Hungary Acquires Pressure Vacuum Furnace From SECO/WARWICK

Unique technologies in a unique size

The VECTOR® ordered by Flansch-Tech is a customized vacuum furnace with horizontal charge loading, equipped with a 15 bar nitrogen cooling gas pressure system and a production work area of 900x900x1200 mm (WxHxL). This will be a furnace for the heat treatment of tool steels – mostly dedicated to hardening and tempering.
 
Vector meets the defined cooling speed requirements specified in the NADCA standard (North American Die Casting Association). The furnace is equipped with a directional quenching option which allows the system to change the direction of the flow of the cooling gas - nitrogen. The flow direction can be 360 degrees, from the sides or vertically, up and down. The Vector’s gas blower is controlled by a 400kW frequency drive. This allows for a programmable cooling rate controlled through either the furnace or load temperature and ISO quench capability. There is no blower motor start-up overcurrent which saves electric energy by increasing the cooling system power factor.

Heat Treat market experts confirm that it will probably be the largest vacuum furnace for hardening and tempering in Hungary

SECO/WARWICK specializes in customized solutions. This is another vivid example. The company cooperates closely with Technical Universities all over the world, executing a number of academic ventures and experimental projects, employing a number of engineers that are experts in specific heat treat fields patenting solutions on continuous basis. SECO/WARWICK therefore has great potential to design and manufacture complex customizations on demand. 
  
The second furnace on order is a SECO/WARWICK  Tempering Furnace with horizontal loading of the charge, a vacuum rinse before the start of the heating process (vacuum purging), and a working area of 600x600x900mm (WxHxL), dedicated mainly to tempering processes. This vacuum technology uses a unique system ideal for Tempering.
 
Along with the furnace, all sub-components required for the proper operation of the furnaces will be delivered including a closed loop water cooling system, forklift loaders and gas buffer tank. 
 
“This investment allows us to control our own heat treat processes with regard to time and quality. Until now, we have relied on outsourced heat treat services. This technology will be used for internal production as well as external service for other partners. Thanks to these two technologies from SECO/WARWICK we will gain autonomy and self-sufficiency in heat treat processes dedicated to Tool & Die,” 
says Zsolt Varga, Technical Director of Flansch-Tech.
 
“This is probably the largest vacuum furnace with high pressure gas quenching in Hungary which provides us with competitive advantage on this market. It will allow us to process much larger parts than in the standard size furnaces(600x600x900mm) that are typically present in local commercial heat treatment facilities . We decided for such an extreme product, we chose SECO/WARWICK due to the company’s extended experience in vast numbers of customized solutions,” 
added Mr Faragó MD of Flansch-Tech.
 
Both technologies ordered by Flansch-Tech  are exemplary solutions for the whole Tool & Die Industry. They bring time and cost efficiency along with quality to the process. Their flexibility and scalability make them a popular choice among large Tool & Die global companies and commercial heat treaters as well as specialized departments in smaller companies. 
 

Vacuum technology is perfect for the Tool & Dies industry

The Tool & Die industry all over the world can expand their technology portfolio with vacuum since it offers a number of quality and economy benefits. 
 
“SECO/WARWICK’s portfolio of vacuum furnaces takes over traditional tempering and hardening methods in the whole spectrum of products, application and industries. Our Hungarian Client specializes in the  automotive, food, construction, mining, energy and electrical industries. In all of these markets, vacuum furnaces offer huge cost saving and end product quality benefits,” 
says Maciej Korecki, VP, Vacuum Business Segment at SECO/WARWICK. 
 
“The special large size chamber brings additional advantages to our Client. It allows not only for processing in-house larger heat treat products but also enables them to offer services to other companies. SECO/WARWICK specializes in custom made or adjusted products to specific needs. This order will bring not only new technology, but also an unquestionable competitive edge for our Client,” 
concludes M. Korecki.
 
The Tool & Die industry has been switching to vacuum technologies for almost 10 years now. SECO/WARWICK vacuum products have had great input into this process. Vacuum solutions are highly regarded for their high quality (clean and bright parts), reliability, environmentally friendly parameters, no load oxidation, reduction of quench distortion, full autonomation with computer control visualization systems, compact design and impressive furnace universality that can be applied to changing products, markets, and customer requirements into the future.