Aluminerie Alouette, based in Sept-Îles, Quebec, Canada, announced several investments in its aluminum smelting operations. These include upgrades to anode baking furnaces as well as a planned installation of new potline technologies that will address waste streams at the site. The Canadian aluminum producer’s new technologies will increase operations and address environmental issues.
Alouette restarted the first firing ramps of its No. 1 (ABF-1) anode baking furnace after a refractory relining project, which was completed with EPCM support from Hatch. With furnace No. 1 restarted, the companies are now beginning work on the restart of a second furnace reline (ABF-2), which is expected to be completed in 2024.
Additionally, Alouette signed two contracts totaling $2.7 million with PyroGenesis Canada Inc. The first contract will address the treatment of spent pot lining (SPL) waste. The technology proposed will use plasma arc thermal treatment to transform the carbonaceous and refractory materials contained in SPL into synthesis gas and aluminum fluoride. The objective of the second contract is to process excess electrolytic bath in a plasma arc thermal treatment plant with the goal of producing aluminum fluoride.
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In addressing the challenges of modern automated production flow, thru-process temperature monitoring and process validation strategies provide viable options in the automotive heat treat industry. Could they help your operations?
This Technical Tuesday article was composed by Steve Offley, “Dr. O,” product marketing manager, PhoenixTM.It appears in Heat Treat Today’s August 2023 Automotive Heat Treatingprint edition.
The Heat Treat Monitoring Goal
Dr. Steve Offley, “Dr. O”
Product Marketing Manager
PhoenixTM
Source: LinkedIn
In any automotive heat treatment process, it is essential that the heat treat application is performed in a controlled and repeatable fashion to achieve the physical material properties of the product. This means the product material experiences the required temperature, time, and processing atmosphere to achieve the desired metallurgical transitions (internal microstructure) to give the product the material properties to perform it’s intended function.
When tackling the need to understand how the heat treat process is performing, it is useful to split the task up into two parts: focusing on the furnace technology first, and then introducing the product into the mix.
If we consider the furnace performance, we need to validate that the heat treat technology is capable of providing the desired accurate uniformity of heating over the working volume of the furnace for the desired soak time where the products are placed. This is best achieved by performing a temperature uniformity survey (TUS). The TUS is a key pyrometry requirement of the CQI-9 Heat Treat System Assessment (AIAG) standard applied by many automotive OEMs and suppliers.
Traditionally temperature uniformity surveys are performed using a field test instrument (chart recorder or static data logger) external to the furnace with thermocouples trailing into the furnace heating chamber. Although possible, this technique has many limitations, especially when applying to the increasingly automated semi or continuous operations discussed later in this article.
Thru-process Temperature Profiling — Discover the Heat Treat DNA
When it comes to heat treatment, the TUS operation gives a level of confidence that the furnace technology is in specification. However, it is important to understand the need to focus on what is happening at the real core of the product from a temperature and time perspective. Product temperature profiling, as its name suggests, is the perfect technique. Thermocouples attached to the part, or even embedded within the part, give an accurate record of the product temperature at all points in the process, referred to as a product temperature profile. Such information is helpful to determine process variations from critical factors such as part size, thermal mass, location within the product basket, furnace loading, transfer rate, and changes to heat treat recipe. Product temperature profiling by trailing thermocouples with an external data logger (Figure 1) is possible for a simple batch furnace, but it is not a realistic option for some modern heat treat operations.
Figure 1. Typical TUS survey set-up for a static batch furnace. PhoenixTM PTM4220 External data logger connected directly to a 9 point TUS frame used to measure the temperature uniformity over the volumetric working volume of the furnace.
Source: PhoenixTM
With the industry driving toward fully automated manufacturing, furnace manufacturers are now offering the complete package with full robotic product loading — shuttle transfer systems and modular heat treat phases to either process complete product baskets or one-piece operations.
The thru-process monitoring principle overcomes the problems of trailing thermocouples as the multi-channel data logger (field test instrument) travels into and through the heat treat process protected by a thermal barrier (Figure 2).
