VAC AERO has successfully completed the installation and start up of a a Dibalog Energy Optimisation System (EOS) at its Oakville, Ontario heat treating facility which operates more than two dozen vacuum and atmosphere furnaces.

The EOS is designed to reduce the Oakville plant’s total peak electrical demand. In many jurisdictions peak demand is the highest average demand in any fifteen minute time span during the billing period. In Ontario, Canada, peak demand is used to calculate the delivery charge at Oakville Hydro. (Consumption is independent of the peak demand and is billed as a different line item on the bill). Therefore, since a significant portion of the plant’s electrical energy costs are determined by its peak demand, electrical energy costs can be significantly reduced by lowering this peak demand value…read more.

Case Study to be published in Industrial Heating Magazine. In June, a case study based on first-year results of the dibalog EOS implementation at VAC AERO will be published in Industrial Heating Magazine’s “Energy-Conservation Focus” issue.

VAC AERO’s Oakville Thermal Processing Division has undertaken a major re-organization effort to further improve production efficiency. The project includes building renovations for expansion of manufacturing space combined with equipment re-locations and new equipment additions to improve part flow and reduce turn-around-times. All changes have been carefully planned using lean manufacturing concepts. In close cooperation…

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The assembly is a five-piece, tubular structure manufactured entirely from 4330V steel. It consists of a hollow tube approximately 1500mm long by 120mm in diameter, two fittings (upper and lower) that are TIG welded to each end of the tube and two backing rings that bridge the gaps between the fittings and the tube during the welding operation. For many years, VAC AERO has been performing welding and heat treating operations on a landing gear component for a popular turboprop aircraft. Because of the part design, the welding operation in particular is complex and challenging and often involves substantial re-work. In order to minimize the rate of re-work…read more. by Jeff Pritchard CEO, VAC AERO International Inc.

In recent years, the operating temperatures of land-based gas turbine engines have increased to improve efficiency.  As a result, greater demands are placed on the materials used in the manufacture of the engine components.

In particular, hot section turbine blades must function in a very severe operating environment.  The blades are usually manufactured from advanced nickel-based superalloys but these materials on their own are still not durable enough.  To enhance their durability, they are protected from hot corrosion and high temperature oxidation through the use of special coatings.  The coatings form adherent oxide layers that inhibit the blade material from directly interacting with potentially damaging elements within the combustion gases like oxygen, sulphur and other contaminants.  A popular approach involves coating the blades with an MCrAlY bond coat topped with a thermal barrier coating (TBC) overlay. READ MORE

OAKVILLE, Ontario, (January 12, 2009) –  VAC AERO’s Furnace Manufacturing Division recently received new vacuum furnace orders from six different repeat customers. Most of the orders will be delivered in the first half of 2009 to locations in the United States, Canada and Asia. The contracts range from high vacuum, high temperature units for ultra-clean…

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Vacuum level as indicated by vacuum gauge readings is not always a true indication of the actual conditions within a vacuum furnace. It is possible to have two identical furnaces operating at the same pressure but producing entirely different results on heat treating.

The reason for this can be explained by the relative leak tightness or leak rate of each furnace. Most furnaces are equipped with pumping systems sufficient to overcome reasonably significant leaks. On the furnace with the higher leak rate, air would be leaking continuously into the furnace resulting in a higher residual oxygen content than in the leak tight furnace. The higher oxygen content would adversely affect the heat treating results. Therefore, leak rate checks as prescribed by the furnace manufacturer should be performed at regular intervals to prevent this problem. READ MORE

This is the last in a series of four articles on Vacuum Furnace Maintenance. (read part 1) / (read part 2) / (read part 3)