SECO/WARWICK Group has delivered multiple shipments of advanced metal heat treatment equipment to South America. The primary customers for this equipment are Brazilian commercial heat treaters. This year, SECO/WARWICK equipment has shipped to three heat-treating plants in this country. Last month, a Vector® vacuum furnace was delivered to Supertrat in Santa Bárbara D’Oeste.
Brazil needs Vector vacuum furnaces
The Vector vacuum furnace ordered by the Supertrat heat treating plant is a medium-sized device, but it offers huge opportunities. Its working space (600x600x900) is optimal and it is the most frequent choice of commercial heat treaters. The equipment will streamline and improve the capacity of heat treatment processes and will improve process economics. This is all thanks to energy savings, the graphite chamber, and precision performance providing process purity and speed.
“Vector is our standard equipment adjusted to individual client needs, designed to be as versatile as possible and to have the widest application in the heat treatment of various steel types. Each new contract means many consultations and challenges. Years of experience have led us to the development of a very universal furnace widely used in heat treatment that, can be modified by adjusting the range of possibilities it can offer to client needs,” says Maciej Korecki, Vice President of the Vacuum Segment, SECO/WARWICK Group.
“We are very familiar with the South American market as we have supplied vacuum furnaces not only to the largest commercial heat treating plants on this continent but also to the military and aviation sector enterprises. On the Brazilian market, we have handled the fastest delivery of a vacuum furnace this year, taking just 8 weeks. Recently, the Brazilian government has introduced a grant program that allows for as much as 50% of the funding to be granted for the type of equipment manufactured by SECO/WARWICK,” adds M. Korecki.
The best-selling vacuum furnace in the world
Thanks to the round heating chamber, the Vector vacuum furnace facilitates swift heat treatment of large, oversized elements. The characteristic feature of the furnace design is directional cooling, making it possible to cool the problematic elements in a variety of ways, depending on the shape of the workpiece. The Vector furnace supplied to the Supertrat heat treating plant is equipped with convection heating – a system improving the heat transfer efficiency while heating in lower temperatures.
“The possibilities of this vacuum furnace are huge. This is why it is the world’s best-selling vacuum furnace from our portfolio. Vector vacuum furnaces with a round graphite heating chamber may be applied in most standard hardening, tempering, annealing, solution heat treatment, soldering and sintering processes. Additionally, they may be applied along with optional, patented vacuum carburizing (FineCarb®) and prenitriding (PreNit®) technologies,” summarizes Maciej Korecki, Vice President of the Vacuum Segment, SECO/WARWICK Group
South America is important to SECO/WARWICK
SECO/WARWICK has been active in the South American market for many years. For six years now, SECO/WARWICK has cooperated with a Brazilian firm COMBUSTOL FORNOS IND COM LTDA and through this cooperation, it can fulfill orders covered by government subsidies for the equipment when at least 50% is manufactured in the territory of Brazil.
Commercial heat treaters – a demanding partner
Commercial heat treaters represent an important and highly demanding group of clients choosing SECO/WARWICK solutions.
“On a daily basis, we face the challenge of a large number of processes and their technological span. That is why we were looking for a universal device that could be at the same time adapted to meet our specific expectations. SECO/WARWICK rose to the challenge and supplied us with a furnace tailored to the needs of our heat treatment plant,” says Claudio J. Leitão, MSc Eng., Technical Director and Owner of Supertrat Group.