Figure 2. PhoenixTM thru-process monitoring system. (1) The thermal barrier protects internal multi-channel data logger, (2) the field test instrument, (3) the product thermal profile view, (4) the temperature uniformity survey (TUS), and (5) short nonexpendable mineral insulated thermocouples.
Source: PhoenixTM
The short thermocouples are fixed to either the product or TUS frame. Temperature data is then transmitted either live to a monitoring PC running profile or the TUS analysis software via a two-way RF (radio frequency) telemetry link or downloaded post run.
Although thru-process temperature monitoring in principle can be applied to most heat treat furnace operations, obviously no one solution will suit all processes, as we know from the phrase, “One size doesn’t fit all.”
For this very reason, unique thermal barrier designs are required to be tailored to the specific demands of the application whether temperature, pressure, atmosphere, or geometry as described in the following section.
Product Profiling and TUS in Continuous Heat Treat Furnaces
Thru-process product temperature profiling and/or surveying of continuous furnace operations, unlike trailing thermocouples, can be performed accurately and safely as part of the conventional production flow allowing true heat treat conditions to be assessed. As shown in Figure 3, surveying of the furnace working zone can be achieved using the plane method. A frame attached to the thermal barrier positions the TUS thermocouples at designated positions relative to the two dimensional working zone (furnace height and width) as defined in the pyrometry standard (CQI-9) during safe passage through the furnace (soak time).
Figures 3. Temperature uniformity survey of a continuous furnace using the plane method applying the PhoenixTM thru-process monitoring system. The data logger travels protected in a thermal barrier mounted on the TUS frame performing a safe TUS at four points across the width, which is impossible with trailing thermocouples.
Source: : Raba Axle, Györ, Hungary
Sealed Gas Carburizing and Oil Quench Monitoring
For traditional sealed gas carburizing where product cooling is performed in an integral oil quench, the historic limitation of thru-process temperature profiling has been the need to bypass the oil quench and wash stations.
In such carburizing processes, the oil quench rate is critical to both the metallurgical composition of the metal and to the elimination of product distortion and quench cracks, and so the need for a monitoring solution has been significant. Regular monitoring of the quench is important as aging of the oil results in decomposition, oxidation, and contamination of the oil, all of which degrade the heat transfer characteristics and quench efficiency.
To address the process challenges, a unique barrier design has been developed that both protects the data logger in the furnace (typically 3 hours at 1700°F/925°C) and during transfer through the oil quench (typically 15 minutes) and final wash station.
Figures 4. PhoenixTM thru-process temperature profiling system monitoring the core temperature of automotive parts in a traditional sealed gas carburizing furnace with integral oil quench. (left) System entering carburizing furnace in product basket. (right) Thermal barrier showing outer structural frame and sacrificial insulation blocks protecting inner sealed thermal barrier housing the data logger.
Source: PhoenixTM
The key to the barrier design is the encasement of a sealed inner barrier (Figure 4) with its own thermal protection with blocks of high-grade sacrificial insulation contained in a robust outer structural frame. The innovative barrier offers complete protection to the data logger allowing product core temperature monitoring for the complete heat treat process under production conditions.
Low Pressure Carburizing with High Pressure Gas Quench
In the current business environment, an attractive alternative to the traditional sealed gas carburizing application for both energy and environmental reasons is low pressure carburizing (LPC). Following the vacuum carburizing process, the product is transferred to a sealed high-pressure gas quench chamber where the product is rapidly gas cooled using typically N2 or Helium at up to 20 bars.
Such technology lends itself to automation with product baskets being transferred by shuttle drives and robot loading mechanisms from chamber to chamber in a semi-continuous fashion. The sequential processing (with stages often being performed in self-contained sealed chambers) can only be monitored by the thru-process approach where the system (thermal barrier protected data logger) is self-contained within the product basket or TUS frame.
