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Austempering Furnace – Uses of Austempering Furnaces
January 17, 2021How As An Austempering Furnace Manufacturer We Manufactured One To Meet Our Customer’s Requirements
Austempering Furnaces and the Metal Industry
Irontech Engineering is an Austempering Furnace manufacturer. Austempering Furnaces are employed in the metal based industries to harden metals, especially ferrous metals.
Austempering furnaces are also known as Hardening Furnaces as they are used for austempering or hardening metals.
The process of austempering is quite different from the conventional quench and tempering process of hardening metals.
You can gain an understanding of the austempering process and the way the Austempering Furnace is employed by the metal based industries by reading through this page on Austempering Furnaces.
The prominent parts of the Austempering Furnace we manufactured
Conveyor
We as a austempering furnace manufacturer fabricated the conveyor using stainless steel wire of high-grade. The conveyor is designed for and is capable of withstanding the load and temperature the Austempering furnace is designed to handle.
The conveyor is driven by means of drums provided at the loading and unloading ends of the furnace. The drums are driven by means of a motor with a gear box attachment.
The conveyor will pass through the muffle, and the muffle in turn is supported using siliminate blocks. The conveyor speed can be controlled, and the settings in the control panel can be adjusted to increase or decrease its speed.
Muffle
The Muffle is made of stainless steel of high-grade and the muffle provides the atmosphere for the working area of the Austempering Furnace.
As an austempering furnace manufacturer we ensured the muffle remains open in the loading and unloading ends of the furnace. The muffle is constructed with steel of desired thickness and is also supported with reinforced flats.
The conveyor will be moving on the stainless steel flats and the flats are in turn supported by stainless steel ‘C’ sections. The return of the conveyor is through the bottom of the muffle.
Nitrogen curtains are provisioned at the loading and unloading ends of the muffles, and prevents entry of air through these ends.
Furnace Atmosphere
The Austempering Furnace is provisioned with an inert atmosphere. Further, the nitrogen curtains will prevent any air from entering the furnace through the loading and unloading ends.
Heating Elements
As an Austempering Furnace manufacturer we ensured that the heating elements are made of nichrome wire and are designed in a bird-cage kind of design. Heating elements are carefully provisioned in the bottom and top of the Austempering furnace’s muffle.
The terminals of the heating elements are taken out of the furnace’s shell and are enclosed within a terminal box.
The heating elements are designed to be easy on maintenance, and they can be easily removed and reattached.
Furnace Insulation
The Austempering furnace is suitably insulated to increase its efficiency and prevent heat losses. Ceramic fiber is employed and so also ceramic fiber blankets of suitable thicknesses are used to insulate the furnace’s sides and roof.
Refractory brick lining also forms the insulation of the furnace’s hearth. The muffle is supported also by the use of IS8 pillars.
Furnace Shell
As an Austempering Furnace manufacturer we ensured that the shell of the Austempering furnace is made of mild steel of suitable high-grade, and of suitable thickness. Angles and channels have been suitably used for providing the required reinforcement and support.
Loading Table
The front of the Austempering furnace is provisioned with a loading table. The conveyor runs on the loading table, and the load to be processed within the furnace can be directly loaded on to the conveyor of the loading table.
The loading table has been designed to a required length as seen necessary by the customer.
Unloading End
Once the charge within the furnace has undergone the necessary heat processing it will be unloaded from the furnace at the unloading end.
Placed right next to the unloading end of the furnace is the quenching tank. Thus, the charge from the furnace is directly dropped into the quenching tank.
The unloading end is provisioned with a chute made of stainless steel of high-grade and of a desired thickness for the proper guiding of the charge into the quench tank.
Gas Panel
As an Austempering Furnace manufacturer we ensured that the furnace is provisioned with a gas panel which has within it flow meters, regulators, pressure gauges, and so forth which are required to control and monitor the flow of nitrogen gas into the furnace’s muffle.
The gas panel has been installed at a suitable location in the proximity of the furnace for monitoring and operation.
Thermocouple
The Austempering furnace is provisioned with a K-type thermocouple for checking the temperature of the furnace. Each zone within the furnace have been provisioned with duplex thermocouples.
One point of the thermocouple is connected to the PID controller and the other point is connected to the safety controller.
Thyristor Power Pack
The thyristor power pack is used by the Austempering furnace to control to the power being fed to the heating elements.
The power fed to the heating elements is controlled by the PID controller and it greatly depends on the operating temperature the furnace is designed to work at, and also on the actual temperature the furnace is currently at.
Temperature Controller
PID temperature controller is used for monitoring and controlling the temperature of the furnace.
