Overview of the US Heat Treatment Technology Development Roadmap

1 background
In the 1990s, the US Department of Energy's Industrial Technology Bureau established a vision called “future production technology”, and proposed a series of technical projects that must be realized. The aim is to help the US industry that uses a lot of energy and a large amount of industrial waste to use these technologies to make continuous progress and maintain international competitiveness. Although heat treatment is not considered to be the original industry in the “Future Production Technology” program, companies in this field are recognized as major energy users and have a substantial impact on the manufacturing industry.
The US Department of Energy and the Heat Treatment Society recently signed a “Partnership” agreement to participate in future industrial programs with the goal of improving energy efficiency and labor productivity through “best practices. The areas of practice are control and sensing. Technology, compressed air, heating processes, sharing of industrial technology information and various R&D activities.

2 Development roadmap development process
The American Society of Metals Heat Treatment Society was established in 1994. It has four committees for emergency needs, research and development, process and program control, and education. Its purpose is first to meet the membership requirements in these areas. Secondly, the R&D committee's task is to identify future technical needs of the heat treatment industry, establish plans, funds, and implement mechanisms to meet demand research and development projects and the promotion of the results of these projects to industrial production. In 1995 and 1996, the Emergency Needs Committee conducted a comprehensive survey of industry-wide projects, listing a series of emergency demand projects in heat treatment production. In February 1996, the US Department of Energy, Heat Treatment Society, and Metal Heat Treatment Association convened 20 leaders of heat treatment and professional processing companies, manufacturing and sales companies to discuss and propose the US 2020 vision and long-term goals. In February 1997, the Heat Treatment Society R&D Committee of 17 experts proposed the first draft of the heat treatment technology development roadmap and three fields, namely, equipment and hardware materials, process and materials, energy and environmental research, and 70 research and development projects. 1999 research and development plan. In July 2002, the R&D Committee of the Heat Treatment Society discussed and revised the road map at the Illinois Institute of Technology. In 2004, the “Revised Manuscript of the 2004 Heat Treatment Roadmap of the Heat Treatment Society” was published.
 
3 US heat treatment 2020 vision
The goal of US heat treatment in 2020 is to reduce energy consumption by 80%, process cycle by 50%, production cost by 75%, heat treatment parts to achieve zero distortion and lowest mass dispersion, and furnace life is increased to 10 times (up to 9). Double), the price of the furnace is reduced by 50% to achieve zero pollution in production.
 
4 Organizational implementation measures
In September 1999, the School of Metal Processing at Worcester University of Technology (WPI) became the "Technology Center for Heat Treatment" (CHTE). Shortly after the establishment of CHTE, the "Hot Processing Technology Center" (TPTC) was established at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). Organize industry-wide enterprises to participate in research and development to achieve the roadmap goals and complete the proposed more than 70 research and development projects.
 