In such processes the technical challenge is twofold. The thermal barrier must be capable of protecting against not only heat during the carburizing phase, but also very rapid pressure and temperature changes inflicted by the gas quench. To protect the thermal barrier in the LPC process with gas quench, the barrier construction needs to be able to withstand constant temperature cycling and high gas pressures. The design and construction features include:
Metal work: 310 stainless steel to reduce distortion at high temperature combined with internal structural reinforcement
Insulation: ultra-high temperature microporous insulation to minimize shrinkage problems
Rivets: close pitched copper rivets reduce carbon pick up and maintain strength
Lid expansion plate: reduces distortion during rapid temperature changes
Catches: heavy duty catches eliminating thread seizure issues
Heat sink: internal heat sink to provide additional thermal protection to data logger
During the gas quench, the barrier needs to be protected from Nitrogen N2 (g) or Helium He(g) gas pressures up to 20 bar. Such pressures on the flat top of the barrier would create excessive stress to the metal work and internal insulation or the data logger. Therefore, a separate gas quench deflector is used to protect the barrier. The tapered top plate deflects the gas away from the barrier. The unique design means the plate is supported on either four or six support legs. As it is not in contact with the barrier, no force is applied directly to the barrier and the force is shared between the support legs.
In LPC technology further monitoring challenges are faced by the development of one piece flow furnace designs.
Figures 5. (left) Thermal barrier being loaded into LPC batch furnace with TUS frame as part of temperature uniformity survey. (right) Thermal barrier shown with independent quench deflector providing protection during the high pressure gas quench.
Source: PhoenixTM
New designs incorporate single piece or single product layer tray loading into multiple vertical heat treat chambers followed by auto loading into mobile high pressure quench chamber. Miniturization of each separate heat treat chamber limits the space available to the monitoring system. The TS02-128-1 thermal barrier has been designed specifically for such processes utilizing the compact 6 channel “Sigma” data logger allowing reduction of the footprint of the system to fit the product tray and reduce thermal mass. With a height of only 128 mm/5 inch and customized independent low height quench deflector, the system is suitable for challenging low height furnace chambers and offers 1 hour protection at 1472°F/800°C in a vacuum.
Figure 6. (left) Low profile TUS system (TS02-128-1 thermal barrier six channel Sigma data logger) designed with TUS surveying individual one-piece flow heat treatment LPC furnace chambers (right) Thermal barrier shown with optional low profile gas quench deflector.
Source: PhoenixTM
In modern rotary hearth furnaces (Figure 7), temperature profiling using trailing thermocouples is impossible as the cables would wind up in the furnace transfer mechanism. Due to the central robot loading and unloading and elimination of charging racks/baskets, the use of a conventional thru-process system would also be a challenge.
Figure 7. A modern rotary hearth furnace.
Source: PhoenixTM
To eliminate the loading restrictions, a unique thermal barrier small enough to fit inside the cavity of the engine block and allow automated loading of the complete combined monitoring system and product has been developed. To optimize the thermal performance of the thermal barrier with such tight size constraints, a phased evaporation technology is employed. Thermal protection of the high temperature data logger is provided by an insulated water tank barrier design keeping the operating temperature of the data logger at a safe 212°F/100°C or less. The system allowed BSN Thermoprozesstechnik GmbH in Germany to commission the furnace accurately and efficiently and thereby optimize settings to not only achieve product quality but also ensure energy efficient, cost effective production.
Summary
Thru-process product temperature profiling and surveying provide a versatile, accurate, and safe solution for monitoring increasingly automated, intelligent furnace lines and the means to understand, control, optimize, and certify your heat treat process.
About the author:
Dr. Steve Offley, “Dr. O,” has been the product marketing manager at PhoenixTM for the last five years after a career of over 25 years in temperature monitoring focusing on the heat treatment, paint, and general manufacturing industries. A key aspect of his role is the product management of the innovative PhoenixTM range of thru-process temperature and optical profiling and TUS monitoring system solutions.
The first of five new mesh belt temper furnaces was shipped from Michigan manufacturer to the southern U.S. The second and third furnaces are ready for the next phases of production, and they all will be used for preheating and tempering of steel bar stock.
