Heat Treatment

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We work with heat-treaters and manufacturers to achieve high quality, lower cost metal components. Our total solution draws on 35 years of expertise, reliable gas supply and patented technology for furnace atmospheres.

Services

Our technical experts work with you to develop individualised solutions to optimise your operations. Our heat treatment metallurgists will help you select the most appropriate gases and equipment to balance furnace throughput and quality.

Visit our specialist website - www.catweb.boc.com – which describes our range of services and is a valued resource for heat treatment specialists.

Heat Treatment processes and applications

Our total heat treatment solutions offer versatility, high quality product, reliable performance, higher productivity, lower cost and safe environmentally friendly operation for heat treatment processes, including:

• Annealing ferrous metals – our atmosphere systems are based on nitrogen with additions of hydrogen, hydrocarbon or cracked methanol. They provide a protective atmosphere whilst metal components are heated to a temperature less than transformation temperature, held to allow internal stresses to relax, and then slowly cooled.
• Annealing non-ferrous metals – we supply nitrogen/hydrogen mixtures and use additives for special applications. Our patented Atmosphere Zoning Technology minimizes the use of the more expensive hydrogen component.
• Autoclaving of plastics and composite materials – we supply nitrogen as a safe alternative to compressed air.
• Brazing – we apply our patented Atmosphere Zoning Technology to give precise control of different atmosphere zones in different parts of the continuous furnace.
• Carburising – we provide a source of carbon for diffusion into the surface of a steel component to produce a hard martensitic structure after quenching. For carbonitriding we supply a carbon/nitrogen mixture. We can install the total atmosphere system including methanol storage, pumping equipment, flow control panel and nitrogen generator.
• Cold Treatment – we supply liquid nitrogen as a coolant and a blanketing atmosphere in cold treatment of steel components to modify microstructure and achieve high wear resistance.
• Decarburising – our heat treatment experts will help you to select the most appropriate atmosphere to achieve the desired physical properties in your metal components using decarburization and annealing.
• Gas Wiping – we install on-site generators for a cost effective supply of the large nitrogen volumes used for gas wiping of galvanized strip.
• Hardening and austempering – our process experts will tailor the composition of the nitrogen based atmosphere to achieve the desired hard tough martensitic or bainitic structure. Our Atmosphere Zoning Technology minimizes the use of the more expensive gases and supplies the optimum mixture for each stage of the process.
• Hot Isostatic Pressing – we have extensive experience in the design and installation of high pressure gas delivery systems used in HIP. We can advise on the choice between nitrogen and argon as the pressurization medium.
• Nitrocarburising – we supply a range of world class, low temperature surface engineering technologies that can be tailored to the component size. Our range of treatments offer unique combinations of resistance to seizure, wear resistance, corrosion properties and low distortion.
• Nitriding – we supply nitrogen for purging before and after the nitriding cycle to avoid the risk of explosion.
• Quenching – we supply nitrogen, hydrogen, argon and helium for gas quenching, an environmentally friendly alternative to oil quenching.
• Sintering – our Atmosphere Zoning Technology maintains the optimum conditions in each stage of the continuous furnace, reducing reject rate.

Visit www.catweb.boc.com to learn more about our offer for these processes.

Industries

We apply over 35 years of experience in furnace atmospheres to support heat treatment and other metallurgy and materials industries:

• Heat Treatment – total solutions for heat treatment contractors producing specialised components for automotive, defence, aerospace and electrical industries.
• Metals and Mining – cost effective solutions for primary and secondary ferrous and non-ferrous metal producers.
• Automotive – specialist expertise, gases and equipment for automotive component manufacturers.
• Laboratories and research – gases, special gases and scientific equipment for metallurgical laboratories.
• Consumer goods manufacture  – products and services for manufacturers of electrical components and white goods.

Products

• Nitrogen – to protect against oxidation and act as a quenchant. Nitrogen synthetic mixtures offer lower maintenance, less down-time, flexible flowrates and greater consistency than traditional fuel-based atmosphere generators. Supplied as compressed gas, liquid or generated on-site.
• Argon – for total inertness. Supplied as compressed gas or cryogenic liquid.
• Hydrogen – for reducing oxides. Supplied as compressed gas, liquid or manufactured on-site.
• Carbon Dioxide and mixtures – low cost substitutes for nitrogen. Supplied as compressed, liquid or produced on-site.
• Helium - an environmentally friendly alternative to oil quenching. Supplied as compressed or bulk.
• Ammonia –  for annealing, nitriding, carbo- nitriding, nitrocarburising and sintering.
• Gaseous chemicals for blanketing in furnace atmospheres.