Fundamentals of furnace maintenance sometimes fall between that tricky area of realizing their importance and getting pushed to the end of the to-do list. This original content piece shares tips to bring the fundamentals back to where they belong: at the top of the to-do list.
3 Tips From "Effective Integral Quench Furnace Maintenance" Article
President, Industrial Furnace Systems
Gasbarre Thermal Processing Systems
- Safety First | Whether the furnace is in operation, or it is having down time, proper safety measures must be in place. Personal protective equipment, proper shut down of power sources, and even the buddy system are topics taken in to consideration.
- Asset Management System | Have up-to-date maintenance records available to any and all employees. "Ensuring important information, such as alloy replacements, burner tuning, or control calibration information, can help operations and maintenance personnel as they plan and assess future equipment needs," comments Ben Gasbarre, president industrial furnace systems at Gasbarre Thermal Processing Systems.
- Cleaning | Reminders include: change filters on combustion blowers, clean things like burners and flame curtains, clean out endothermic gas lines, burn off manual probes at least once a week, etc.
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3 Tips From "Furnace Diagnostics for Validation, Preventative Maintenance, and R&M" Article
Sales Engineer
AFC-Holcroft
Source: AFC-Holcroft
- Rules and Regulations | The military and energy industries are sectors that have strict standards to follow. Different heat treating shops are using a software module to maintain furnace data, looking at data reports to make sure the furnace systems are running properly.
- Timely Maintenance | Making a maintenance plan and then following it means that no tasks are overlooked or forgotten.
- After Repairs and Adjustment | Make sure that after trouble shooting and performing repairs, the software generated reports are examined and that furnaces continue to be maintained. Daniel Hill, PE, sales engineer at AFC-Holcroft says, "This saves valuable time and resources, improves availability, and likely increases profitability."
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3 Tips From "How CQI-9 Compliant Quench Oil Analysis Can Aid in Proper Care of Quench Oil" Article
Senior Key Account Manager
Idemitsu Lubricants America
- Proper Levels of Sludge and Water Quench | Failing to keep the quench oil clean results in problems on surface finish. Maintain the quench from the start by filtering, cleaning, and replenishing to keep end product surfaces more acceptable.
- Frequency of Sampling | "[The] more often a quench oil is analyzed, the easier it is to use the quench oil analysis as a tool in the proper care of a quench oil," explains Greg Steiger, senior key account manager at Idemitsu Lubricants America.
- Regular Addition of Fresh Oil | Proper maintenance of quench oil will result in some loss through filtration. Be sure to replenish.
