Vacuum Furnaces

The vacuum furnace range offered by Volta Furnace includes vacuum chamber furnaces, and vacuum tube furnaces. Each furnace can be used with either a reactive gas or an inert gas.

Numerous options are available at the time of order, including advanced software, data loggers, and sophisticated digital controllers. These enhance control over the furnace’s operation and offer comprehensive data recording capabilities. Moreover, we can supply different pumps, vacuum systems, and cooling systems to meet specific needs.

Our vacuum furnaces are robust, offering rapid and highly consistent heating in a controlled atmosphere. They are ideal for many industrial and laboratory applications.

Common uses for a vacuum furnace include brazing, sintering, annealing, degassing, drying, tempering, soldering, quenching, and hardening. They are also used for metal injection moulding (MIM), ceramic injection moulding (CIM), metallisation, siliconisation, carbonisation, and other processes.

Different vacuum furnaces are better suited to different tasks. Our vacuum tube furnaces, for example, are based on the corresponding non-vacuum models, but they are modified and equipped with a purpose-built vacuum unit. As such, we offer a wide range of diameters and lengths.

VACUUM FURNACE – FAQ

WHAT IS A VACUUM FURNACE?

A vacuum furnace facilitates heat treatment in a vacuum environment. The two main types include cold and hot wall vacuum furnaces. A cold wall vacuum furnace uses a water-cooled vacuum recipient that remains cool throughout the heat treatment process, with the heating elements situated inside the recipient. In contrast, hot wall vacuum furnaces have heating elements situated outside the vacuum-recipient (such as a ceramic or quartz tube), with the recipient being heated.

WHY IS A VACUUM FURNACE REQUIRED FOR HIGH TEMPERATURES?

Standard resistance-type heating elements can reach up to 1800°C in an air/oxidising environment. If you’re dealing with temperatures above this, you’ll need to use a vacuum furnace and create a non-oxidizing atmosphere. With resistance-type heating elements, vacuum furnaces can handle temperatures of up to 3000°C.

WHICH APPLICATIONS REQUIRE A VACUUM FURNACE?

Vacuum heat treatment is a necessity for a wide range of applications such as vacuum soldering and brazing, vacuum annealing, sintering, and so on. Generally, a vacuum furnace is the go-to for any heat treatment that needs a specific, predominantly non-oxidizing, atmosphere. It might also be beneficial to use a vacuum furnace for heat treatments that require an oxygen concentration differing from the air composition, like 100% pure O₂, for instance.

WHAT TYPE OF ATMOSPHERE IS POSSIBLE IN A VACUUM FURNACE?

Naturally, vacuum furnaces can use vacuum as their atmosphere. The level of vacuum can vary–from rough to fine, high, or even ultra-high–depending on what’s needed. Plus, since a vacuum furnace can completely remove the air atmosphere, it gives us the flexibility to work with a variety of gases or mixtures, such as Argon, Nitrogen, Hydrogen, Carbon Monoxide, Helium, and so on.