath, SECO/WARWICK”

SECO/WARWICK Super IQ in a Standard Batch IQ Line

“ECM’s new ECO line brings the technology that is leading the world today with safety and efficiency for carburizing to the new and existing IQ (sealed quench) lines in heat treating. As the world leaders in Low Pressure Carburizing ( LPC) for over 30 years and with hundreds of heating cells on hundreds of installations, we have taken this experience and technology and placed it in 3 sizes of furnaces with the largest a 36”x 48” format with oil quenching.  This system will modernize all IQ installed lines by replacing an existing aged furnace, with the capability of processing parts with precise carburizing in less time with the safety of vacuum processing. The system allows for Low Pressure Carburizing, Low Pressure Carbonitriding (LPCN), brazing, vacuum hardening and other vacuum processes. This furnace will interface with existing loaders, tempers, and washers on installed systems or can be installed with new equipment supplied completely by ECM. With the focus in the world on the environment, ECM wants to extend the technology that reduces emissions and provides a safer work environment for users through the ECO line. This technology also allows for furnaces to be idle without utility usage, no flame curtains, no risk of danger or need of supervision. ECM has provided this process solution to most of the worlds’ largest carburizing operations in all markets all over the world and now it can be provided in larger IQ lines. Dennis Beauchesne, ECM.”

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Last week we had an article entitled “Vacuum Carburizing with Oil Quenching a Growing Trend in the Heat Treatment Industry?” The basis of the article was that at least two suppliers of such systems have changed direction a bit and now have a product offering which fits very neatly into a batch IQ (sealed quench) situation. We have solicited thoughts and comments from these suppliers and later today we will summarize how this change is exciting both captive and commercial heat treaters.

It is a real co-incidence that the day we posted our original article we received an unsolicited market report about the Vacuum Carburizing Furnace Market. While at first glance it appeared interesting the more we looked into it, the more we realized that the information contained in it is in a number of cases is just plain wrong or is missing major points. For instance Tennova is mentioned as being a key supplier for VC furnaces, Tennova exited this business some time ago and was never more than a niche player. The report also focuses only on Vacuum Carburizing with gas quenching and makes no mention at all of oil quenching. We could point out a number of other mistakes but you get the point. So take this as you will and look forward to our thoughts on the newest trend in vacuum carburizing technology.

“Here’s the one report on the analysis of the Vacuum Carburizing Furnaces Market that you may be share with your management team. A vacuum carburizing furnace wherein the concentration of carburizing gas in the furnace atmosphere as well as the furnace pressure may be maintained within predetermined ranges for optimum carburization, and the carburizing atmosphere is forced to circulate by a fan within the heating chamber so that parts or articles may be uniformly carburized. 

The global market of vacuum carburizing furnace is mainly concentrated in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America. Among them, Asia-pacific vacuum carburizing furnace sales share is the largest, accounting for 52.02% in the world in 2019. Europe has 23.37% of the market, While North America has 18.36%, while other regions have a smaller share.

In the downstream consumer market, vacuum carburizing furnace can be widely used in Automobiles, Tool & Die, among which Automobile is the largest consumer market, accounting for 67.58% of the market, and Tool & Die application accounts for 20.00% of the market share.

The global Vacuum carburizing furnace market is relatively concentrated, and the major manufacturers in the market include ECM, Ipsen, ALD Vacuum Technologies, Secowarwick, Tenova, etc. ECM is the global leading enterprise, and its annual revenue accounts for 23.89% of the global share in 2019. The world’s top five manufacturers accounted for 74.40% in 2019. 

Market Analysis and Insights: Global Vacuum Carburizing Furnaces Market. The global Vacuum Carburizing Furnaces market size is projected to reach US$ 201.9 million by 2026, from US$ 133.7 million in 2020, at a CAGR of 7.1% during 2021-2026. The Vacuum Carburizing Furnaces key manufacturers in this market include:”

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​According to the is press release from furnace builder Rohde Schutzgasoefen GmbH, of Hanau, Germany the company closed out the year on a very positive note with two new furnace orders. We will let Rohde give you the details;

“We are glad that just before the end of this very strange year, Rohde received two new furnace orders. The first order is for a gas carburizing furnace with a batch table, a useable diameter of 2 meters and a depth of 3 meters (79” x 118”). The second order was for a gas nitriding furnace with a useable diameter of 1.7 meters and a depth of 2.2 meters (67” x 87”). The photo below shows 2 very similar furnaces in our facility during in house hot acceptance testing. We wish everybody a Merry Christmas and are looking forward to the New Year for which is starting to look quite promising.” Rohde Schutzgasöfen GmbH | | Rohde Schutzgasöfen GmbH (rohdetherm.de)