Premier Furnace Specialists, Inc./BeaverMatic has scheduled the first installation for the last week of August. The remaining four will be completed and installed through January 2024. These furnaces are natural gas fired with an operating temperature of 1600°F. They have thirty-six inch wide mesh belts capable of 2000 lbs per hour. The furnaces are all operated through a 23.8” HMI color touch screen interface.
Mesh belt furnace from Premier Furnace Specialists, Inc./BeaverMatic Source: Premier Furnace/BeaverMatic
“We built them a similar furnace in 2022,” commented Steve Ignash, sales engineer at Premier. “The [latest] system was designed, built, and tested at our new 40,000 square foot facility in Farmington Hills, MI.”
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A set of nitriding/nitrocarburizing systems has been installed for a European hydraulics manufacturer. The furnaces help produce components for hydraulic pumps and motors and strengthen the company’s in-house heat treatment capabilities.
The furnaces are from Nitrex – a company based in North America with international locations. This is the second set of systems from the same manufacturer. These systems primarily serve to nitride/nitrocarburize pieces made from various steels and alloys and will help meet the growing demand for hydraulic components.
Hydraulics systems expand heat treat capabilities Source: Nitrex
“The nitriding/nitrocarburizing furnaces have [. . . integrated] seamlessly into our customer’s operations,” commented Mark Hemsath, vice president of sales, furnaces & heat treating services at Nitrex.
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Discover expert tips, tricks, and resources for sustainable heat treating methods Heat TreatToday’srecent series. Part 4, today’s tips, covers induction heating, quench, and insulation tips. We’ve added resources towards the end of today’s post for further enrichment.
This Technical Tuesday article is compiled from tips in Heat TreatToday’sMay Focus on Sustainable Heat Treat Technologiesprint edition. If you have any tips of your own about induction and sustainability, our editors would be interested in sharing them online at www.heattreattoday.com. Email Bethany Leone at bethany@heattreattoday.com with your own ideas!
1. Tips for Induction Hardening
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What are the benefits of induction hardening? Here are a few:
Saves space: Induction hardening requires minimum space required in comparison with furnaces
Saves energy: Induction heating equipment does not need to be kept running when not in use
Clean: Induction heating equipment requires no combustion gases
Energy-efficient: Only a small proportion of the material needs to be heated
Minimize deformation: Induction hardening requires no applied force
Save maintenance costs: Inductor coils have a long life, reducing the need for maintenance
Source: Humberto Torres Sánchez, Chief Metallurgist, ZF Group
2. Insulation = Key for Energy Savings in Vacuum Furnaces
Look for insulation quality in your next vacuum furnace.
Source: NITREX
Improvements in insulation materials are also contributing to greater energy efficiency of vacuum furnaces. Most furnaces on the market today have a 1” (25.4 mm) graphite board with bonded Grafoil and two layers of graphite felt. However, the insulation performance of a 1” (25.4 mm) graphite board is about 25% less efficient than a 1” (25.4 mm) graphite felt. For processes that require high operating temperatures, typically over 2,200°F (1,204°C), an all graphite felt that is 2” or 2.5” thick (50.8 mm or 63.5 mm) minimizes heat loss inside the hot zone. Efficiency gains of up to 25% are possible over the standard 1” (25.4 mm) board and 1” (25.4 mm) graphite felt insulation and an even greater gains at higher operating temperatures. To safeguard the graphite felt from mechanical harm and localized compression, these thicker all-graphite felt insulation configurations are usually covered with a carbon fiber composite (CFC) sheet about 0.050” (1.27 mm) thick.
Fuel efficiency (and the stringent requirement for passenger safety) has raised the bar for the automotive industry to procure steel with high strength, hardness, and ability to fabricate. Reduction of weight requires lighter cars with thinner body material which can absorb impact. These dual contradictory properties of high hardness material which can be easily shaped can normally be achieved either by heat treat or through addition of alloys. These two processes are described below.
