Solar Atmospheres of Western PA eliminates need for helium

New rapid quenching furnace reduces costs, increases production throughput.

Solar Atmospheres of Western PA

Solar Atmospheres of Western PA

Solar Atmospheres of Western PA is installing a new rapid quenching vacuum furnace that will eliminate the need for costly helium and increase production throughput. Solar Manufacturing’s 10 bar vacuum furnace, with a revolutionary cooling design, is similar in size to an older 2 bar Solar furnace. However, this new 48" x 48" x 96" deep 10 bar furnace is equipped with a 600hp blower designed motor and will outperform its older model by processing larger, heavier workloads with the use of nitrogen.

“The difference in operating costs is a no brainer,” says President of Solar Atmospheres of Western PA Bob Hill. “To marginally harden one 2000 lb high-speed tool steel roll die in our older 2 bar vacuum furnace, light helium gas was a necessity. The prohibitive cost of a two-atmosphere helium backfill was $1,065. Our new furnace will enable us to fully harden three 2000 lb roll dies at once using the more cost-effective process gas, nitrogen. The cost of a 10 atmosphere backfill of nitrogen will be only $89.”

Hill predicts that with these increased efficiencies and savings, his normal return on investment (ROI) on a new piece of equipment will be significantly advanced.

Once operational, Hill will author a technical paper with the cooling data for these new vacuum furnaces.