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“Northrop Grumman Defense Systems recognized Solar Atmospheres of Western PA (SAWPA) as a top-performing supplier in 2020 with the Outstanding Customer Service Award. As a global leader of military and DoD critical hardware, Northrop Grumman Defense Systems offers security to customers across the globe through the operational excellence SAWPA provides to customers. Solar Atmospheres is extremely grateful for the recognition and looks forward to supporting the future needs of this partnership with our mutual goal to keep all Americans safe.”

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Mike Johnson, Director of Sales; Wes Hoffman, FSO; and Bob Hill, President

November 30th we set out to find the 25 most influential people in the North American Heat Treat industry. This selection is based entirely upon votes by our readers and our readers have certainly “stepped up to the plate” with hundreds of votes being received- some of the suggestions we have already posted (scroll down our “Heat Treat News” page to see a few nominations).  The votes make for quite fascinating reading as there are a few names which were completely new to us. Yes quite a number of votes were obvious, CEO’s of some of the major furnace builders and commercial heat treaters are a given but what was unexpected were several engineers whose names were new to us. A few of the most recent suggestions can be found below, remember that we are accepting nominations right up until the new year when the winners will be announced.

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Mr. Stephen Harris, CEO, Bodycote. For 12 years now Stephen Harris has been the CEO of Bodycote the largest commercial heat treater in the world.

B.J. Bernard, President Surface Combustion. Surface Combustion is one of the oldest and most established furnace builders in North America. For the past 9 years he has been President of the company after having spent some time at heat treating giant Bodycote.

David Pye, Pye Metallurgical International Consulting. If our “Top 25” list was based entirely upon longevity, knowledge and worldwide experience David Pye would be the #1 choice. An independent consultant David’s experience literally spans the globe and many decades.

Karl-Michael Winter, V.P. R&D Nitrex Metal. Karl-Michael is based in Germany however as head of R & D for Nitrex Metal, one of the largest in the industry when it comes to nitriding his influence is undoubtedly felt in North America.

Dan Herring, The Heat Treat Doctor at The Herring Group, Inc. Dan Herring is considered by many in the industry to be the most influential independent consultant in the North American heat treat industry. His talks are always guaranteed to have a large attendance.

As part of our campaign to raise awareness of the importance of safety in the heat treat industry “The Monty” includes regular reports about accidents in the industry and how they could have been prevented. In this case a large auto parts maker in North America had a tragic accident as a result of a flame curtain not being lit (please note that in the report below the accident investigators refer to it as a “fire curtain”, we have always heard it called “flame curtain”). This accident was compounded by the fact the operator was not wearing the correct apparel.

“XXX Company has been hit with a $200,000 fine following a 2018 explosion that left one worker with burns. According to a news release Wednesday, Dec. 16, from the Department of Labor, XXX Company  pleaded guilty to the offence, which took place in October 2018 at the XXX Company plant. Along with the $200,000 fine, the court also imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge. On Oct. 2, 2018, a worker was opening the furnace door to remove parts when a fireball erupted from the open doorway. The news release notes that when the furnace door is opened, the entrance should be fully blocked and covered by a fire curtain, which prevents outside oxygen from getting into the furnace. That curtain is lit by a pilot light, igniting it prior to the door being opened.

“However, if the door is opened and the fire curtain is not lit, oxygen from outside is mixed with the controlled environment inside the furnace, which includes endothermic gas. The new gas mixture can be explosive,” the release notes. “On this day, the fire curtain was not lit when the door was opened. This resulted in a fireball explosion. It is likely that a downdraft of air through the exhaust ventilation of the furnace hood blew out the pilot light.” According to the release, the worker’s skin was not protected from the radiant heat resulting from the explosion, as the employee was not “wearing apparel sufficient to protect the worker from injury,” or using a shield, screen or other barrier. As XXX Company failed to ensure the worker was wearing adequate skin protection, they were found to be in violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.”

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“The Monty Heat Treat News” Magazine now available on line. The January, 2020 issue of “The Monty” the  world’s largest news source for the global heat treat industry is now available on line at
https://themonty.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/themontyjanuary2021.pdf

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