Normal heat treatment to produce small grains in the material will increase the hardness in steel but also create a propensity to fracture. Thus, a process known as quench and partition — where carbon diffusion from martensite to retained austenite to stabilize the latter — has been introduced. Further verification and prediction of the phases has been conducted using thermodynamics modeling for phase characteristics by Behera & Olsen at Northwestern University, Materials Science and Engineering.
The process starts with full automatization (or in some cases intercritical annealing) followed by fast quench to a defined quench temperature (QT) between the martensite start, Ms, and martensite finish, Mf, temperature. The steel is then reheated to the partition temperature (PT) and held there for a certain partition time followed by a quenching step again to room temperature, as shown in the image.
Quench and partition process
Source: Speer et al. The Minerals, Metals, & Materials Society 2003
The quenching step establishes the largely martensite matrix while the partition step helps stabilize the retained austenite by carbon partitioning. During the holding step, carbon diffuses from martensite to retained austenite and thus improves its stability against subsequent cooling or mechanical deformation. The final microstructure consists predominantly of tempered martensite and stabilized retained austenite with possibly a small amount of bainite formation and carbide precipitation during the partition step and fresh martensite formation during final quenching.
The other process to achieve high hardness and high ductility is by alloy addition in carbon steel. Over, 2,000 different types of steel exist. A new type of steel that is extremely strong, but simultaneously ductile is used in the automotive industry. Small quantities of elements like vanadium or chrome in steel promotes ductility. They are not brittle; however, up until now they have not been strong enough to enable the construction of car bodies with thinner sheets.
In the crystals of steels, the atoms are more or less regularly arranged. Steels become particularly ductile though if they can switch from one structure to another. This is because this process allows energy absorption, which can then no longer initiate any damage in the material. In a car body or other steel components, tiny areas then alternate with the two different atom arrangements.
Ductile steels have two coexisting crystal structures. The search produced an alloy made from 50% iron, 30% manganese and 10% respectively of cobalt and chrome (Max Planck Institutes).
A heat treat company based in Waukesha, WI, has expanded with a 95,000 square foot building in New Berlin, WI. The New Berlin facility is seven miles from their Travis Road campus.
Steve Wiberg and Mary Wiberg Springer, owners of ThermTech, share that the plant’s square footage will be 270,000. The new space will be used for the company’s expansion. The new facility will allow the heat treater to continue to meet their clients’ needs as they expand their core offerings: hardening, tempering, surface heat treatment, carburizing, vacuum treatments, annealing, press quenching, austempering, and aluminum heat treatment.
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What makes the geometry of a part “complex”? With the increasing use of AM and 3D printing for parts along with typically complex parts, heat treaters in many industries must acquire the equipment and technical know-how for precise applications.
This Technical Tuesday article is compiled from Heat TreatTodayarticles and industry news releases. Email Bethany Leone at bethany@heattreattoday.com or click the Reader Feedback button below to chime in on the topic.
What Are Complex Geometries?
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Complex geometries in industrial parts are often defined by their intricate patterns and structures, which entail specialized heat treat processing. As Inductoheat describes in a case study with Stellantis, “Many times, complex geometries of components are linked to intricate hardness patterns and specific requirements for magnitude and distribution of residual stresses.”
Heat Treat Equipment for Processing Parts with Complex Geometries
Be it for highly customized medical implants or for engine components in the burgeoning electric vehicle industry, complex geometries need to heat treated carefully. Fasteners in the medical device industry can be quite intricate and susceptible to creep or other dimensional changes; one method heat treating these parts — particularly titanium alloy parts — would be in a vacuum furnace. In vacuum and in hot isostatic presses, the environment allows for complex geometries that are 3D printed to be made into a unified whole piece. “Heat conduction can be carefully monitored [in induction heating coils] to confirm that an overheat condition does not occur at the target temper areas,” making induction a key candidate for heat treating your parts with complex geometries (“Tempering: 4 Perspectives — Which makes sense for you?“). To accommodate the complexities of certain parts, designing an induction coil for the desired case hardening may entail simulation to “[predict] coil heating, which altogether results in a longer coil lifetime,” (“Simulation Software and 3D Printers Improve Copper Coils”). For more on induction coils, check out this article by Dr. Valery Rudnev.
