ModulTherm®

Vacuum heat treatment system with high pressure gas quenching

ALD ModulTherm® heat treatment technology has been used successfully worldwide for many years and is the preferred method for the heat treatment of new transmissions and diesel injection systems in the automobile industry.

The ModulTherm® technology is especially suited for

  • hardening
  • tempering
  • case hardening
  • brazing
  • sintering
  • annealing

in a temperature range up to 1250 °C.

Technology at a glance

Thermal and thermochemical heat treatment processes take place in individual treatment chambers which operate separately. Therefore, various processes can be performed simultaneously.  A shuttle module, running on rails, serves the treatment chambers. The shuttle module contains a transport chamber and a high pressure gas quench chamber, combined in one unit.

The parts are hardened homogeneously and safely in this specially developed quench chamber, using gases such as nitrogen or helium under high pressure, of up to 20 bar, and a high velocity.

Hardness which pays off

The heat treatment system ALD ModulTherm® can be integrated into the mechanical production environment. There is no exposure of heat, exhaust gas or other harmful effects to the surrounding area of the plant. It is evident that the integration of heat treatment into production increases productivity. And the modular design of the ALD ModulTherm® heat treatment system allows tailoring the plants individually to meet the customer`s specific requirements exactly.

Advantages at a glance

Quality

  • High reproducibility for part quality
  • High carburizing uniformity on the part and within the load
  • Optimal component surfaces
  • Minimal parts distortion
  • Less to none subsequent processing
  • Quality documentation for each load

Commercial efficiency

  • Investment according to production ramp-up
  • Flexible and simple plant expansion without production interruption
  • High throughput due to short treatment cycles
  • High production flexibility through simultaneous processes
  • Less hard machining due to minimal part distortion
  • Easy maintenance without production interruption
  • Low consumption cost
  • High reliability

Environment

  • No CO2-emission
  • High energy efficiency due to low thermal loss
  • Low noise emission
  • Dry gas-quenching without disposal of waste washing water
  • Clean working environment without oil, vapors or flames