Thermocouples are employed to assess the temperature of the furnace and the assessed temperature is visually displayed on the panel of the thyristor power pack.
AC Drive
The AC drive is used to control the speed of the conveyor motor, and it has been accordingly placed in the furnace’s control panel.
Quenching Tank
As an Austempering Furnace manufacturer we ensured that the quenching tank employed with the Austempering Furnace also has the convenience of the conveyor.
The quenching medium employed is salt and it is maintained at a temperature of 350 degree Celsius.
The immersion heater used in the quenching tank has a rating of 18 KW.
The quenching tank is further cooled using water.
Parts Of The Quenching Tank
Conveyor
The conveyor of the quenching tank is employed to collect the charge falling off the hardening furnace or austenitizing furnace. Suitable guides have been provisioned to ensure that the charge is properly collected by the conveyor.
The conveyor then moves the charge through the quenching medium, and once the quenching process is completed it is delivered to the tempering furnace to complete the austempering process.
The conveyor is made of high-grade stainless steel and is designed to be of a desired width. The conveyor will be driven by a motor of a designed rating.
Conveyor Drive
A geared motor of suitable designed rating will provide the drive for the conveyor. The motor speed can be controlled with the use of an AC drive provisioned at the furnace’s control panel.
Quench Tank
The quench tank is fabricated using stainless steel of good grade and of desired thickness. Mild steel channels and angles are employed to provide the necessary reinforcements for the quench tank.
The sides of the quench tank is properly insulated with mineral wool.
Agitator
The quench tank is provisioned with an agitator which brings about maintenance of temperature uniformity within the tank while the charge is submerged into it, and thereby is a good measure to avoid hot-spots.
The shaft and impeller of the agitator are made of stainless steel of good grade and is powered by an electric motor of desired rating.
Cooling Coils
Cooling coils have been provisioned within the quenching tank to ensure that the temperature of the tank does not exceed the higher temperature limit that has been set.
The salt based quenching medium is thus maintained at the desired temperature by proper use of the cooling coils.
Likewise, water will be pumped out and into the tank to bring about circulation and this will be carried out till the temperature of the quenching tank reaches the desired set value.
The pump is of a desired rating.
Hood
The quenching tank is provisioned with a hood to collect the fumes that comes off the tank. The hood is also provisioned with a suction blower to ensure proper suction of the fumes off the tank.
Heating elements of the quenching tank
The heating elements of the quenching tank will help melt the salt in the quenching medium. Immersion type heaters have been provisioned to provide the desired heat and the heaters have a rating of 18 KW.
Temperature Controller
The temperature controller will help maintain the temperature of the quenching tank to the desired level. A digital readout of the temperature of the quenching tank is provided by the display attached to the control panel of the furnace.
Control panel of the Austempering furnace
The Austempering furnace is provisioned with a self standing control panel which houses all the necessary switches and instrumentation that is required to monitor and control the working of the furnace.
The control panel has digital PID temperature controller and safety controllers for indication and temperature control. Thyristor power packs provide the necessary power regulation to the heating elements of the furnace.
The AC drive provides the necessary speed adjustment controls for controlling the speed of the conveyor.
The control panel has the main switch which isolates the main power supply from the furnace. The control panel is provisioned with a voltmeter to indicate the voltage reading of the incoming power supply.
Ammeters with current transformers are provided to indicate the current reading at each zone of the furnace.
MPCB, or motor protection circuit breakers and contactor are provisioned for the motor circuit.
Switches have been provisioned to control power supply to heating elements and conveyor drives.
The control panel has indication lamps which have been provisioned for the indication of the status of the main power, control power, heating elements, conveyor, and so forth.
The items have been neatly wired and labelled. The control cables have been suitably identified by marking them off with ferrules.
The major safety factors we have provisioned in the Austempering Furnace we manufactured are:
- A safety temperature controller has been provisioned to back the main temperature controller.
- A sensor open will cut off output to all the temperature controllers.
- HRC, or high rupturing capacity fuses have been provisioned for heating elements.
- MPCB, or motor power circuit breakers have been provisioned for motor circuits.
- MCB, or miniature circuit breaker has been provisioned for control circuit.
How to get an Austempering Furnace manufactured?
If you are in need of having an Austempering Furnace manufactured we could help you on this front.
We at Irontech Engineering have immense experience as an Austempering Furnace manufacturer, and we have custom-built multitudes of furnaces for numerous of our customers having industries spread across India.
Use our Contact Us page for information on reaching us.
We will be more than glad to give you a free no-obligation quote once we have understood your industry’s exact requirements.
