CASE STUDY: Advantages in Continuous Operation on a Three-Chamber Vacuum Furnace

Excerpted with permission from Heat Treat Today.

The three-chamber CaseMaster Evolution CMe-T6810-25 vacuum furnace was installed and implemented for production at the commercial heat treatment plant at the Polish branch of the renowned Aalberts surface technologies Group in 2020.

To sum up the economic aspect of the study, a CMe furnace capacity of 1,500 net tons of parts per year was achieved for 6500 hours of annual furnace operation, at a cost of energy factors of about 100 EUR per load, or 0.14 EUR per kg of parts. The economic calculation n is very attractive, and the return on investment (ROI) is estimated at just a few years. The CMe furnace, together with the washer and tempering furnace, forms the core of the department’s production, which is why the furnace is operated continuously.

The CaseMaster Evolution, Type CMe-T6810-25, is a compact, versatile, and flexible system designed for vacuum heat treatment processes for in-house and commercial plants, dedicated to fast-changing and demanding conditions in large-scale and individual production (Fig. 1). It enables the implementation of case hardening by LPC and HPGQ processes and quenching of typical types of oil and gas hardened steels and allows for annealing and brazing.

Distinctive Features include:

• Safe, no flammable and poisonous atmosphere
• Intended for high volume production (two to three times higher output when compared to single- and double-chamber furnaces)
• Effective and efficient LPC (even five times faster than traditional carburizing)
• Operator-free in a clean room installation
• High precision and repeatability of results

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