FEATURED NEWS

Hydrogen Combustion: An Approaching Reality?

/ BURNERS & COMBUSTION SYSTEMS TECHNICAL CONTENT, FEATURED NEWS, MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT

How long until heat treat operations use hydrogen for combustion? Considerations like cost and pipeline infrastructure are key in answering this question. For these industry experts, the consensus is clear: It is uncertain when, but hydrogen is coming. Doug Glenn, publisher of Heat Treat Today, moderated a panel of four industry experts in 2023 during which they addressed topics about advancements and challenges surrounding hydrogen combustion. Read an excerpt of their answers below. For the full interview go to www.heattreattoday.com/hydrogen2023.

What’s New for Hydrogen?

Dr.-Ing. Joachim G. Wuenning
President/Owner
WS Wärmeprozesstechnik GmbH

Joe Wuenning: In Europe, several steel companies are getting large funds to really go in on the hydrogen road to make green steel. If you have green steel, you will also convert the downstream processes. These places are large locations where the steel plants are running.

Automotive companies will ask for green steel. How long will it take until the heat treat shop will get to the point of using hydrogen for combustion is uncertain, but I’m sure it will be, in the end, coming also there.

Brian Kelly
Applications Engineering Manager
Honeywell Thermal Solutions

Brian Kelly: We have seen projects secured that have come to fruition firing on hydrogen. They’ve fired on hydrogen to prove it works and then moved back to natural gas since the H2 supply is not readily available.

What we’ve seen in the U.S. is a slowdown in some of the inquiries and questions about hydrogen. There may be a slowdown in the fervor of the talk about hydrogen, but it is certainly in the background and maybe a little bit more towards how do we be more green until hydrogen gets here?

Robert Sanderson
Director of Business Development
Rockford Combustion

Bob Sanderson: We’ve seen more inquiries, specifically from a lot of laboratory users who are trying to develop new engines, processes, and combustion products and looking for all the support and the technology to safely handle transport and bring that hydrogen into the lab under various test conditions.

A few users, too, want to understand: If they make the change to hydrogen, what’s going to happen with the rest of their systems?

Mark Hannum
Manager of Innovation and Combustion Laboratory
Fives North American Combustion

We have seen some early hydrogen requests going on which have tapered off a bit. I think it goes hand in hand with users becoming more familiar with the systems and having more of their questions answered. But I think some of it also depends a bit on the market pressures and the demands. The cost of natural gas has gone down dramatically. It’s going down faster than the cost of hydrogen is coming down. Hydrogen is going to keep coming down and keep becoming more and more affordable. Then it will reenter into the marketplace.

Mark Hannum: Probably the biggest thing is some of the regulatory and law changes that have happened. The Inflation Reduction Act certainly puts in place a lot of supports for hydrogen production and hydrogen-based systems for decarbonization.

Burgeoning Users of Hydrogen

Kelly: New inquiries have come from a lot of different places for us. We’ve had food and beverage, some heat treating, and plastics. Some of the inquiries have been waste to energy, sequestering CO2, and capturing the hydrogen. That’s how we’re going to produce it.

Wuenning: Our business is in the steel and heat treating industry. I’m not so much in touch with the other industries, but I think it would come from everywhere — everywhere the people are willing to pay for it. Of course, we have never beat natural gas on price, so far. Hydrogen is never going to come free out of the ground. But we all know the reasons why we want to get rid of the fossils.

In heat treat, we see another tendency, and that is the use of ammonia. We try to check out whether we can use ammonia because with hydrogen you need pipeline connections, and it will take quite some time until the pipelines will carry hydrogen to the last little heat treater somewhere in the countryside.

Hannum: One of the nice things about hydrogen is if you have a clean source of water and electricity, you might be able to make hydrogen in a remote location. You might not need to pipeline it; you could make the gas and use it on site.

The need for pipeline infrastructure is a key issue in the use of hydrogen.

In the steel industry in Europe, these major investments are being played out and committed to, but we’re years away from being adopted, for day-in and day-out use.

There are a lot of segments that are performing really meaningful tests at the industrial scale because they’re all trying to de-risk the switch from natural gas to hydrogen. Are there any process-side impacts that they need to understand that would impact product quality or product suitability or any of those things? All that stuff is going on now, and I think it’s going to take a couple of years for everyone to sort of work through and have a good understanding of whether there’s anything they need to be worried about beyond just the fuel switch itself, if there’s any process.

Sanderson: A lot of the push I’ve seen has come out of the aerospace and the automotive industries, not so much on the products that they make but more on the manufacturing side of it.

Advancements and Challenges with Hydrogen

Sanderson: We’re doing a lot more work now with stainless materials. There is quite a bit of involvement using stainless and other materials that have higher nickel contents and other materials to help work into the grain boundaries.

Working with hydrogen has some unique challenges compared to other fuels. It’s the smallest atomic molecule out there and it just wants to permeate into everything. With a lot of the higher, high-end pressures, there is a lot of chance of steel embrittlement, but if you can get away from those higher ends and try and get down to more usable, friendly working pressures, you don’t stand as much risk on the hydrogen embrittlement and dealing with leaks and permeability. So, just helping people understand that those are some of the changes that need to come into play for a safe, long-term solution in their applications.

Hannum: We have installed some hydrogen-firing capability in our lab; it was about a $400,000 investment. So, at this point, we can fire a substantial amount of input for longer durations than we could before. So, that’s really helpful when we’re looking at what the impacts are across our entire burner product range, when we look at a conversion from natural gas to hydrogen.

