Application of Vertical Vacuum Furnace in the Metal Industry

Vertical vacuum furnaces are widely and deeply used in the metal industry. Through high vacuum environment and precise temperature control technology, they play a key role in metal refining, heat treatment, brazing, and powder metallurgy, significantly improving the purity, performance, and production efficiency of metal materials. The following analysis will focus on core application scenarios, technological advantages, and typical cases:

1. Core application scenarios
Metal refining and purification
Principle: In a vacuum environment, impurities in metals (such as oxygen, sulfur, hydrogen, etc.) evaporate due to a decrease in boiling point, while avoiding high-temperature oxidation reactions, achieving the preparation of high-purity metals.
Metal heat treatment
Annealing: Eliminating metal processing stress, adjusting grain structure, and improving ductility and wear resistance in a vacuum environment. For example, after vacuum annealing, the surface smoothness of stainless steel bearings is improved by 2 levels and the fatigue life is extended by 40%.
Quenching: Rapid cooling is achieved through high-pressure gas (such as nitrogen) or oil quenching to avoid oxidation and decarburization.
vacuum brazing
Principle: In a vacuum environment, use brazing material to melt and fill the joint gap, achieving high-strength metal connection.
Powder metallurgy and sintering
Application: Under vacuum or inert gas protection, achieve high-temperature densification sintering of metal powders to avoid oxidation and agglomeration.

2. Technical advantages
High purity environment
The vacuum degree can reach 2 × 10 ⁻⁵ Pa, effectively eliminating impurities such as oxygen and water vapor, avoiding metal oxidation at high temperatures, and significantly improving material purity. For example, in precious metal purification, the gold recovery rate can reach over 99.95%, which is 5 percentage points higher than traditional processes.
Accurate temperature control and uniformity
Adopting PID temperature control system and silicon carbon rod/silicon molybdenum rod heating elements, the temperature accuracy is ± 1 ℃, and the furnace temperature uniformity is ± 1 ℃ (adjusted according to the size of the heating chamber). In the heat treatment of large workpieces, temperature field balance can be ensured to avoid local overheating or underheating.
Efficient production and energy conservation
The vertical structure, combined with automated loading systems such as scissor lifts and electromagnetic hoisting, reduces the loading cycle time to 25 seconds, resulting in a 40% increase in efficiency compared to horizontal furnaces. At the same time, the vacuum environment reduces heat convection losses and energy consumption by 20% -30%.
Multi functional process integration
Support multiple processes such as vacuum quenching, tempering, solid solution, aging, sintering, brazing, etc., with multiple uses in one furnace, reducing equipment investment and footprint. For example, a certain enterprise completed the quenching, tempering, and cryogenic treatment of mold steel through the same vertical vacuum furnace, reducing the production cycle by 50%.

3. Typical Case Analysis
aerospace field
Application: A certain aerospace enterprise uses a large vertical vacuum furnace (with a maximum loading capacity of 2.5 tons) to perform vacuum oil quenching treatment on aluminum alloy components. By optimizing the stirring of quenching oil and air flow circulation, the cooling rate reaches 50 ℃/min, and the workpiece deformation is controlled within 0.05mm, meeting the high-precision assembly requirements.
In the field of new energy vehicles
Application: A certain battery material manufacturer uses a vertical vacuum furnace to prepare high nickel ternary positive electrode material (NCM811). Through vacuum sintering (1000 ℃) and pure oxygen atmosphere control, lithium volatilization and phase transition are suppressed, and the material’s first efficiency is increased to over 90%, with a cycle life exceeding 2000 times, supporting the development of high-energy density batteries.
Medical device field
Application: A certain orthopedic implant enterprise uses a vertical vacuum furnace to vacuum anneal titanium alloy joints, eliminating processing stress through precise temperature control, improving material biocompatibility, and achieving a fatigue life of more than 10 times, meeting the ISO 13485 medical standard.