Suffice it to say, there is a great diversity of heat treatment options to explore when it comes to identifying the appropriate equipment for your application.
What Processes Are Used in Heat Treating Complex Geometries?
Perhaps you have all of your equipment needs necessary for heat treating your parts with complex geometries. Are you completing your heat treat processing in the most technically sound manner? Check out the following excerpts that speak to processing complex geometries.
“[Forging] at elevated temperatures enables reaching high strains and forming complex geometries in a single stroke. Additionally, thermal and mechanical influence during the forging can lead to improving local mechanical properties and the quality of the resulting joining zone.” (“Thermomechanical Processing for Creating Bi-Metal Bearing Bushings“)
“In some cases, such attempts result in a component’s geometries that might be prone to cracking during heat treating or might be associated with excessive distortion . . . . The subject of induction hardening of complex geometry parts (including but not limited to gears, gear-like and shaft-like parts, raceways, camshafts, and other critical components) is also thoroughly discussed, describing inventions and innovations that have occurred in the last three to five years.” (“Heat Treat Training Benefits Stellantis“)
“LPC [low pressure carburizing] with gas quenching can be an attractive option for distortion prone complex geometries as the cooling rates are slower than oil quenching; however, given the slower cooling rate, it becomes very important to choose a higher alloyed steel that will achieve the desired hardness.” (“Elevate Your Knowledge: 5 Need-to-Know Case Hardening Processes“)
Complex Geometries In the News
See how your peers are solving complex geometries needs in these real-life partnerships with industry suppliers. From additive manufacturing (AM) and precision manufacturing parts to heat treat technology, maybe your company is next to leverage manufacturing equipment to “wow” the industry.
Heat Treat Today is partnering with two international publications: heat processing, a Vulkan-Verlag GmbH publication that serves mostly the European and Asian heat treat markets, and Furnaces International, a Quartz Business Media publication that primarily serves the English-speaking globe. Through these partnerships, we are sharing the latest news, tech tips, and cutting-edge articles that will serve our audience — manufacturers with in-house heat treat.
In this article, we look at annealing equipment, innovation in waste management, and thermal processes in Li-ion batteries.
Investing in production of high-performance electrical steel in Shanghai
Source: Baowa
New Electrical Steel Lines for EV Motors
“Fives, a leading engineering group with broad expertise in steel processing and technology, has designed and delivered thermal sections for a new annealing and pickling line (APL) and two new annealing and coating lines (ACL). The lines, designed to produce high quality non-grain oriented (NGO) grades for electric vehicle motors, delivered their first coil between December 2022 and February 2023.”
Addressing the issue of plastic waste mgmt.
Source: worldsteel
Successful Trials Will Help Manufacturer Reduce Carbon Footprint
“Integrated steel manufacturer JSW Steel has accomplished a ‘significant breakthrough in environmental sustainability’ by successfully injecting waste plastic into Blast Furnace 3 at its Vijayanagar steel plant following extensive trials.”
Left to right: Huang Ligang, general manager, Kilnpartner; Zhang Yuejin,
Chairman of the board, Kilnpartner; Michael Reisner, CEO, Aichelin Ges.m.b.H.;
Christian Grosspointner, CEO, Aichelin Holding; and Fan Xiaochun, CEO,
Kilnpartner, after signing the contract.
Source: Aichelin
AICHELIN Cooperation Agreement
“The thermal processes used to treat the essential components of Li-ion batteries represent a key technology in this process. These include the cathode as LFP (lithium iron phosphate) or NMC (nickel manganese cobalt) and the active anode material. Only through a highly accurate heat treatment can the crystal structure and morphology of the material be trimmed to ‘peak performance.’ In order to achieve this goal, each manufacturer has its own processes. The common basic requirement is flexible and reliable plant technology, the so-called ‘kilns.’”
