Heat Treating Equipment

The main equipment for heat treatment is furnace. There are two major types of furnaces batch and continuous. The furnace selection requires consideration of several points particularly for the reason that they consume a good amount of energy. The efficient use of energy in furnaces and hence their design and use of proper insulation need consideration. The man power requirement for operation, the initial and cost and convenience of maintenance and repair are other important considerations in selecting furnace for heat treatment. Since temperature control and temperature cycle control are very important in heat treatment, electronic and computer controlled furnace are taking precedence over older type.

Heating in furnace is done by burning oil or gas or by electrical resistance or inductance heating. Gas or oil furnace have distinct disadvantage over electrical furnaces because the former often introduces products of combustion in the heating space thus affecting the part to be treated. The electrical heating, on the other hand, has slower start-up and is not easy to control.