It also lets us perform some process-based studies where we can really simulate industrial processes and have a longer duration hydrogen firing. So, we’ve been able to support some customers by simulating some of their processes here and actually firing the materials that they
would normally fire at their plant to look at hydrogen impact on those materials.

We’ve also gone to a couple of our customer sites and participated in studies with them. One of those earlier this year, right after THERMPROCESS, was Hydro Aluminum in Spain; we melted aluminum with hydrogen without any natural gas. That was, I think, the first industrial scale melting of aluminum with hydrogen.

Wuenning: We have now put into place an electrolyzer for making our own hydrogen, and not relying on the bottles coming in or on ammonia supply. We installed a big ammonia tank so that we can run the ammonia tests on site, develop the crackers and account for them. And, of course, we are involved in several research projects together with universities and some sites that do all these things to try it out.

Kelly: The latest this year is an investment for one of our factories to have an electrolyzer-type system, so a full-blown, cradle-to-grave type of system to be able to produce the hydrogen. Muncie is investing in that whole substructure with the capability of increasing to tube tankers before the electrolyzer comes so there is significant investment on that end. And from the product end, we’ve just kept testing and looking at the whole product line, not just burners, but all the controls and things to be associated with hydrogen firing.

In addition to the controls behind the system, we must also think about the development of simpler and/or more complicated systems. These updated systems are necessary because of changes in air/fuel rations and all the concerns that pop up when using different fuels.

These systems need to take into account what the process is requiring, namely holding tighter air/fuel ratios and also being less dependent on low temperature air-heating applications, but also being able to use higher temperatures and higher oxygen rates with some excess air. We’ve been working on those types of systems and looking at that when the clients are in a situation where they can fire on either fuel. How critical it is to hold capacity and air/fuel ratio and things of that nature, and how can we make that as easy as possible for the client?

But, yes, a lot of activity on that basis. And even in product development looking at the future — lower NOx and lower emissions burners that go in conjunction with hydrogen. In the lower and high temperature range, we’ve got to look at a burner that can fi re via flex-fuel type burner. Maybe not just hydrogen and natural gas but something in biofuels or renewable-type fuels.

About the Experts

Joachim (Joe) Wuenning is the owner and CEO of WS Thermal Process Technology.

Brian Kelly is the applications engineering manager at Honeywell Thermal Solutions.

Robert Sanderson is the director of business development at Rockford Combustion.

Mark Hannum is the manager of the innovation and combustion laboratory at Fives North American Combustion.

For more information: Visit www.heattreattoday.com/hydrogen2023

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Automating the Brinell Hardness Tester In-House

/ FEATURED NEWS, HARDNESS TESTERS TECHNICAL CONTENT, MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT

Automating Brinell hardness testing could mean saving on expensive laboratories, as was the case for one oil tool industry manufacturer. Learn the basics of Brinell hardness testing, its strengths and weaknesses, and options for automation.

This Technical Tuesday article, written by Alex Austin, managing director of Foundrax Engineering Products Ltd., was originally published in Heat Treat Today’s December 2023 Medical and Energy Heat Treat print edition, both in English and in Spanish.

Brinell Hardness Testing: Strengths and Weaknesses

Alex Austin, Managing Director, Foundrax Engineering Products Ltd.

In many steelworks producing large forgings and billets, in numerous heat treatment companies, and near many factory lines producing components for safety-critical applications, you’ll find a Brinell hardness tester. These machines have been used all over the world for more than a century (the test was first demonstrated by its inventor, the Swedish metallurgist August Brinell, in 1900), determining metal hardness by means of a tungsten carbide indenter ball that leaves a dish-shaped indentation in the surface of the test material.

Figure 1. Brinell equation (Source: Foundrax Engineering Products Ltd.)

In the test, the material sample is placed on a rigid anvil, and the indenter descends onto it under loads ranging from 1 kg up to 3,000 kg, depending on the material. Indenters vary in diameter from 1 mm to 10 mm. Most tests use a 3,000 kg load and a 10 mm ball, and the standards always refer to this as “HBW 10/3000.” HBW stands for Hardness Brinell Wolfram, Wolfram being another name for the tungsten carbide the indenter ball is made from. After the (approximately) fifteen second indenting cycle, the indentation is measured across both its x and y axes, as a minimum, by a special calibrated microscope. The mean of the diameter readings is then fed into the Brinell equation.

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Naturally, most technicians would rather not use that equation, so they look the indentation diameter up on a chart and “read across” to the derived hardness.

The great advantage of the Brinell test, when considered alongside other metal hardness testing methods, is that the large indentation diameter (typically between 2.4 mm and 6 mm) means the test result is generally unaffected by the grain structure of the metal. It also means that the surface of the test sample can be adequately prepared in just a few seconds with an angle grinder. For these reasons, the test is regarded by many as the “default” one for rough-surfaced and/or coarse-grained samples.

On the block in image (Figure 4), the distortion around the indentations can be seen very clearly.

That seems pretty simple, but there are inherent weaknesses in the Brinell test: measuring the indentation. In our previous article (read it in Heat Treat Today’s August 2023 Automotive Heat Treat print edition), we used this image (Figure 2) to illustrate how difficult it could be to work out exactly where an indentation edge begins and ends.

