Using the right atmosphere oven for the job could improve efficiencies and optimise your heat treatment process.
Advances in technology are constantly improving the scope and capabilities of production equipment. The atmosphere ovens you’re currently using may have served your operations well so far, but as your schedules change, they create new opportunities for you to unlock efficiencies with better (fit-for-purpose) equipment. In the last year alone, you may have:
- launched new products to better adapt to a changing market
- ramped up production to meet growing demand for certain parts/materials
- identified maintenance/compliance issues with your existing atmosphere ovens
- planned for a new site/line with atmosphere oven requirements.
Any of one of these scenarios is reason enough to review how well your current setup is serving you. A new atmosphere oven, potentially of a different type to your current models, could improve the speed of production or deliver a higher quality output for many years to come.
What types of atmosphere ovens are available and are you using the best type for your operations?
Find out more about our Atmosphere Oven Servicing and Calibrations.
Atmosphere ovens explained
Before we review the different types of atmosphere ovens available, let’s recap how we are defining atmosphere ovens. What are they and how do they work?
An atmosphere oven is an industrial oven that contains an atmosphere inside. Typically, this atmosphere is air, although ‘controlled’ ovens could also have argon, nitrogen or other inert gases (gases that don’t easily react to other substances) introduced to the process.
Their primary method of heating is through convection, which means hot air is circulated around the load. Where is why the type of atmosphere used is important. Different atmospheres will react differently when heated and again when coming into contact with the material you are heating inside the oven. As such, the way an oven is built and operated can make it better suited to different processes.
Uses for atmosphere ovens
Ovens are most commonly used to cure paint and powder, anneal plastic, age aluminum, cure composites, remove moisture, dry adhesives and many other low-temperature applications where the mass flow of air plays an important role.
With this in mind, how do various types of atmosphere oven differ — and which industrial oven types are best suited to your operations?
Related read: 3 Ways to Reduce Heat Treatment Costs in 2021
What are the different types of atmosphere ovens?
Drying ovens
A drying oven removes the moisture from its load through heat. As a result, drying ovens are used when objects need to be dehydrated, cured (i.e. ceramics) or dried (paint). They’re most commonly used in laboratory settings, where everything from specimens and tools to temperature-sensitive chemicals can be gradually dried to carefully and evenly remove moisture.
Curing ovens
A curing oven is used to alter an object’s texture or hardness through the process of curing. Usually, a part or material is cured to increase its strength and durability. Curing ovens achieve this by elevating the temperature of the load just enough to improve the linkages within the material and alter (improve) its mechanical characteristics.
Production lines reliant on curing ceramics or creating powder coatings will depend on these ovens, as well as those engineering raw materials such as adhesives, thermoset polymers and rubber.
Baking ovens
Operations that require both drying and curing (e.g. food production) often do so through the use of baking ovens. By combining the functions of a drying and curing oven, baking ovens can unlock greater efficiencies than using both drying and curing ovens separately — as well as saving on site space by halving the number of ovens required.
Clean room ovens
This unique oven type is used specifically to decontaminate objects. They can help operators to meet strict cleanliness requirements and comply with hygiene regulations. They are most commonly used in healthcare and medical device markets but are also used by semiconductor and electronic component manufacturing, where they can help with a variety of applications.
Clean room ovens work through precise template control, enabling operators to bring the oven to the specific temperature needed to kill off a contaminant such as dust, microbes, aerosol particles or chemical vapours, for example.
Batch ovens
This large oven-type includes a walk-in feature, giving operators the ability to manoeuvre large objects or high-volume loads on wheeled transports. In particular, batch ovens are often used for the pre-heating of various components prior to the application of coatings or finishes, as well as low-temperature stress relief of parts produced with high-heat processes.
Because of their size and walk-in capabilities, batch ovens are ideal for large-scale operations.
Continuous ovens
A continuous oven is characterised by the inclusion of a conveyor belt system for continuous or intermittent feeding. This feature provides greater efficiency and use of space, and is an essential oven type where continuous production is required, but its main benefit is that it enables the operator to control both the speed and heat at which a load is treated.
In partnership with Electrotherm, VFE conveyorised ovens can also be designed for overhead and vertical applications.
Optimise your heat treatment process with the right equipment
Investing in the right ovens now will yield results in both the short and long-term as daily efficiencies add up to significant savings. At VFE, we offer atmosphere ovens in temperature ranges from 100 to over 2000°C, anywhere from 0.5m cubed up to 5m square by 50m long. Whatever your bespoke requirements, we can design and build the oven for you.
If you’re interested in optimising the performance of your existing atmosphere ovens, we also offer servicing and calibration for any type of atmosphere oven (or furnace). Existing customers can incorporate this servicing into their regular VFE site visits, minimising disruption and keeping the whole maintenance process as efficient as possible. (The integrity of our services is very important to us — read more about what our CEO, David Byrne, had to say on the importance of serving excellence in manufacturing.)
Don’t make production any harder or more expensive than it has to be. With the right atmosphere oven for the job, your operations will run smoother and deliver better output.
To talk to us about a bespoke atmosphere oven/furnace that meets your specific needs, get in touch.
