An international electric vehicle manufacturer has selected a heat treat furnace supplier with North American locations for a second nitriding furnace to operate in parallel with an existing one.
The car maker already purchased an identical SECO/VACUUM nitriding furnace last year. The added heat treating capacity will ensure that the nitriding step does not become a bottle-neck in the plant’s high-pressure die casting tooling production process.
The retort furnace for gas nitriding has a chamber size of 1.6m (63”) diameter and 2.8m (110”) depth, accommodating a load up to 1m x 1m x 2.6m (40” x 40” x 100”). The furnace has 350 kilowatts of heating capacity divided into 3 heating zones. The durable Inconel 600 retort will offer many years of trouble-free service.
Managing Director
SECO/VACUUM Technologies
Source: SECO/VACUUM
Peter Zawistowski, managing director of SECO/VACUUM, said of the project, “This heat treat partner’s dies present quite a unique heat treating challenge. At SECO/VACUUM we love a good challenge, so we have built this solution with the dimensions and thermal capacity to nitride these large, heavy parts to exceed customer’s specifications”.
The nitriding furnace is also fitted with a device called a thermal oxidizer. Although the all-electric heat-treating process does not involve any combustion, the combination of ammonia and high temperatures still creates NOx emissions. The thermal oxidizer breaks down the harmful NOx molecules in the furnace discharge.
The tool and die market serving traditional and EV automotive markets uses vacuum heat treating technology extensively to produce bright, high-quality parts.