You might look at Figure 2 and think, “I’m pretty confident about where that indentation edge is,” but it’s trickier than it looks, because the process of indenting doesn’t just push material downwards; it also spreads it sideways, and you get a “pile up” around the rim of the indentation. The pile up may be difficult to see on hard material, or there may be a subtle “lip” inside the pile up that represents the true edge, but considered in cross-section, indentations look roughly like this simple sketch above (Figure 3).

Figure 2. Measurement of Brinell hardness test indentation (Source: Foundrax Engineering Products Ltd.)
Figure 3. Sketch of cross-section of indentation (Source: Foundrax Engineering Products Ltd.)

The overhead light illuminates the “pile up” rim very clearly on some of those indentations as a highlight around the edge. Where, exactly, does the pile up end and the true edge of the indentation begin? Bear in mind that 0.2 mm can equal 20 hardness points. You could show an indentation to three experienced workshop technicians and receive three different answers to the diameter question, and this problem has been a challenge of the Brinell test from its inception. Special blocks are available for training technicians in measurement, but the problem of operator interpretation was such that, in some quarters, the Brinell test was regarded as a bit “rough and ready.” “Ok for the workshop but not for the lab,” was perhaps how it was once seen.

Why Automate the Brinell?

The first question to consider when looking at the automation of the Brinell test is the measurement system because this is the inherent weakness. There are, of course, applications where only narrow tolerances are acceptable, and disagreements can arise between customers and suppliers.

Over the years, certain manufacturers, who mill heat treated materials for the oil tool industry, confided to us that they were regularly using expensive testing laboratories because of clients disputing the hardness figures of their products. They had previously been using manual microscopes. Obviously, this has reputational, as well as financial, consequences. If a manual microscope is employed on raw materials at the goods-in-process stage and there’s an error reading the hardness, you could find at final machining that you have put a lot of time and effort into a part that, in the end, is too hard or soft for the intended application.

Manually manipulating the microscope may not be worth the effort, especially when even a diligent operator may read the result incorrectly. With an automatic Brinell microscope, however, there is the possibility of major time and cost savings.

4 Levels of Automation

#1 Beginnings of Brinell Automation

The first step in automating Brinell hardness testing began 40 years ago when the world’s first automatic measurement microscope hit the market. The system, still being regularly refined, was able to measure the diameter of the indentation across over 100 axes, calculate the mean, and determine the hardness in a split second. It can handle most surface irregularity, operate in poor lighting, and warns operators of unacceptable surface preparation. Additionally, its precision adjusts for spatial error when lining up with a graticule. Within a few years of launch, a major oil tool manufacturer’s quality chief recommended its use to his suppliers, and user uptake was rapid.

#2 Integrated Microscope Model

A further step in automation is to dispense with operator handling of the microscope entirely by the acquisition of a tester with an integrated microscope. The microscope mentioned above, for example, is a feature on several hardness testing machines. The heavy-duty indenter holder pivots away from its normal line of thrust at the end of the indenting cycle, allowing a supra-mounted camera to view the indentation. This is hugely advantageous: no separate apparatus near the test machine, reduced handling time, and thus, much faster testing overall. Results from such machines are displayed next to the control panel and quickly uploadable to company quality systems.

Figure 4. Block with distortion around indentations (Source: Foundrax Engineering Products Ltd.)

#3 Dispensing of Manual Operations

Another automation option is to dispense with a hand-cranked anvil capstan and purchase a tester with a fixed anvil and movable test head. The technician is not required to manually raise and lower the anvil to allow for variations in the size of sample. Instead, the test head automatically “takes up” the space and also clamps the test piece very securely in place during the test cycle.

#4 Incorporate Custom Hardness Tester in Production Line

The fourth, and obviously most dramatic, automation step to consider is incorporating a custom-designed hardness tester into the production line. In some industries, this is essential. Large billets and forgings can’t be lifted into the jaws of a benchtop or floor-standing Brinell tester; so, for highly accurate testing of such items, a larger machine is required (Figure 5).

Figure 5. A custom-designed production line hardness tester. This machine is now in Texas. (Source: Foundrax Engineering Products Ltd.)

The whole gantry moves on one axis of travel while the test head moves perpendicular to that and, of course, up and down. This provides the full x, y, z movement. Large samples are maneuvered on and off by crane. The test head assembly incorporates the automatic microscope and results are displayed on a screen beside the control panel. Test results can be instantly uploaded to factory quality systems. The head assembly can also incorporate a milling tool for surface preparation!

With any decision to purchase plant and machinery equipment, some form of cost-benefit analysis is worthwhile. Clearly, if you’re doing a significant amount of business annually with a customer who is threatening to cease contracting with you because your hardness measurements are wrong too often, then the decision to buy an automatic microscope is not a difficult one. If staff are on overtime because mandatory hardness testing is adding too much time to production schedules, then a heavy-duty production machine with automatic microscope, movable test head, and sample clamp will pay for itself easily.

One thing is certain: Every automation option in Brinell testing increases accuracy and saves time.

About the Author

Alex Austin has been the managing director of Foundrax Engineering Products Ltd. since 2002. Foundrax has supplied Brinell hardness testing equipment for 60+ years and is the only company in the world to truly specialize in this field. Alex sits on the ISE/101/05 Indentation Hardness Testing Committee at the British Standards Institution. He has been part of the British delegation to the International Standards Organization advising on the development of the standard ISO 6506 “Metallic materials – Brinell hardness test” and is the chairman and convenor for the current ISO revision of the standard.

