SECO/ECO Technologies Make Heat Treatment Green
Caring for the environment is an important value for SECO/VACUUM. We combine sustainable production and innovative ecological solutions with energy conservation, involvement in ecological social campaigns and supporting Partners who contribute to the improvement of the natural environment. This is part of our long-term strategy and it is why we create solutions that save energy and reduce CO2 emissions in many industries.
SECO/Technologies
At SECO/VACUUM we continue to change the heat treatment and metallurgy color to green by offering innovative, ecological technologies allowing our partners to make pro-environmental changes in the energy, aviation, automotive and recycling industries. Primary solutions such as low pressure carburizing (LPC) reduce production energy consumption, increase production efficiency, shorten the process and treatment time, and reduce consumption of energy and process gases.VACUUM AS AN ECO FURNACE ATMOSPHERE
Vacuum furnaces use vacuum (created by air evacuation) as the protective atmosphere for the heat treated part surfaces. The vacuum furnace's main advantage is its versatility and the ability to carry out processes traditionally carried out in atmospheric furnaces. Differences in the vacuum furnace construction as well as the method of conducting the processes minimizes both media consumption and emissions to the environment, making the vacuum furnace itself a SECO/ECO solution when compared to traditional atmosphere furnaces.
Vacuum heat treatment's eco-friendly features include:
/ perfect part surface quality (without additional operations)
/ no intercrystalline oxidation (no additional mechanical treatment)
/ no need to use protective gases (lower costs and emissions)
/ minimal consumption of process gases (cost savings)
/ minimum time for atmosphere preparation and conditioning (saving time and costs)
/ zero startup and shutdown time, work on demand (saving time, costs)
/ no open flame, no risk of fire or explosion (safety)
/ clean process, no part washing required (reduced environmental pollution)
/ low heat and by-product emissions (limited global warming effect)
/ environmentally friendly (zero pollution)
/ zero CO2 emissions (carbon footprint reduction
Visit our Vacuum Furnaces page.
GREEN NITRIDING USING THE ZEROFLOW METHOD/ process control by a nitrogen stream to the part with minimal ammonia consumption
/ ammonia demand is significantly reduced, up to 10 times less than traditional technology
/ minimal emission of post-process gases meeting environmental protection requirements
/ vacuum purging instead of gas purging reduces inert gas utilization
/ precise building of any nitrided layer configuration, efficient process
/ carbonitriding carried out effectively and efficiently using methanol
Visit our ZeroFlow Nitriding Furnace page.
LOW PRESSURE CARBURIZING (LPC)
/ produces a significant reduction in carburizing time (up to 5 times) resulting in lower costs and energy consumption/ zero CO₂ emissions
/ no intergranular oxidation (IGO)
/ saves electricity via low heat losses
/ safe operation, no flammable or explosive atmospheres
/ operational flexibility, work on demand, no idling
/ minimum carburizing gas consumption
/ low emission of heat and by-products
Our LPC technologies include:
Vector® Single Chamber High Pressure Vacuum
CaseMaster® Evolution Multi-Chamber Furnace
UniCase® Master Single Piece Flow Vacuum Furnace
Pit-LPC Vacuum Carburizing Pit Furnace
GREEN STANDARD FOR SINGLE-CHAMBER VACUUM FURNACE – VECTOR LINE/ no CO₂ emissions, no use of fossil fuels
/ gas utilization for cooling (nitrogen, argon), captured and returned to the air, neutral for the environment
/ reinforced thermal insulation saves electricity (approx. 20%)
/ high energy efficiency of used electrical components (IE3 class motors, inverter control, etc.)
/ application of systems and algorithms limiting energy and technological factor consumption (pumping, heating and cooling systems)
/ no harmful substance emissions
/ reduction of hardening deformations and downstream machining costs
/ elimination of part washing after heat treatment
Learn more about Vector Single-Chamber High Pressure Vacuum Furnaces
