November 2 of this year we had a news item entitled “Ignoring Heat Treatment Safety Has Lethal Consequences” https://themonty.com/ignoring-heat-treatment-safety-has-lethal-consequences/ The purpose of the article was to point out that the heat treatment industry can be dangerous if safety procedures are not followed, that particular story pointed out that not following Lock Out Tag Out (LOTO) and Confined Space Entry Policies directly lead to two deaths. What is “Lockout/tagout”? The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) defines it in this summary;
“Lockout/tagout” refers to specific practices and procedures to safeguard employees from the unexpected energization or startup of machinery and equipment, or the release of hazardous energy during service or maintenance activities.1 This requires, in part, that a designated individual turns off and disconnects the machinery or equipment from its energy source(s) before performing service or maintenance and that the authorized employee(s) either lock or tag the energy-isolating device(s) to prevent the release of hazardous energy and take steps to verify that the energy has been isolated effectively. If the potential exists for the release of hazardous stored energy or for the reaccumulation of stored energy to a hazardous level, the employer must ensure that the employee(s) take steps to prevent injury that may result from the release of the stored energy.
Lockout devices hold energy-isolation devices in a safe or “off” position. They provide protection by preventing machines or equipment from becoming energized because they are positive restraints that no one can remove without a key or other unlocking mechanism, or through extraordinary means, such as bolt cutters. Tagout devices, by contrast, are prominent warning devices that an authorized employee fastens to energy-isolating devices to warn employees not to reenergize the machine while he or she services or maintains it. Tagout devices are easier to remove and, by themselves, provide employees with less protection than do lockout devices.”
Unfortunately the example we used in our previous article is not the only one which we have run across over the years. In 2018 there was an incident at a commercial heat treater in the US Midwest which lead to the death of an employee, the details are below. In that particular case “lockout/tagout did not cause the death, however the company was cited for not following this procedure. Please, please keep in mind that safety rules and regulations should always be followed.
“OSHA Fines XXX Heat Treating $181K After an Employee Was Electrocuted. By OSHA Jul 02, 2019.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited XXX Heat Treating– for 21 serious health and safety violations. The company faces penalties of $181,662. OSHA inspected the company in December 2018 after an employee was electrocuted while using a damaged portable lamp when cleaning the inside of a metal tank. A second employee suffered electrical shock injuries in an attempt to assist the injured co-worker. Inspectors determined that the lamp’s cord had exposed bare conductors, and the lamp was unsuitable for use in wet locations. They also found a damaged extension cord used to connect the lamp to power. OSHA cited the employer for failing to use electrical safety work practices, provide appropriate personal protective equipment, train employees about electrical hazards, and repair damaged electrical outlets. OSHA also cited the company for exposing employees to falls, and failing to implement lockout/tagout procedures and a permit-required confined space program.”
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Over the years “The Monty” team has visited literally hundreds of captive and commercial heat treats around the globe, a number stick out as being truly memorable. As part of a regular series we will mention some of the more memorable ones and we start off with a commercial heat treater in Italy by the name of Gruppo T.T.N. which we visited a little over a year ago. While a number of things were very unique about the company the main one was the depth of the gas nitriders and the size of the pit to hold them-the only pit which we can think of that even comes close is in the Bodycote, Melrose Park, Illinois facility. Below we have a brief summary of the company and two photos of the pit nitriders.
“Gruppo T.T.N./Italy. Last week we had the chance to visit commercial heat treater Gruppo T.T.N., at their headquarters in Nerviano, Italy which proved to be a rather interesting experience. The family owned group consists of 9 locations, all in northern Italy with a total of 500 employees-now 9 plants and 500 employees would rank the company as one of the largest commercial heat treaters in Europe and even the world for that matter. As far as we can tell there are no processes the company does not have-Induction, Vacuum, Salt, Gas & Plasma Nitriding, annealing, Quench & Temper, Vacuum Carburizing-there is literally not a process we can think of that the company does not have. The only common denominator would appear to be that the company focuses mainly on large parts, however since they also have belt furnaces even this statement is not entirely true.
