Electrically Heated Solution Treat System for Aluminum Sheets
Wisconsin Oven designed and manufactured an Electrically Heated Solution Treat System for sheets of aluminum in a lab environment. The furnace has a 1’6” wide x 1’0” long x 1’0” high basket size and a 1,200º F maximum operating temperature.
The equipment features a pneumatically operated quench system that provides a quench time less than 3 seconds from when the doors open until the load is fully submerged. The pneumatically operated doors open and the load is dropped automatically. The load can either drop into the quench tank or onto the load/unload platform for an ambient air cool.
This convection furnace is constructed with 6” thick can construction with 3/16” thick carbon steel plate exterior and 18 gauge stainless steel interior. Handrails and ladders are included to provide access to the side mounted and roof mounted equipment. Stainless steel lubrication lines are provided to the furnace mounted bearings for manual lubrication with a grease gun.
The heating system features plug-mounted Ni-Cr open wound heating elements rated at 48 KW with SCR power control. The recirculation system provides bottom up airflow that delivers the heated air from ductwork located on two sides of the chamber below the basket, and rises up vertically through the work. The recirculation blower, rated for 6,000 CFM at 5 HP, is controlled by a variable frequency drive to slow the fan down when the doors are open. The unit achieved a part temperature uniformity of ±3º F @ 875º & 1,055º F with no overshoot.
The non-heated traveling quench car features a chiller cooling system to keep the water quenchant below 100º F. The 12 gauge, 304 stainless steel quench tank is sized to allow a 10º F maximum water temperature rise. Limit switches are provided to properly position the tank for loading, unloading, water quench, air quench, and maintenance.
The UL labeled and certified NEMA 12 control enclosure is mounted on the oven, and includes a main power disconnect switch. The controls feature an Allen-Bradley Micrologix 1500 PLC with a PanelView Plus 1250 touch screen (12.1” display) for operation of the equipment. The temperature of the oven is controlled through a micro-processor based digital instrument from Eurotherm. Over-temperature protection also is provided through a digital instrument from Eurotherm. For more information on our Drop Bottom Furnaces visit our Drop Bottom Furnaces webpage.