Dozens of industries, laboratories and manufacturers rely on high-powered vacuum furnace systems to perform daily functions. From heat treatment to brazing and sanitation, vacuum furnaces perform a variety of duties that are crucial for a company to operate efficiently.
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But how does a vacuum furnace work? What are the various components that make up a vacuum furnace system? In this article, we'll discuss the vacuum furnace process and how some companies utilize them in their day-to-day business functions.
By SentroTech
The vacuum furnace heat treatment process begins by placing the parts, tools or components into the chamber. Depending on furnace size, this can be accomplished using a rolling rack or tray to load parts. For smaller vacuum furnaces, simply open the chamber and place parts inside.
After closing and sealing the chamber, the next step in vacuum furnace processing is to create a vacuum inside the chamber. Initialize the pump to remove all of the oxygen inside the vacuum furnace and maintain an airtight seal.
Use the temperature controls to heat your parts. Most vacuum furnace systems have fine controls that manage the temperature to a precise degree. The speed at which the vacuum furnace reaches the desired temperature can also be managed.
The manner in which you cool parts following a vacuum furnace heat treatment will differ depending on the material and the application. One of the more common ways to cool components in vacuum furnace processing is to cycle inert gases such as argon into the heating chamber. Because inert gases do not readily undergo chemical reactions, they are an ideal choice as a cooling system for your vacuum furnace.
Other vacuum furnace processes such as quenching can rapidly cool products and drastically reduce production cycles.
A vacuum furnace is a type of furnace in which the product in the furnace is surrounded by a vacuum during processing. The absence of air or other gases prevents oxidation, heat loss from the product through convection, and removes a source of contamination. This enables the furnace to heat materials (typically metals and ceramics) to temperatures as high as 3,000 °C (5,432 °F) [1] with select materials. Maximum furnace temperatures and vacuum levels depend on melting points and vapor pressures of heated materials. Vacuum furnaces are used to carry out processes such as annealing, brazing, sintering and heat treatment with high consistency and low contamination.
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Characteristics of a vacuum furnace are:
Heating metals to high temperatures in open to atmosphere normally causes rapid oxidation, which is undesirable. A vacuum furnace removes the oxygen and prevents this from happening.
An inert gas, such as Argon, is often used to quickly cool the treated metals back to non-metallurgical levels (below 400 °F [200 °C]) after the desired process in the furnace.[2] This inert gas can be pressurized to two times atmosphere or more, then circulated through the hot zone area to pick up heat before passing through a heat exchanger to remove heat. This process continues until the desired temperature is reached.
Vacuum furnaces are used in a wide range of applications in both production industries and research laboratories. For example, a low-temperature vacuum oven can be used for drying biomass much more efficiently than drying alone.[3] Similarly, microwave-vacuum drying has shown potential for drying foods like cranberries.[4][5]
At temperatures below °C, a vacuum furnace is commonly used for the heat treatment of steel alloys. Many general heat treating applications involve the hardening and tempering of a steel part to make it strong and tough through service. Hardening involves heating the steel to a predetermined temperature, then cooling it rapidly in water, oil or suitable medium.
A further application for vacuum furnaces is Vacuum Carburizing also known as Low Pressure Carburizing or LPC. In this process, a gas (such as acetylene) is introduced as a partial pressure into the hot zone at temperatures typically between 1,600 and 1,950 °F (870 and 1,070 °C). The gas disassociates into its constituent elements (in this case carbon and hydrogen). The carbon is then diffused into the surface area of the part. This function is typically repeated, varying the duration of gas input and diffusion time. Once the workload is properly "cased", the metal is quenched using oil or high pressure gas (HPGQ). For HPGQ, nitrogen or, for faster quench helium, is commonly used. This process is also known as case hardening.
Another low temperature application of vacuum furnaces is debinding, a process for the removal of binders. Heat is applied under a vacuum in a sealed chamber, melting or vaporizing the binder from the aggregate. The binder is evacuated by the pumping system and collected or purged downstream. The material with a higher melting point is left behind in a purified state and can be further processed.
Vacuum furnaces capable of temperatures above °C are used in various industry sectors such as electronics, medical, crystal growth, energy and artificial gems. The processing of high temperature materials, both of metals and nonmetals, in a vacuum environment allows annealing, brazing, purification, sintering and other processes to take place in a controlled manner.
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