In the lobby there is a rather interesting photo and certificate dating back about 15 years. The certificate of achievement is from Boeing and emphasizes the company’s contributions to the Nasa Space missions when they heat treated components for fuel tanks for rockets, a contribution which required a Boeing team to be on site for 6 months. Mr. Pirovano who founded the company back in 1978 and who is still very active turned out to be a very friendly and open fellow who allowed us to take photos of the entire plant-some of the results of which you can see below and are far more interesting than our scribblings.”
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In early 2020 Emerson Electric announced they would be shutting down their Greenlee Tool Division in Rockford, Illinois, USA. The facility which made punch tools did indeed close down and the remaining equipment is scheduled to go to auction Wednesday, November 18th. Included in the auction is most of the in house heat treating department (a vacuum furnace and some other items were moved to other Emerson locations). What remains are two Ipsen Batch IQ furnaces, tempers, a washer, an endo generator and a Lindberg Steam Homo furnace.
We will save you the suspense and tell you right up front that the equipment will sell for about $50.00 USD for everything. It is complete and appears to be in reasonable condition but there are a lot of drawbacks. The relatively small size (24” X 36” X 18”) is a drawback, the age (60’s or 70’s would be our guess) and the fact that everything is electrically heated (the kiss of death in most parts of North America) all conspire to make the equipment virtually worthless. Course we also know that it has been shopped to every single used equipment dealer in the US over the past few months and found no buyers so that tells you everything you need to know right there. Still a shame though to see perfectly good equipment apparently headed for the scrap yard.
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ROTEC, Russia’s first and only facility that manufactures welded honeycomb seals, has purchased a SECO/WARWICK vacuum furnace system that will enable ROTEC to expand the range and volume of manufactured products.
The SECO/WARWICK technology solution improves the surface quality of products after brazing, preventing oxidation and discoloration. The central application for the SECOWARWICK vacuum furnace equipped with high vacuum (HPGQ) capability will be soldering parts for the aerospace industry and turbine manufacturing. SECO/WARWICK high vacuum systems are highly adaptable to a wide variety of processes characterized by shorter cycle times, increased throughput and precise process monitoring.
This solution will significantly improve the quality of the surfaces of the treated metals in terms of deformation, color, oxidation and repeatability of the process, which is a solution to the basic problems involved with vacuum brazing. The heat treatment process results must meet the high standards of AMS2750E and AMS2769A.
“Clients of highly demanding industries evaluate the experience, certificates and references of a partner, because they must be sure of the quality of the contractor’s work. There is no shortage of credentials for SECO/WARWICK. Our clients set their standards high and expect the highest quality equipment and services that will meet both restrictive industrial standards and their expectations in terms of the technology implemented. In the aerospace and energy industries where standards are set particularly high, meeting such requirements would not be possible without the regular implementation of product and technology innovations,” says Maciej Korecki, Vice President, Vacuum Furnace Segment SECO/WARWICK.
Maciej Korecki, Vice President, Vacuum Furnace Segment SECO/WARWICK
ROTEC specializes in design and turnkey construction of complex power-engineering facilities and infrastructure, the development and commercial operation of the hardware-software analytic package for monitoring and predicting the condition of industrial equipment (PRANA system), the development and production of components for the aviation and power engineering applications, high-efficiency supercapacitor energy storage and accumulation systems, and also in manufacturing, retrofitting and maintaining basic energy equipment.
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This is a very interesting news item on two different levels. First our understanding is that the new facility will include a heat treat department-one of those really high end vacuum aerospace departments that everybody gets excited about.
Second that this is a perfect example of a trend in the US manufacturing and consequently heat treating industries to move to the lower cost areas of the southern US. Labor costs are lower, taxes are lower, energy costs are lower and the weather is nicer to boot.
“Pratt & Whitney will build a 1-million square foot manufacturing plant in low-cost North Carolina, investing about $650 million and creating 800 jobs through 2027, the jet engine manufacturer and state officials have announced.