For more information: Visit www.foundrax.co.uk

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Supplier Expansion Anticipates Growth and Innovation for Manufacturers with Heat Treat

/ COOLING SYSTEMS NEWS, FEATURED NEWS, MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT NEWS
Lee Sobocinski President Thermal Care Inc
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PiovanGroup is launching a new strategic division for industrial and process refrigeration, the result of the integration of the businesses operated by the recently acquired Thermal Care and Aquatech.

With a legacy spanning over half a century, Thermal Care and Aquatech have solidified themselves as prominent players in industrial process cooling markets by providing high‐quality, sustainable equipment and solutions. Operating primarily out of the U.S., near Chicago, Thermal Care has been a leader in the design, manufacturing, sales, and service of heat‐transfer solutions across various industries.

Thermal Care and Aquatech products manufactured in North America, Europe, Asia, and South America will continue to be produced and sold in their respective regions, now under the newly established division. The integration of these business units will provide R&D efficiencies and an expanded portfolio of products, solutions, and services capable of serving a wider range of market sectors.

The Thermal Care brand now expands globally, facilitated by the integration of the Aquatech business which moves forward under the banner of Thermal Care. The inclusion of PiovanGroup into the Thermal Care logo not only signifies geographical expansion but also reflects a unified vision for growth and innovation.

The new division, headed by Lee Sobocinski, current president of Thermal Care Inc., shall operate under the Thermal Care brand and will have consolidated sales of approximately 100 million Euro, globally. The creation of the global brand, coupled with the exchange of the institutional knowledge within PiovanGroup into this emerging division, will provide assistance to clients, irrespective of their geographical presence, spanning from preliminary sales engagement to post‐sales support.

The announcement of this pivotal moment in the ongoing progression of Thermal Care coincides with the commemoration of the group’s 90th anniversary and its 60th anniversary in the polymer industry.

The original press release from Thermal Care is available upon request.

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ESA Launches First Metal 3D Printer to ISS

/ AEROSPACE HEAT TREAT NEWS, FEATURED NEWS, SINTERING POWDER METAL NEWS
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Sometimes our editors find items that are not exactly “heat treat” but do deal with interesting developments in one of our key markets: aerospace, automotive, medical, energy, or general manufacturing.

To celebrate getting to the “fringe” of the weekend, Heat Treat Today presents today’s Heat Treat Fringe Friday: an exciting development in metal 3D printing that one might even say is "out of this world."

Rob Postema Technical Officer ESA

Metal 3D printing will soon take place in orbit for the first time. A pioneering European-made metal 3D printer is on its way to the International Space Station on the Cygnus NG-20 resupply mission which launched January 30, 2024.

“This new 3D printer printing metal parts represents a world first, at a time of growing interest in in-space manufacturing,” explains ESA technical officer Rob Postema. “Polymer-based 3D printers have already been launched to, and used aboard the ISS, using plastic material that is heated at the printer’s head, then deposited to build up the desired object, one layer at a time.

“Metal 3D printing represents a greater technical challenge, involving much higher temperatures and metal being melted using a laser. With this, the safety of the crew and the Station itself have to be ensured – while maintenance possibilities are also very limited. If successful though, the strength, conductivity and rigidity of metal would take the potential of in-space 3D printing to new heights.”

Once arrived at the International Space Station, ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen will prepare and install the approximately 180 kg Metal 3D printer in the European Draw Rack Mark II in ESA’s Columbus module. After installation, the printer will be controlled and monitored from Earth, so the printing can take place without Andreas’s oversight.

Metal 3D printer in operation on Earth
Source: ESA

The Metal 3D Printer technology demonstrator has been developed by an industrial team led by Airbus Defence and Space SAS – also co-funding the project – under contract to ESA’s Directorate of Human and Robotic Exploration.

“This in-orbit demonstration is the result of close collaboration between ESA and Airbus' small, dynamic team of engineers,” comments Patrick Crescence, project manager at Airbus. “But this is not just a step into the future; it's a leap for innovation in space exploration. It paves the way for manufacturing more complex metallic structures in space. That is a key asset for securing exploration of Moon and Mars.”

The printer will be printing using a type of stainless-steel commonly used in medical implants and water treatment due to its good resistance to corrosion.

The stainless-steel wire is fed into the printing area, which is heated by a high-power laser, about a million times time more powerful than your average laser pointer. As the wire dips into the melt pool, the end of the wire melts and metal is then added to the print.

ESA materials engineer Advenit Makaya from the ESA’s Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality, provided technical support to the project: “The melt pool of the print process is very small, in the order of a millimetre across, so that the liquid metal’s surface tension holds it securely in place in weightlessness. Even so, the melting point of stainless steel is about 1400 °C so the printer operates within a fully sealed box, preventing excess heat or fumes from reaching the crew of the Space Station. And before the print process begins the printer’s internal oxygen atmosphere has to be vented to space, replaced by nitrogen – the hot stainless steel would oxidise if it became exposed to the oxygen.”

Four interesting shapes have been chosen to test the performance of the Metal 3D printer. These first objects will be compared to the same shapes printed on ground, called reference prints, to see how the space environment affects the printing process. The four prints are all smaller than a soda can in size, weigh less than 250 g per print, and takes about two to four weeks to print. The scheduled print time is limited to four hours daily, due to noise regulations on the Space Station – the printer’s fans and motor of the printer are relatively noisy.

