Why Do Captives Choose Vacuum Technology?

A manufacturer in the US approached us today with what will soon be a surplus vacuum carburizing system. To be exact it is an older 3 cell ECM system which one of these days will not longer be needed due to a change in direction when it comes to their heat treating requirements. Looking at these photos of the installed furnace system our first thought was that this is one reason why vacuum technology can be very attractive to a manufacturer with heat treating requirements-no heat, no smoke, no flames. As can so plainly be seen in these pictures the heat treat department is located right smack in the middle of the plant and surrounded by machining centers, assembly operations and even warehousing. Quite frankly we consider “real” heating treating to involve flames, puddles of quench oil and smoke however even we have to admit that this is not always a good thing.