Pratt & Whitney did not approach Connecticut as a possible site for expansion, said a spokesman for the Department of Economic and Community Development. Commissioner David Lehman said Raytheon Technologies has advised the state the project will not affect jobs in Connecticut. “We have a strong and active partnership with Pratt & Whitney and its parent Raytheon Technologies Corp,” Lehman said Monday.
Raytheon Technologies sees shift of Pratt & Whitney work from Connecticut to North Carolina as one way to cut costs in the pandemic. Commercial aerospace revenue has fallen sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic as planes are grounded and travel restrictions drag on for months. Pratt & Whitney has imposed pay cuts, furloughs and laid off about 450 salaried workers in Connecticut.
Still, the East Hartford-based engine maker, a subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies Corp,. is looking to expand and be ready for growth after the coronavirus has passed. Turbine airfoils are a critical component in Pratt & Whitney engines “and demand will increase significantly as the market recovers over the next several years,” said Chris Calio, president of Pratt & Whitney. “We need to invest today to ensure that we have the infrastructure, production capabilities and workforce in place to meet future market demand,” he said.
Employee pay, while high in North Carolina, is lower than for unionized workers in Connecticut, according to a representative of the Machinists union in East Hartford. Another advantage over Connecticut could be the cost of electricity to run the massive plant, a business advocate said Monday. The factory will have an advanced casting foundry for production of high-pressure turbine airfoils for the next-generation geared turbofan and F-135 fighter jet engines. The supply chain has become a bottleneck, prompting manufacturers to bring the work in-house, said Chris DiPentima, president of the Connecticut Business & Industry Association.
Foundries consume a tremendous amount of energy, which is among the top five costs that manufacturers face, he said. Connecticut has been plagued by high electricity costs, a source of complaints not only by homeowners, but manufacturers that require power on continuously to run machines.
Jamison Scott, executive director of the New Haven Manufacturers Association, said Connecticut is a high-cost state competing with the Carolinas and Florida for manufacturers and other businesses. The state is still drawing tens of millions of dollars in investments from companies smaller than Pratt & Whitney that “see value in Connecticut and our labor force,” he said. Mike Stone, directing business representative of the Machinists union, which represents Pratt & Whitney workers, said it’s a shame the new venture will be outside Connecticut where the engine maker’s start coincided with the beginnings of commercial aviation in the 1920s. “Naturally, we get a little trepidation when there’s a downside,” he said.
Since 2014, United Technologies Corp., the predecessor to Raytheon Technologies, created 4,055 net new jobs in the state, including, Lehman said, at Pratt & Whitney and Collins Aerospace, its other aviation subsidiary that manufactures cockpit, cabin and flight equipment and other components.
Raytheon Technologies has nearly 18,000 Connecticut employees across its businesses, Lehman said. And from 2014 to 2019, UTC invested more than $4 billion in research and development in Connecticut.
The average annual salary for new jobs at the Asheville, N.C., plant is expected to reach $68,000, nearly 58% higher than the average wage in the area, but less than the pay scale for unionized Connecticut workers, Stone said.”
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“Solar Atmospheres, Greenville, SC facility was recently approved to NQA-1, 10CFR50 Appendix B, and 10CFR21. These standards represent the nuclear power industry’s requirements for quality operating systems within the supply chain. Additionally, the approval allows Solar to eliminate our customer’s need within the Nuclear Industry to provide ongoing oversight of heat treatments.
Site Quality Manager and NQA-1 Lead Auditor Kevin Cyrulik states, “With this progression from Commercial Grade Supplier to externally approved NQA-1 Supplier, Solar continues to show its dedication and commitment to unmatched quality and product safety.”
Steve Prout, Solar Atmospheres Southeast President states, “At a time when the entire manufacturing world is facing unprecedented operational challenges, Solar is thrilled to be able to support our customers with an opportunity to streamline their processes, saving them time and money.”
