Solar Atmospheres extends hot zone load dimensions
October 8, 2013
Solar Atmospheres of Western PA, USA, has extended the hot zone load dimensions in their largest commercial vacuum furnace from 60 inches (152 cm) wide to 80 inches wide (203 cm).
A view of the new working hot zone dimension of 80″ wide x288″ long
(image Solar Atmospheres of Western PA)
In order to process catalyst retention screens that were 80 inch wide, the company stated that it needed to take advantage of the 84 inch wide potential in the furnace. Working together with their sister company Solar Manufacturing, they were able to design taller graphite load rails to fully support the 80 inch wide load.
“This new tooling gives us a significant opportunity to gain new customers while offering additional furnace capabilities to our existing customers” stated Michael Johnson, Sales Manager for Solar Atmospheres of Western PA.
“Due to the versatility and stability of our car bottom design, we have always realised an advantage over our competition, but now we can utilise the maximum width capacity of the furnace safely and efficiently,” added Johnson.
Vacuum heat treating and brazing services provided by Solar Atmospheres can produce bright, scale-free parts with minimal distortion, state the company. The Hermitage, Pennsylvania, plant specialises in vacuum thermal processing of large, mainly titanium manufacturing parts. This facility houses the world’s largest commercial vacuum furnace (80” wide x 60” high x 432” long work zone – 150,000 lb. workload capacity) which uniquely benefits the aerospace industry.
With a variety of furnaces processing smaller parts, Solar Atmospheres serves 18 different industries. Services also include carburizing, nitriding and R&D. Additional plants are located in Fontana, California and Souderton, Pennsylvania.