5 R&D projects worthy of attention
(1) Induction heating quenching using groundwater circulation

<500kW induction hardening uses closed-circuit circulation of groundwater for cooling. In use, the groundwater pump is used to pump groundwater, and then it is purified and returned to the ground. A 150kW AjaxTocco induction hardening system from RollRite, Alger, Michigan, has been used for this purpose, and the daily cost is only in cents.
  (2) Strong quenching process
The method developed by the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences Academy of Sciences Cobisco for the quenching of steel by water or brine to form residual compressive stress and reduce distortion has been approved in the United States to register IQTechnologies Inc. under the Intensi Quench service mark. Because of the substitution of water for oil, reducing oil consumption and significantly reducing production costs, it is valued and supported by the US Department of Energy.
(3) High temperature carburizing at temperatures above 1010 °C   
The maturity of vacuum carburizing technology and the development of low-pressure carburizing processes have created conditions for high-temperature carburizing. Due to the significant reduction in the carburizing cycle and energy savings, this project has been included in the “Process and Materials Technology” grouping plan of the Roadmap R&D Program. WPI's CHTE promotes collaborative development of industrial companies and universities, collaboration between manufacturers and production users.
  (4) Ni3Al intermetallic compound - new furnace anti-carburizing heat-resistant member material
Ni3 Al has been around for about 20 years because it is very brittle and has not been used for a long time. The OakRidge National Laboratory led by ChainT.Liu found that adding trace amounts of boron can significantly improve its plasticity. It can be used as a furnace basket and fixture. The composition of Ni3 Al is 8% to 11% Al added with Cr, Zr, Mo and B. , 81% to 88% Ni. This material has excellent heat resistance, creep resistance and carburization resistance. DSS has successfully conducted trials on the tray for several years through a collaborative research and development agreement with the Department of Energy.
  (5) APM and APMT (higher strength APM alloy) alloy long life radiant tube  
Sadvik of Kanthal AB, Sweden, has developed APM and APMT alloys following the KanthalAl heating wire. This material is still drawn on the A-1 powder material by hot isostatic pressing and deep drawing. Electrothermal and gas radiant tubes made of APM alloy can withstand double heat flow compared to conventional heat resistant alloy radiant tubes, and can withstand heat flows of 9 to 10 kJ/m2 at 925 °C.
  (6) Plane radiant panel for furnace  
The plane radiant panel developed by the Gas Technology Research Institute can be used to increase the radiation surface, reduce the surface temperature, extend the service life of the furnace, improve the uniformity of the furnace temperature, reduce the lining, reduce the size of the furnace by 50%, and accelerate the heating of the furnace. At the cooling rate, little NOx is formed.
  (7) Reverse cycle single-tube closed radiant tube
Developed jointly by the North American manufacturing company and the Gas Research Institute (GTI). The heat radiation rate is high, and the tube made of the same material can withstand higher temperatures, improve combustion efficiency by 10%, reduce NOx by 50%, and has a long service life.
  (8) Low NOx gas strong internal circulation radiant tube
The U-shaped radiant tube developed by GTI has a uniform temperature along the length of the tube. When the furnace temperature is 1010 ° C and the air preheating temperature is increased from 455 ° C to 480 ° C, NOx is generated as <0.008% (vol). Generally, the NOx generated by the preheated air radiant tube is 0.02% to 0.25% (vol).
  (9) Direct flame impact combustion technology
Using a high-speed burner with multiple nozzles embedded in the furnace wall, the injection speed can reach 1 Mach (~330 m/s), and it can work under the condition of excess air coefficient α=1, improving energy utilization rate by 35% and reducing NOx by 70%. Increase productivity by 25%, reduce oxidative burnout by 50%, and have the potential to save $150 million to $150 million annually.
(10) Intelligent induction hardening closed-loop control system
Using the control principle of the neural grid system, the material selection, phase transformation, heating process and infiltration layer are comprehensively controlled. The software provided has the function of optimizing the strength/weight ratio of the part and has a main and passive electromagnetic sensor that monitors the depth of diathermy throughout the heating process.
  (11) Software for predicting the state of residual stress during carburizing and quenching of steel parts.
(12) DANTE software to extend the residual stress state of machine parts.
(13) Software that accurately predicts the quantitative data of steel heat treatment phase transformation.
(14) Process thermal energy evaluation and identification software

The software is a project planned by the US Department of Energy for users to convert thermal energy according to different combustion modes and heat recovery parameters. It can compare the performance of the furnace under working conditions and calculate the energy saving potential under various working conditions.
    (15) Heating furnace energy analysis tool
Calculate fuel and power consumption cost data by hour, year, or per pound of parts.
    (16) Energy efficient analysis software.
 
6 Equipment and hardware materials part of the research and development project
    (1) Process control   
The main projects include: 1 Development and improvement of predictive tools such as process design, foreseeable state, thermophysical and mechanical performance prediction computer models. 2 Develop timely process control technology, installed in the furnace and quenching tank to measure the airflow, quenching intensity, carbon, nitrogen potential smart sensor. 3 Develop a method for directly measuring the carbon content of the surface on the workpiece at the right time. 4 Development method for unmanned monitoring of process parameters. 5 Fast, non-destructive, economical, and timely method for measuring the depth of the carburized layer. 6 Use a variety of sensors and techniques to identify a more optimized system for the furnace according to the AMS specification. 7 Better equipment troubleshooting, prevention, and maintenance methods, such as burner crack prediction, to prevent deterioration of furnace atmosphere. 8 Establish a standard/foreseeable study of the viability of equipment, for example, it is impossible to have two identical furnaces. 9 Models for predicting furnace geometry, fan speed, furnace loading, and furnace shape.
    (2) Materials  
The main projects include: 1 Improve the anti-carbon black ability of the oxygen probe - Develop an oxygen probe that can be used below 700 °C. 2 new functional materials (such as thermal insulation materials) and structural materials (such as structural materials that work at high temperatures). 3 economical heat-resistant member materials for furnaces. 4 Improve the properties of the furnace heat-resistant component alloy, including the anti-carburizing alloy fixture, the cheap coating of the tray.
    (3) Hardware (device)
The main projects include: 1 High efficiency (>80%) burners. 2 high flow rate heat exchanger, high speed fan, increase heat transfer area and other measures to improve the heating condition of the charge. 3 Reduce the heat dissipation of the furnace to build a cheap insulation material. 4 energy-saving, no internal oxidation carburizing atmosphere. 5 aluminum alloy quenching equipment improvement. 6 batch (disc) uniform quenching system for the charge. 7 improved design model of quenching equipment. 8 single-piece flow and machining simultaneous heat treatment equipment. 9 Sensors on the quenching machine that can sense the quenching crack at the right time. 10 inexpensive residual stress non-destructive testing method. 11 More efficient and cheaper methods and equipment for degreasing liquid or non-liquid workpieces.
 