Discover expert tips, tricks, and resources for sustainable heat treating methods Heat Treat Today’s recent series. Part 3, today’s tips, covers some combustion content. We’ve added further resources towards the end of today’s post to further enrich your combustion knowledge.
This Technical Tuesday article is compiled from tips in Heat Treat Today’sMay Focus on Sustainable Heat Treat Technologies print edition. If you have any tips of your own about combustion, our editors would be interested in sharing them online at www.heattreattoday.com. Email Bethany Leone at bethany@heattreattoday.com with your own ideas!
1. Combustion Efficiency: Do You THINK or Do You KNOW?
Minimize emission with data Source: PSNERGY
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Installing retrofittable monitoring equipment provides real time and historical combustion data.
Combustion is a chemical reaction. With the right mix of fuel and air, emissions are minimized while heat output is maximized.
The question is: “Do you think it is right or do you know it is right?” With today’s technology, knowing combustion is running efficiently by maintaining proper ratios at each burner is not only possible, it is necessary.
Minimize emissions, improve quality, and maximize heat output per BTU with data!
Source: Taylor Smith, Specialist of Technical Sales and Marketing, PSNERGY
#combustion #emissions #energy #efficiency
2. NOx and High Efficiency Burners
Nitrogen oxides, or NOx emissions, are generated in high temperature combustion systems. Nitrogen and oxygen are present in combustion air and react in the high-temperature region of the flame to produce various oxides of nitrogen. NOx is a generic term combining NO (nitric oxide) and NO2 (nitrogen dioxide).
Modern high-efficiency burners with a high pre-heat of combustion air through known means of recuperative or regenerative systems increase the temperature of the oxygen and nitrogen within the combustion air and the potential for high NOx levels. Therefore, NOx reduction methods become even more important with high pre-heat burners.
Typical reduction methods of NOx in high efficiency burner systems include:
Recirculation of combustion products or flue gases is very effective to reduce temperature peaks and therefore reduce nitric oxide formation.
Lowering the temperature of the flame by air staging at the point of combustion.
Flameless oxidation (Flox) reduces NOx using the previously mentioned principles by lowering the peak flame temperature. Flameless oxidation works by injecting gas and preheated air directly into the system, and above the autoignition temperature.
Oxygen combustion can theoretically reduce NOx formation by taking away nitrogen in the combustion process. In this case, pure oxygen is introduced instead of combustion air, but this application is typically limited by process and costs associated in producing pure oxygen.
3. Burner Tuning & Calibration — It’s Not Your BBQ Grill!
Burner tuning and calibration Source: WS Thermal
Burner adjustment to nominal gas and air ratios is a typical component of your combustion equipment maintenance. However, this process cannot be minimized in importance as any adjustment can affect operation, efficiency, exhaust emissions, and equipment life. Factors to consider and address during any burner adjustment include:
Burner adjustment should always be done (when possible) at normal furnace operating temperature under typical production to maintain best conditions for final calibration
Provide clean combustion air: maintain blower filter and consider source of any plant air
An increase of gas may not increase power to system due to heat transfer or throughput issues
A decrease in combustion air will not create a hotter flame or add power to the system as this may only create a gas-rich operation resulting in reduced power and CO in exhaust
Verify gas and combustion supply pressures and consider creating a monthly log of incoming pressures
While a visual inspection of flame can help to verify operation or proper combustion, burner gas/air adjustment cannot accurately be performed by simply looking at color or size of flame
A working understanding of the burner system is important to determine and verify values to gas/air and excess O2 to specific application
Work-from-home benefits and challenges extend to work-from-travel occasions! Access corporate networks and systems with 8 cybersecurity best practices.
Today’s read is a feature written by Joe Coleman, cybersecurity officer at Bluestreak Consulting™. This column is in Heat Treat Today’sJune 2023 Heat Treat Buyers Guide print edition.