Once a shape has been printed, Andreas will remove it from the printer and pack it for safe travels back to Earth for processing and analysis, to understand the differences in printing quality and performance in space, as opposed to Earth.

Metal 3D printer test print
Source: ESA

One reference and 0xg print, which is a part of a dedicated tool, will go to the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne, Germany. Another two will be headed to the technical heart of ESA, the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), where a team at the Materials and Electrical Components Laboratory awaits the samples for macro and micro analysis of the printed parts. The final print will go to the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), who proposed its shape, and will investigate its thermal properties in support of e.g. future antenna alignment.

“As a technology demonstration project, our aim is to prove the potential of metal 3D printing in space,” adds Rob. “We’ve already learned a lot getting to this point and hope to learn a lot more, on the way to making in-space manufacturing and assembly a practical proposition.”

One of ESA’s goals for future development is to create a circular space economy and recycle materials in orbit to allow for a better use of resources. One way would be to repurpose bits from old satellites into new tools or structures. The 3D printer would eliminate the need to send a tool up with a rocket and allow the astronauts to print the needed parts in orbit.

Tommaso Ghidini, head of the mechanical department at ESA, notes: “Metal 3D in space printing is a promising capability to support future exploration activities, but also beyond, to contribute to more sustainable space activities, through in-situ manufacturing, repair and perhaps recycling of space structures, for a wide range of applications. This includes in-orbit large infrastructure manufacturing and assembly as well as planetary long-term human settlement. These aspects are key focuses in ESA's upcoming technology cross-cutting initiatives.”

Thomas Rohr, overseeing ESA's Materials and Processes Section, adds: “This technology demonstration, showcasing the processing of metallic materials in microgravity, paves the way for future endeavours to manufacture infrastructure beyond the confines of Earth.”

This press release from The European Space Agency can be found in its original form here.

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Box Furnace Increases Tempering Capabilities for Castings Company

/ ATMOSPHERE AIR FURNACES NEWS, FEATURED NEWS, FOUNDRY CASTING NEWS, MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT NEWS, TEMPERING NEWS
Tom Schulz Sales Manager L&L Special Furnace Source: L&L
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An investment castings manufacturer's heat treat department received a large floor-standing box furnace from a North American specialty furnace company. The furnace will be used as support in the client's tool and die production along with tempering of finished castings.

The L&L model XLE3436 box furnace from L&L Special Furnace has an effective work zone of 34” wide by 22” high by 32” deep. It is equipped with a direct-lift vertical door with a floor switch to activate. The cantilevered vertical door eliminates the need for the upright structure to reduce the overall height of the equipment.

Tom Schulz, sales manager at L&L, highlights the key role this will play for the heat treat department, saying that this type of furnace is the company's “workhorse when it comes to thermal processing.”

The inert blanketing gas enables the part to be heat-treated with minimal surface de-carb. A stack light indicates the furnace status via an audible and visual indicator light mounted on top of the control.

Additionally, the furnace is equipped with a pyrometry package that has reference control thermocouple ports along with corner locations to record the high and low points within the unit as indicated by the latest temperature uniformity survey.

The original press release from L&L Special Furnace is available upon request.

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IperionX Grows with New Virginia Titanium Facility

/ FEATURED NEWS, FORGING NEWS, MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT NEWS, TITANIUM PROCESSING NEWS
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IperionX, a producer of high-quality titanium alloys, has commissioned a titanium production facility in Virginia.

Anastasios (Taso) Arima, CEO of IperionX, commented in a letter to the company’s shareholders: “Our Virginia titanium facility is designed to apply our HAMR [Hydrogen Assisted Metallothermic Reduction] and HSPT [Hydrogen Sintering & Phase Transformation] technologies to produce sustainable, high-quality and high strength titanium metal products at low cost.”

Anastasios (Taso) Arima, CEO,
IperionX
(Source: Iperionx.com)

Full capacity is scheduled for 2026, with more than 1,000 metric tons of titanium produced per year. Using titanium powder produced on site, IperionX plans to employ unique forging technologies to produce titanium mill products and near net shape titanium products and to apply AM to produce 3D printed titanium products.

Arima also added, “We engaged with Lockheed Martin, GKN Aerospace, and the U.S. Army to replace traditional titanium mill products, in this case titanium plate, providing a new domestic and sustainable source to enhance their critical supply chains.” To aid these goals, Iperion is installing a large-scale, industrial furnace at their Virginia facility.

This letter to IperionX’s shareholders can be found here.

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Exo Gas Composition Changes, Part 2: Cool Down and Use in Heat Treat Furnaces

/ ATMOSPHERE AIR FURNACES TECHNICAL CONTENT, BULK GASES & SYSTEMS TECHNICAL CONTENT, FEATURED NEWS, MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT TECH

In Part 1, the author underscored the importance of understanding the changes in gas composition through three steps of its production: first, the production in the combustion chamber; second, the cool down of gas to bring the Exothermic gas (Exo gas) to below the ambient temperature; and third, the introduction of the gas to the heat treat furnace. Read Part 1, published in Heat Treat Today’s August 2023 Automotive Heat Treat print edition, to understand what Exo gas is and to learn about the composition of gas in the first step.

Harb Nayar
Founder and President TAT Technologies LLC Source: TAT

As the author demonstrated in Part 1, Exo gas composition changes in its chemistry for heat treatment; this first step is how the gas composition changes when it is produced in the combustion chamber. The composition of reaction products, temperature, Exothermic energy released, various ratios, and final dew point are all factors that need to be considered to protect metal parts that will be heat treated in the resulting atmosphere.

