Most modern products result from brilliant inventions and discoveries powered by revolution. Many industries wouldn’t flourish without heat treatment, which involves heating a piece of metal inside industrial ovens and furnaces.
This guide covers everything related to industrial ovens and furnaces, including their relevance to the modern age. It also discusses different treatment processes so that general readers can easily understand them. This article also highlights the capabilities of such equipment, boasting features like energy efficiency for industries demanding precision engineering.
What is Heat Treatment, and Why Does it Matter?
Heat treatment is the process of heating and cooling metals and alloys in a controlled environment to change their physical and chemical properties. Heat-treating materials help improve their hardness, malleability, durability, ductility, remove residual resistance, increase wear resistance, and more.
Industrial ovens and furnaces specialise in heat-treating ferrous and non-ferrous materials. Their main difference is their temperature and associated usage. Industrial ovens can reach 1000 °F, making them suitable for cooking, curing, and drying. Meanwhile, industrial furnaces can reach up to 2000 °F and higher, making them great for annealing and carburising.
Several industries, such as aerospace, automotive, and tool manufacturing, benefit from heat treatment. From everyday tools like hammers and screwdrivers to gears and axles that make vehicles, these products are created thanks to the revolutionary process.
Types of Heat Treatment Ovens and Furnaces
The following are some of the common types of heat treatment ovens and furnaces available in the market:
- Batch Ovens.
- Continuous Ovens.
- Vacuum Ovens.
- Salt Bath Furnaces.
- Induction Heating Furnaces.
Different Heat Treatment Processes
While there are different processes for heat-treating materials, two major types exist based on the change in properties: physical and chemical (mechanical).
Non-Chemical Heat Treatment
This classification focuses on changing the physical properties of metals and alloys. It often involves heating and cooling them in non-controlled atmosphere furnaces, achieving qualities like hardness and resistance.
Annealing
Annealing is a heat treatment process used to achieve ductility. The process involves heating a metal to a set temperature, holding it, and slowly cooling it. This relieves internal stresses, softens the material, and improves machinability.
Normalising
Normalising undergoes the same process as annealing. However, instead of slow cooling, the process involves air-cooling. The resulting material becomes harder and stronger, making it suitable for components that need uniform mechanical properties.
Quenching
Quenching involves submerging a heated metal in water, oil, or air to achieve hardness. The first two liquid mediums are common but may make submerged materials prone to cracks and warps. While it may sound odd, air submersion is perfect for high-alloy steels.
Tempering
Tempering is an optional process that follows quenching, meant to reduce a metal’s brittleness while retaining hardness. The process involves reheating the metal to a lower temperature before cooling it slowly.
Chemical Heat Treatment
This classification focuses on modifying the surface composition of metals and alloys, enhancing wear resistance and fatigue strength.
Carburising
This process helps harden the surface of low-carbon steels, promoting a hard surface while making the interior ductile and durable. Carburising helps metals absorb shock without breaking.
Carbonitriding
Carbonitriding combines carbon and nitrogen to low-carbon steels, enhancing corrosion resistance, reducing distortion chances, and improving wear resistance. Carbonitriding is performed in low-temperature environments that are suitable for thin materials.
Cyanide Hardening
Like carbonitriding, carbon and nitrogen are diffused to low-carbon steels but with cyanide salts. Cyanide hardening retains the benefits of the previous heat treatment processes, but it’s an environmental concern, making it less common.
Key Features of Heat Treatment Ovens and Furnaces
Modern heat treatment ovens and furnaces have smart technologies to fuel every manufacturing demand and ensure consistency, efficiency, and quality. These features are:
Precise Temperature Control
Advanced temperature controllers maintain consistency with the required temperature, increasing success rate when obtaining physical or mechanical qualities.
Uniform Heat Distribution
Having equal heat distribution throughout the furnace (or chamber) is a surefire way to achieve consistent results when heat-treating metals and alloys. This key feature reduces unwanted properties and avoids localised overheating or insufficient heating.
Energy Efficiency
An energy-efficient heat treatment oven or furnace helps prevent unnecessary waste materials and save the planet. More importantly, it cuts operational costs for companies with shallow pockets.
Customisable Configurations
Some companies offer add-ons for those who want extra features for their industrial ovens and furnaces, helping meet their production needs.
Safety and Compliance
Safety features such as automatic shutdown, overheat protection, and compliance with industry standards reduce the risk of injuries in the workplace.