Why Do Captives Choose Vacuum Technology?

Last week we had two photos of a vacuum carburizing installation in a manufacturing facility in the US which begged the question; “Why Do Captives Choose Vacuum Technology?” 

http://www.themonty.com/why-do-captives-choose-vacuum-technology/ 

It hit a chord based upon our feedback and one fellow at furnace manufacturer SECO/WARWICK posted these two photos of a captive operation in reaction to our comments. The before photo shows a very tired pit furnace installation with the after photo showing a brand new vacuum set up. While it is true that a vacuum installation does fit in much better in the midst of a manufacturing facility because of a lack of smoke and heat we should be fair here. Comparing the cleanliness of a new electrically heated vacuum furnace with gas quenching against an older gas fired carburizing furnace with oil quenching is not an especially fair comparison (and yes we know that the one furnace shown here does have oil quenching). Suffice to say that manufacturing has changed over the years and thankfully newer, cleaner furnaces are more the norm these days.