Now, we’ll turn to Steps 2 and 3.

Step 2: Composition of Exo Gas after Exiting the Reaction Chamber Being Cooled Down

The two examples that follow demonstrate how lean and rich Exo under equilibrium conditions change as they are cooled from peak equilibrium temperature in the combustion chamber down to different lower temperatures (Table B). This cool down brings the Exo down to below ambient temperatures to avoid water condensation.

Example 1: Lean Exo Gas with a 9:1 Air to CH₄ Ratio

The first column highlighted in blue shows the composition of the lean Exo gas as generated in the reaction chamber with an air to natural gas ratio of 9:1. The peak temperature as generated in the combustion chamber is 3721°F. The next four columns show how the composition changes when the lean Exo gas is slowly cooled from 3721°F to 2000°F, 1500°F, 1000°F, and 500°F under equilibrium condition. The following key changes take place as the temperature of the lean Exo is lowered from the peak temperature to 500°F:

  1. Hydrogen volume almost triples from 0.67% to 1.97%.
  2. H₂O volume decreases slightly from 19.1% to 17.5%, but still is very high at all temperatures.
  3. Oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) changes as the H₂ to H₂O ratio increases from 0.035 to 0.111. At all temperatures, it is very low.
  4. CO and the CO to CO₂ ratio drop in a big way, making lean Exo from being decarburizing at higher temperatures to being highly decarburizing at lower temperatures.
  5. The percentage of N₂ remains at 70.34 at all temperatures.
  6. There is no C (carbon, i.e., soot) or residual CH₄ at all temperatures.
  7. For all practical purposes, at an air to natural gas ratio of 9:1, the Exo gas as generated is predominantly an N₂ and H₂ (steam) atmosphere with some CO₂ and small amounts of H₂ and CO.
Table B. Air to Natural Gas at 9:1 and 7:1, cooled to various temperatures

Example 2: Rich Exo Gas with a 7:1 Air to CH₄

The column under ratio of seven is highlighted as red to show the composition of the rich Exo gas as generated in the reaction chamber with an air to CH₄ ratio of seven. The peak temperature is 3182°F — significantly lower than that for lean Exo. The next four columns show how the composition changes when the rich Exo gas is slowly cooled from 3182°F to 2000°F, 1500°F, 1000°F, and 500°F. The following key changes take place as temperature of the rich Exo is lowered from the peak temperature to 500°F:

  1. Hydrogen volume almost doubles from 5.58% at peak temperature to 9.91% at 1000°F, and then it drops to 5.70% at 500°F. The overall volume of H₂ in rich Exo is significantly higher than in lean Exo.
  2. H₂O volume decreases slightly from 17.9% to 15.1%, but it is still very high at all temperatures.
  3. Oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) changes as the H₂ to H₂O ratio increases from 0.312 at peak temperature to 0.737 at 1000°F before decreasing to 0.377 at 500°F. Overall, ORP in rich Exo is significantly higher than that in lean Exo.
  4. CO and the CO to CO₂ ratio drop in a big way, making it mildly decarburizing to more decarburizing
  5. The percentage of N₂ remains at 65– 67%, which is lower than lean Exo.
  6. There is no C (carbon, i.e., soot) at any temperature. However, there is residual CH₄ at 1000°F and lower. This increases rapidly when cooled slowly below 1000°F.
  7. For all practical purposes, the rich Exo gas (at air to natural gas ratio of 7:1) generated is still predominantly a H₂
    and H₂O (steam) atmosphere, but with more H₂; hence, it has somewhat higher oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) than lean Exo and a bit higher CO to CO₂ ratio (less decarburizing than lean Exo).

In summary, rich Exo as generated in the combustion chamber differs from lean Exo as follows:

  1. It has a little less N₂ % as compared to lean Exo.
  2. It has significantly more H₂ , but a little less H₂O than lean Exo. As such, it has a significantly higher H₂ to H₂O ratio (ORP).
  3. It is decarburizing, but less than lean Exo.
  4. It has residual CH₄ at temperatures below 1000°F. Therefore, it must be cooled very quickly to suppress the reaction of developing too much residual CH₄.

Discussion

Let us take the example of rich Exo (an air to natural gas of 7:1) exiting from the reaction chamber in Table B (see column highlighted in red). The total volume is 853.3 SCFH and has H₂O at 152.4 SCFH (17.9% by volume). This is equivalent to dew point of 137°F. Its H₂ content is 47.6 SCFH (5.58% by volume). And the H₂ to H₂O ratio is 0.312.

If this were quenched to close to ambient temperature “instantly,” this composition would be “frozen,” except most of the H₂O vapor will become water. Let us assume the Exo gas was instantly quenched to 80°F (3.6% by volume after condensed water is removed). Rough calculation shows that the final total volume of H₂O vapor has to be reduced from 152.4 SCFH to about 26.0 SCFH in order to meet the 80°F dew point goal. This means 152.4 – 26.0 = 126.4 SCFH of H₂O vapor got condensed to water.

Now the total volume of Exo gas after cooling down to 80°F= 853.35 – 126.4 = 726.95 SCFH, or almost 15% reduction in volume of Exo gas as compared to what was generated in the reaction chamber.