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We at “The Monty” are very familiar with Low Pressure Carburizing (LPC) or Vacuum Carburizing as we generally prefer to call the process but to date we don’t believe we have seen such a process in a pit furnace. Typically what we see are horizontal style vacuum furnaces with a carburizing atmosphere added, although in the early days ECM did offer a vertical style system.
According to this press release SECO/WARWICK is now offering a LPC system in a pit furnace called Pit-LPC, the advantage for some users being that you can process large diameter parts, gears being an obvious example. Mark Hemsath of SECO, USA has these comments and below them is the original press release.
“As with all LPC, it is critical to have our software and recipe simulator which is well proven with many years of experience. Combined with this new design of a Pit vacuum furnace for quenching in a standard, separate pit-style oil quench, It is now economical to apply LPC and its benefits to vertical, deep case vacuum carburizing. What is unique about the Pit-LPC is that we are able take the furnace to atmospheric pressure prior to load removal, in order to allow for overhead load removal and transfer of the load to an existing or purchased vertical, pit-style oil quench bath. This transfer is identical to what users of pit furnaces do today.”
SECO/WARWICK Press Release; “Pit LPC Alternative for atmosphere carburizing, which achieved the maximum of its possibilities. Pit-LPC = cost reduction, taking care of the environment, production increase – all this is possible due to the process being carried out in vacuum and in higher temperatures. The state-of-the-art solution meets the most stringent ecological standards, while increasing the work safety through elimination of flammable and explosive atmosphere. High homogeneity of the process parameters has a direct effect on the thickness of the carbonized layer and, as a result, on the quality of the processed detail.”
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Gord Montgomery, Mark Hemsath
News to us that commercial heat treater Nitrex offers copper plating services but according to this press release they do. It’s been a few years since we at “The Monty” visited this facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA but we still have some photos of our last visit including the one below showing the pit gas nitriders.
“Nitrex, through the commercial heat-treating services division (HTS), is pleased to announce that its Nevada facility has received certification from Honeywell for copper plating services. Honeywell is a global leader of aerospace parts and services supplying the commercial, defense, and space aircraft industries. “The approval involved a stringent audit process that the experts at Nitrex went through diligently, which is something we always do, as part of our values and culture. In addition to copper plating, Nitrex HTS Nevada has also been approved by Honeywell for nitriding of stainless steels, steel alloys, and tool steels,” commented Joe Beal, Facility Manager of Nitrex Nevada.
Copper plating supplied to Honeywell is classified as Type II plating, which masks selected areas of the metal part to prevent nitriding of the part’s substrate surface. Copper plating is done following AMS 2418 as well as the customer’s specific specifications. The copper plating line at the Nevada facility can plate up to three rack loads and strip two rack loads of parts at the same time. In operation since 2015, the line received its NADCAP accreditation in November 2016. Today the line processes parts for aerospace primes as well as Formula 1 Racing.
“This additional approval from Honeywell reflects the growing recognition and value that Nitrex brings to the aerospace market – first with NitregR nitriding services and today with copper plating. Our strength is our ability to work closely with customers, expand and adapt our capabilities to support them in their growth, and ultimately to ensure that their mission-critical applications are expertly serviced to meet or exceed in-service component performance. I want to thank our customer for their trust and business and congratulate the entire Nevada team for this accomplishment,” said Jason Orosz, President of Nitrex Heat Treating Services (HTS).”
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At the world’s largest commercial heat treater, Bodycote we see a new addition to the team in North America. Bob Stecker has just joined the company as Director of Operations, Automotive, CHT-NA. We believe Bob will be based out of the fairly new Romulus, Michigan facility, a facility which we have always thought Bodycote should brag about more. This location is less than 2 years old and out of all the Bodycote locations we have seen around the world this is one of the nicest. We begged and pleaded during our last visit to take a couple of photos, unfortunately no luck.