7 Process and material development projects
(1) Materials and processes
The main projects include: 1 Designing sensor software tools to reduce trials and avoid errors. 2 high temperature (~1010 °C) carburized steel resistant to grain growth. 3 The process of shortening the nitriding cycle. 4 Improve induction, magnetic field, furnace tempering, aging process to reduce mass dispersion and shorten the process cycle. 5 rapid heating phase change kinetics to reduce heating time. 6 Effect of rare earth elements on heat transfer microstructure transformation. 7 efficient surface modification process. 8 material cryogenic treatment limits. 9 Heat treatment of new materials such as polymers, composites, new iron alloys and non-ferrous alloys. 10 can replace carburizing materials and processes, control hardenability steel, strong quenching. 11 replaces the efficient production method of surface quenching.
(2) Material application software and model database
The main items include: 1 Material selection software: user input required performance, output process and heat treatment parameters. 2 Material failure (destruction) process model: input performance characteristics (wear, load, corrosion), tissue properties of the output material, and vice versa for failure analysis.
(3) Development of the model
The main items include: 1 phase change model of heating and cooling volume strain. 2 Volumetric strain model for heating and cooling phase transitions. 3 Continuous heating and cooling phase change database, including rolling variables, the influence of uneven composition on phase transformation. 4 Combine the phase change models into software tools. 5 convert the normal temperature performance into a database of high temperature performance. 6 Production equipment uses different media to measure the heat transfer process of the medium and the workpiece. 7 Test industry standards for cooling in different media. 8 Thermodynamic model of carburizing, nitrogen, high temperature carburizing gas-solid phase action. 9 Thermodynamic model of pre-cooling rate, residual stress and performance relationship. 10 Link model of process control system and timely control system. A computer simulation of fluid dynamics that forms effective uniform heat transfer.
 
8 R&D projects in the energy and environment sector
(1) Energy
Major projects include: 1 Development of economic methods for recovering low-grade heat, collection and utilization of waste heat, such as process heat and flue heat. 2 High-efficiency heat transfer heating technology and equipment, such as plasma heating that increases heat transfer rate. 3 high temperature heat recovery technology. 4 Further development of oxy-combustion technologies that increase thermal efficiency, such as fluid film technology. 5 Collect the bottom line data of energy utilization equipment for heat treatment equipment to establish future energy conservation standards. 6 A method of recovering the atmosphere of a heating furnace. 7 Accumulate advanced technologies that coordinate heat, electricity and heat treatment. 8 Develop a high temperature gas circulation system to improve furnace efficiency, such as impact heating. 9 new energy-saving process for local heating and surface quenching. 10 Standardization of heat treatment equipment design to achieve versatility and reduce design costs.
(2) Environment
The main projects include: 1 combustion technology and post-treatment technology to reduce CO, CO2, NOx. 2 Elimination, reduction and recycling of cleaning fluids, management of waste oil or other quenching media, and recycling of waste materials. 3 An inexpensive way to quench salt and oil, such as water and inert gases. 4 Cheap air-cooling quenching technology for low and medium alloy steel parts, such as quenching technology for saving hydrogen. 5 A by-product fuel is proposed from the waste stream, such as a gas that is burned. 6 Efficient cleaning technology that completely removes the workpiece traces.

9 Public welfare project
The main items include: 1 Heat treatment hygiene safety regulations, such as safety management to avoid fire, personal injury, air quality inside the factory, ergonomics, barium salts and amine salts, and other hazardous substances. 2 Personnel training on metallurgical foundation, furnace safety, curriculum setting, personnel requiring training. 3 Develop heat treatment equipment to launch harmful bottom line to avoid future environmental pollution. 4 Set the energy utilization bottom line of heat treatment equipment to prepare for the future energy efficiency standards.

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