Of course, the composition of Exo gas will not be the same as calculated above. The exact composition after being cooled down depends upon the following:

a. Cooling rate of the reaction products from the peak temperature in the reaction chamber to some intermediate temperature, typically around 1500°F.
b. Cooling rate of the gas from the intermediate temperature to the final (lowest) temperature via water heat exchangers — typically 10–20°F below ambient temperature unless a chiller or dryer is installed on the system.

Depending upon the overall design of the generator, especially how Exo gas coming out of the combustion chamber is cooled and maintained during the period of its use, the expected Exo gas composition should be in the range of the light red columns in Table B — where temperatures are between 1500°F to 1000°F — however:

  1. Total volume closer to 727 SCFH (since a major portion of H₂O was condensed out)
  2. N₂ between 74–77%
  3. Dew point between 80–90°F
  4. CH₄. between 0.1–0.5%
  5. H₂ percentage between 7–9%

Step 3: Composition of Exo Gas after Being Introduced into the Heat Treat Furnace

The cooled down Exo gas will once again change its composition depending upon the temperature inside the furnace where parts are being thermally processed.

As an illustration, let us assume the following composition of the rich Exo gas (with a 7:1 air to natural gas ratio) at ambient temperature just before it enters the furnace:

  • Total volume: 727 SCFH
  • H₂: 8% (58.16 SCFH)
  • Dew Point 86°F or 4.37% (31.77 SCFH)
  • CO: 6% (43.62 SCFH)
  • CO₂: 6% (43.62 SCFH)
  • CH₄ : 0.4% (2.91 SFH)
  • Balance N₂ (%)
  • 75.23% (546.92 SCFH)

Table C shows how the composition changes once it reaches the high heat section of the furnace where parts are being thermally treated. The column highlighted blue shows the composition of Exo gas as it is about to enter while it is still at the ambient temperature. The next three columns show the composition of the Exo gas in the high heat section of furnaces operating at three different temperatures depending upon the heat treat application — 1100°F like annealing of copper, 1500°F like annealing of steel tubes, and 2000°F like copper brazing of steel products. The H₂ to H₂O ratio decreases as temperature increases.

Other general comments on Exo generators:

  1. Generally, they are horizontal.
  2. Size ranges from 1,000 to 60,000 SCFH.
  3. Rich Exo generators use Ni as a catalyst in the reaction chamber. Lean Exo does not.
  4. Lean Exo generators typically operate at a 9:1 air to natural gas ratio. There is no carbon/soot buildup.
  5. Rich Exo generators typically operate at a 7:1 air to natural gas ratio. Below about 6.8 and lower ratios, soot/carbon deposits start appearing that require carbon burnout as part of the maintenance procedure.
Table C. Exo gas compositions in heat treat furnaces

Conclusions

A walkthrough of the entire cycle of gas production to cool down to use in the high heat section of the furnace clearly shows that as temperature changes, so does the Exo gas composition for any air to natural gas ratio.

Having a well-controlled composition of Exo gas requires the following:

  • Well-controlled composition of the natural gas used
  • Air supply with controlled dew point
  • Highly accurate air and natural gas mixing system
  • Highly controlled and maintained cooling system
  • A reliable ORP analyzer or the H₂ to H₂O ratio analyzer as part of the Exo gas delivery system.

Protecting metallic workpieces is paramount in heat treating, and in order to do this, the atmosphere created by Exothermic gas must be understood, both in the cool down phase and within the heat treat furnace. For further understanding of the good progress made in the improvement of Exo generators, see Dan Herring’s work in the reference section below.

References

Herring, Dan. “Exothermic Gas Generators: Forgotten Technology?” Industrial Heating, 2018, https:// digital.bnpmedia.com/publication/?m=11623&i=53 4828&p=121&ver=html5.

Morris, Art. “Exothermic Atmospheres.” Industrial Heating (June 10, 2023), https:// www.industrialheating.com/articles/91142-Exothermic-atmospherees.

About the Author

Harb Nayar is the founder and president of TAT Technologies LLC. Harb is both an inquisitive learner and dynamic entrepreneur who will share his current interests in the powder metal industry and what he anticipates for the future of the industry, especially where it bisects with heat treating.

For more information: Contact Harb at harb.nayar@tat-tech.com or visit www.tat-tech.com

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An Overview of Cemented Carbide Sintering

/ FEATURED NEWS, HIPING TECHNICAL CONTENT, MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT NEWS, PARTS CLEANING TECHNICAL-CONTENT, SINTERING POWDER/METAL TECHNICAL CONTENT, TITANIUM PROCESSING TECHNICAL CONTENT, VACUUM FURNACES TECHNICAL CONTENT

Source: TAV Vacuum Furnaces

Cemented carbide is often used interchangeably with other terms in the industry to describe a popular material for tool production. However, the specifics of what makes up a cemented carbide, and how this material can be processed, are not so widely discussed.

In this best of the web article, discover the composition, applications, and processes involved in sintering cemented carbide, as well as how vacuum furnaces play an essential role for this material. You will encounter helpful diagrams and resourceful images depicting each step of the process.

An Excerpt:

“Hard metal, or cemented carbide, refers to a class of materials consisting in carbide particles dispersed inside a metal matrix. In most cases, the carbide of choice is tungsten carbide but others carbide forming element can be added, such as tantalum (in the form of TaC) or titanium (in the form of TiC).
The metal matrix, often referred as ‘binder’ (not to be confused with wax and polymers typically used in powder metallurgy) is usually cobalt, but nickel and chromium are also used. This matrix is acting as a ‘cement,’ keeping together the carbide particles (hence the ‘cemented carbide’ definition).”