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In this press release from furnace builder SECO/WARWICK the company brags about how they have a great deal of experience working with mints around the world-while we at “The Monty” can’t validate this entirely we can say that this is the case at the Royal Canadian Mint in Canada. A number of years back the Canadian Mint in Ottawa installed a new SECO vacuum furnace in circumstances similar to this in that it was not an easy install. The Ottawa Mint has their heat treatment department installed in the basement of an old building right in the heart of the city. We can remember being very impressed that they were even able to get the furnace into the building much less into the basement.
“The Mint of Poland, a producer of circulation and collector coins for the National Bank of Poland, has purchased a second VECTORR vacuum furnace. The historic 250 year-old-plus institution will begin producing stamps and coins with the latest SECO/WARWICK solution. The new VECTORR vacuum furnace with SECO/WARWICK quality is a symbol of the highest craftsmanship in the field of minting. Equipped with 15 bar high-pressure gas quenching (HPGQ) capability, this is the second furnace of the same type purchased by the Mint of Poland. The first device, purchased in 2012 has continued to provide quick hardening in the most optimal floorspace for the customer throughout the past eight years in its Warsaw facility, considered one of the three most valued and technologically advanced mints in the world. The latest Vector vacuum furnace is primarily intended to increase the efficiency of the Mint of Poland. It is also a back-up resource in the event of failure or downtime due to service inspection of the current unit.
“Considering the nature of the mint’s operation, including the security of the coin and tool production process, an important aspect is duplicating the device in order to maintain the continuity of heat treatment in any situation and to ensure that the entire technological line is carried out on the premises of the Mint. The second device from the same supplier, SECO/WARWICK, secures our capabilities in this area,” says Piotr Kraszewski, Director of the Production Department at Mennica Polska SA. The distinguishing feature of this new design is the additional option of high vacuum, convection heating, and its PreNITLPCR technology, which opens up new possibilities for thin layer nitriding tests. This is an innovative application in the technological testing phase.
Mints recommend SECO/WARWICK vacuum furnaces; As emphasized by specialists in the heat treatment industry, mints around the world are very demanding customers who pay close attention to the technologies used in the production of coins, numismatics, medals, and stamps. It is an elite club of recipients of heat treatment technology, in which opinion and recommendations are taken very seriously and are often the first criterion for choosing a partner. SECO/WARWICK has for many years been on the list of the most recommended manufacturers of solutions for mints, not only state-owned but throughout the world. “We are recommended because we offer technologies that guarantee – in the production of a series of circulation coins – excellent reproducibility of results and durability, and in the case of collector series, extraordinary purity and quality of processed products,” says Maciej Korecki, Vice President of the Vacuum Furnace Segment at SECO/WARWICK.
“In our long-term cooperation with SECO/WARWICK, apart from the excellent final parameters of the products, we value the most their technological and service support, which allows us to try innovative solutions, rare or unheard of on the market. In our opinion, the technological knowledge and individual approach of engineers to the challenges that we set before them are as valuable and unique as our products,” emphasizes Siemowit Kalukiewicz, Production and Operations Director at Mennica Polska SA.
Mint of Poland and SECO/WARWICK – history is written together; The Mint of Poland started cooperation with SECO/WARWICK at the turn of 2011/2012, based on the recommendations of other mints and very good opinions of Polish users. One of the biggest initial challenges was to install and commission this full-size vacuum furnace on one of the floors of a skyscraper located in the very center of Warsaw. It involved not only logistics issues but above all the operating conditions of the device in such a demanding external environment. Another challenge was the relocation of the furnace from this difficult restricted access location in the center of Warsaw to the new production site of the Mint of Poland. Over the years, SECO/WARWICK has participated in numerous technological trials of mint products, dies, and their heat treatment. Many of these tests represent unique technologies not available anywhere in the world at the moment. “The challenges posed by the Mint of Poland are, on the one hand, an interesting experiment, and on the other hand, a challenge for SECO/WARWICK engineers to expand the scope of our devices and their applications. Such cooperation has been going on for many years, and it serves both sides well,” adds M.Korecki from SECO/WARWICK.”
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