Introduction
In this eighth Cybersecurity Desk installment, understand the benefits and challenges associated with working from home or accessing corporate networks and systems while traveling.
Why Are So Many People Working from Home?
The COVID pandemic forced many companies to adapt to remote working and work-from-home (WFH)
Joe Coleman Cybersecurity Officer Bluestreak Consulting Source: Bluestreak Consulting
policies. Even though these policies have provided employees with more flexibility, they have also highlighted cyber risks that companies must consider. As of March 2022, work-from-home and working remotely have increased by 238% compared to pre-pandemic numbers. Although that number has reduced somewhat recently, it has changed the way companies operate and view WFH.
Several benefits of WFH include:
Increased employee retention and productivity
Reduced distractions and interruptions by coworkers
Reduced company overhead costs
Increased family time by eliminating commute
One of the first challenges most companies face when shifting to a WFH model is ensuring every employee has high-speed internet access. Most employees will use home Wi-Fi network or cell phone/wireless carrier as an internet “hot spot.” The first common sense rule of thumb is always try to avoid public Wi-Fi and public charging stations. Any way you choose to access high-speed internet, it must be secure. By now, most companies should have WFH or remote work policies and procedures in place, with employee awareness and training, because they MUST be followed to reduce cybersecurity risks.
Cybersecurity Best-Practices for Securing Remote Workers
If your company has employees that work from home and you’re wondering what cybersecurity measures you should put in place, here are some best practices to help you:
Secure your work sessions: Using a single room that has a door that can lock is the ideal situation when possible. Many WFH employees are either sitting at their kitchen table or in the living room. In those cases, make sure to have your monitor facing a wall to prevent family or guests from viewing your work session and lock your computer when you’re away.
Separate your home and business networks: Separate your Wi-Fi network so company-approved devices will be separate. Even better, use a secure network and a company-issued Virtual Private Network (VPN) to access your business accounts. You can also use BeyondTrust for secure remote access. Home routers should always be updated to the current software version when it becomes available.
Separate work and personal devices: When accessing your corporate network, only use company-approved devices. Unless your company allows Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD), never use an unapproved device to access your company network.
Think before you click: Hackers use phishing and other social engineering methods to target employees with legitimate-looking emails and social media messages. These can trick users into providing confidential data, such as usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, social security numbers, account numbers, etc. SLOW DOWN.
Don’t click on links sent from an unknown or untrusted source. Resist the urge to click links in a suspicious email. You can hold your cursor over a link, and it will show you (in the bottom left corner of your screen) the website that it will go to if you click on it. If it’s an unknown or suspicious site, DO NOT click on it.
Click the Image TO Download More Than 350 Cybersecurity AcronymsAntivirus with real-time scanning: Antivirus software detects the presence of malware on your computer. A dynamic scanning feature repeatedly checks for computer infiltration by a malicious threat. Always keep your antivirus up to date and active.
Update programs, applications, and operating systems: Vulnerabilities in applications and operating systems are continually being found and exploited. Cybercriminals often use these vulnerabilities to exploit data and infiltrate devices and networks. Application vulnerabilities are a cybersecurity challenge of remote working. Make sure you are regularly performing updates as they are released.
Use 2-Factor Authentication (2FA) or Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): If you’re not using 2FA or MFA, you are NOT secure. You should use 2FA or MFA wherever it’s available. Your company should have this requirement in its policies and procedures.
Use strong PINs/passwords on your devices: Strong passwords should contain a good mixture of upper/ lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols (or special characters). Passwords should also not be based on dictionary words and should contain at least twelve characters (the longer the better). Never use the same password for multiple accounts and use a password generator and a password manager.
About the Author:
Joe Coleman is the cybersecurity officer at Bluestreak Consulting™, which is a division of Bluestreak | Bright AM™. Joe has over 35 years of diverse manufacturing and engineering experience. His background includes extensive training in cybersecurity, a career as a machinist, machining manager, and an early additive manufacturing (AM) pioneer. Contact Joe at joe.coleman@go-throughput.com.
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