Read the entire article from TAV Vacuum Furnaces, written by Giorgio Valsecchi, by clicking here: Sintering of Cemented Carbide: A User-Friendly Overview- Pt. 1

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This Week in Heat Treat Social Media

/ FEATURED NEWS, MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT NEWS

Welcome to Heat Treat Today’s This Week in Heat Treat Social Media. As you know, there is so much content available on the web that it’s next to impossible to sift through all of the articles and posts that flood our inboxes and notifications on a daily basis. So, Heat Treat Today is here to bring you the latest in compelling, inspiring, and entertaining heat treat news from the different social media venues that you’ve just got to see and read!

This week, we dive into innovations in several heat treat processes, take a look at some fascinating technological applications for heat treaters, tune into a conversation on batch vs. continuous furnaces, and explore an unexpectedly beautiful result of AM.

If you have content that everyone has to see, please send the link to editor@heattreattoday.com.

1. Bikes of the Future: the titanium revolution

Titanium has historically been limited as a material for bikes, despite its excellence as a material, due to its high cost and difficulty to process. Check out this post by IperionX on LinkedIn, sharing the revolutionary innovations they intend to bring to titanium processing, with applications for biking.

2. Metallurgical Moments: from Medicine, to rust removal, to atomic structure

As all heat treaters know, the world of metals is a vast one. Here are a few fascinating metallurgical moments to inform you and hopefully put a smile on your face.

The Power of Metals in MRI
Laser Cleaning: Heat Treat Potential Of The Future (Or Past?)

Did you know that the first lasers were created in 1960? They may have a futuristic look, but these devices have been around for quite a while, and their potential applications in the heat treating industry continue to grow. Check out this fascinating video from @Metallurgical Engineering on LinkedIn to get an up-close look at how lasers can be used to clean rust and perhaps streamline your heat treating maintenance in the future.

Metallurgical Art: The Structure of Metals

3. Continued Learning

Each of these posts brings an educational aspect of part of the heat treat world you may or may not be familiar with.

A Brief Overview of Quenching

HIP: What the Cool Heat Treaters Are Up To

4. Reading (and Podcast!) Corner

You can’t read everything, we get it. Heat Treat Today is here to recommend one informative podcast to enjoy on your daily commute, suggest a quick video on laser heat treating, and put a comprehensive article on surface treatments for automotive on your radar!

The Highly-Anticipated Sequel is Here! Tune in to Listen to Heat Treat Radio #105: Batch IQ Vs. Continuous Pusher Part 2, with Michael Mouilleseaux.
Interested in Surface Treatment? This Article from Race Engine Technology/Race Engine Suppliers magazine is for you!

In case you missed it: An overview of laser heat treating with Aravind Jonnalagadda (AJ), CTO and Co-founder at Synergy Additive Manufacturing LLC

5. AM is the Name of the Game

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is taking the heat treating world by storm, but it’s not often we get to sit back and appreciate the beauty that this technology is capable of creating. Check out this amazing gothic cathedral creating using LMM technology. Be sure to click below to see the full post.

 

Have a great weekend!

 

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Skuld Expanding by Opening New Foundry & Manufacturing Facility

/ ATMOSPHERE AIR FURNACES NEWS, FEATURED NEWS, FIXTURE REACKING SYSTEMS NEWS, FOUNDRY CASTING NEWS, MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT, SINTERING POWDER METAL NEWS
HTD Size-PR Logo

Skuld LLC announced that they had purchased the site belonging to the former Champion Foundry in Piqua, Ohio, a gray and iron foundry that had closed in March 2017. The company will continue to be focused on innovation in the metals industry, serving their clients through a number of innovations related to novel materials and manufacturing technologies.

The four buildings with nearly 32,000 square feet of space are being refurbished to be capable of casting a wide range of ferrous metals (gray, ductile iron, steels) and nonferrous metals (aluminum, brass, bronze, copper, nickel alloys). The plant will initially have 3,000 tons of capacity but plans are in place to expand to ten times that capacity in the next few years.

Skuld will be installing machining, foam blowing, a printer farm, and heat treating, adding to their current 5 small heat treat furnaces and adding to their operations, which primarily consist of lost foam casting. The new installations will aid the company as they serve the defense, tooling, and heavy equipment industries. They are also beginning to target production of heat treat fixtures and baskets.

Sarah Jordan, CEO, Skuld LLC

Production at the new site is scheduled to begin in April 2024. Sarah Jordan, CEO of Skuld LLC, commented, "Skuld is looking forward to getting our induction melting furnaces installed so that we can produce higher temperature iron, steel, and nickel alloy castings." She continued, "many [heat treaters] have custom furnace components and fixtures that require high temperature metals. These parts can have extremely long lead times, sometimes over a year, which is a problem if they are stocked out." By using their new tooling free processes, Jordan says that they can help clients drive lead times down to less than a month, if not a day for emergency spares.

Skuld is a company founded by two metallurgical engineers, Mark DeBruin and Sarah Jordan, with ties to the heat treat industry. DeBruin is the former CTO of Thermal Process Holdings. Jordan formerly worked in heat treating at Timken and Commercial Metals and was a staff engineer for Nadcap heat treat.

The full press release from Skuld LLC is available upon request.

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