JP2007093160A - Heat treatment furnace - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a heat treatment furnace to be used for heat treatment of steel materials, having a wider furnace capacity while stabilizing a furnace atmosphere without using bricks for a furnace body. <P>SOLUTION: The heat treatment furnace is provided for heating treated objects to be treated. A ceiling portion 5e, a floor portion 5f and side walls 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d of the furnace body 5 are each formed with a furnace shell layer 31, a heat insulating layer 32 provided inside the furnace shell layer, and a ceramic fiber layer 33 provided inside the heat insulating layer. A plurality of ceramic rails 20 are provided in the furnace body for the treated objects to be placed thereon. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a heat treatment furnace used for carburizing or nitriding a steel material.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a furnace body of a heat treatment furnace used for heat treatment of a steel material has a structure in which a brick layer having fire resistance is provided and a heat insulating material is provided outside the brick layer (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-79761

  However, in the conventional heat treatment furnace, since bricks are used for the furnace body, there is a problem that the furnace wall becomes thick and the volume in the furnace cannot be increased. Further, since oxygen adsorbed on the brick during seasoning is released into the furnace due to high temperature, it takes time to stabilize the atmosphere in the furnace, and it is difficult to shorten the seasoning time.

  In addition, the refractory bricks supporting the ceramic rail are supported by a furnace shell, and a lot of heat is dissipated from the furnace shell. Since this furnace shell has a heat insulation structure with better heat insulation effect than before, the difference in heat dissipation from the firebrick part with poor heat insulation becomes remarkable, and the heat distribution (balance) in the furnace becomes very bad. I understood it.

  The object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a heat treatment furnace of the present invention is a heat treatment furnace for heating and treating an object to be processed, wherein the ceiling, floor and side walls of the furnace body are a furnace shell layer and the furnace shell layer. And a ceramic fiber layer provided inside the heat insulating layer, and a plurality of ceramic rails on which the object to be processed is placed are provided in the furnace body.

  The ceramic rail is divided into a plurality of parts in the longitudinal direction, and each of the ceramic rails is supported by the floor part via a brick.

  In addition, the heat treatment furnace of the present invention includes a heater using a gas burner.

  According to the present invention, the furnace body is composed of a metal furnace shell layer, a heat insulating layer, and a ceramic fiber layer, thereby reducing the thickness of the furnace body as compared with the case of using bricks. Therefore, the volume of the furnace body can be increased. A heater using a gas burner can be provided without increasing the size of the furnace body. Furthermore, it becomes easier to stabilize the atmosphere during seasoning than when bricks are used for the furnace body, and the time required for seasoning can be shortened. Moreover, since the rail is made of ceramic, the slack of the rail can be reduced. Further, the use of the gas burner can improve the efficiency of temperature increase and decrease than the electric heater.

  Further, the volume of the object to be processed that can be carried into the furnace can be increased, and the processing capacity can be improved. Further, by using a heater using a gas burner, the heating efficiency can be improved as compared with the case where an electric heater is used, and the cost required for heating can be reduced.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a carburizing apparatus 1 that performs a carburizing process on a workpiece W that is a steel material includes a heat treatment furnace 2 of the present invention and an oil tank chamber 3.

  On the front side wall 5 a of the furnace body 5 of the heat treatment furnace 2, a carry-in port 10 for carrying in the workpiece W and a shutter 11 for opening and closing the carry-in port 10 are provided. A table 12 on which the workpiece W is placed is provided in front of the carry-in entrance 10. On the rear side wall 5 b of the furnace body 5, a carry-out port 15 for carrying out the workpiece W and a shutter 16 for opening and closing the carry-out port 15 are provided. The furnace body 5 and the oil tank chamber 3 communicate with each other via a carry-out port 15. In the furnace body 5, ceramic rails 20 </ b> A, 20 </ b> B, 20 </ b> C such as SiC for placing the workpieces W, a fan 21 for stirring the atmosphere in the furnace body 5, and the atmosphere in the furnace body 5 are provided. Heaters 22A, 22B, 22C, and 22D for heating are provided. Although not shown, a supply furnace for supplying carburizing gas, nitrogen gas and the like into the furnace body 5 and an exhaust passage for exhausting from the furnace body 5 are provided.

As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the furnace body 5 includes a metal furnace shell layer 31 such as a steel plate, a heat insulation layer 32 laminated inside the furnace shell layer 31, and a laminate inside the heat insulation layer 32. It has a three-layer structure constituted by the ceramic fiber layer 33 having fire resistance. As the heat insulating layer 32, a silica-based material such as microtherm (manufactured by Nippon Microtherm Co., Ltd.) may be used. As the ceramic fiber layer 33, for example, a felt material made of a ceramic material such as Al ₂ O ₃ or Si ₂ O ₃ may be used. Thus, when it is set as the structure provided with the ceramic fiber layer 33 as a refractory layer inside the heat insulation layer 32, compared with the structure provided with the brick as a refractory layer inside the heat insulation layer 32, the thickness of the furnace body 5 is made. Can be thinned. Therefore, the volume in the furnace body 5 can be increased. Further, by providing the ceramic fiber layer 33 inside the heat insulating layer 32, it is possible to prevent the heat insulating layer 32 from deteriorating. Furthermore, at the time of seasoning, it becomes easier to stabilize the atmosphere in the furnace body 5 than when bricks are used for the furnace body 5, and the time required for seasoning can be shortened. In addition, when brick is used for the furnace body 5, since a small amount of iron is contained in the brick, CO supplied in the furnace body 5 acts on the carburizing process and the like, and carbon is accumulated in the brick. There is a problem that a sooting phenomenon occurs, but since the ceramic fiber contains almost no iron, the accumulation and sooting of carbon can be suppressed.

  Similarly to the furnace body 5, the shutter 11 is also composed of a furnace shell layer 31, a heat insulating layer 32 laminated inside the furnace shell layer 31, and a ceramic fiber layer 33 laminated inside the heat insulating layer 32. It has a three-layer structure. A metal seal 41 such as a steel plate is provided at the peripheral edge of the shutter 11 facing the carry-in port 10, that is, the peripheral edge of the ceramic fiber layer 33. On the other hand, on the front side wall 5a, a metal seal 42 such as a steel plate is provided on the outer peripheral edge of the carry-in port 10, that is, on the outer surface of the furnace shell layer 31. A graphite packing 43 is provided along the seal 42. By bringing these seals 41 and 42 into close contact with each other with the graphite packing 43 interposed therebetween, the carry-in entrance 10 is reliably closed. Further, the peripheral portion of the ceramic fiber layer 33 of the shutter 11 is protected by the seal 41, and the ceramic fiber layer 33 is prevented from being damaged.

  Similarly to the furnace body 5, the shutter 16 is also composed of a furnace shell layer 31, a heat insulating layer 32 laminated inside the furnace shell layer 31, and a ceramic fiber layer 33 laminated inside the heat insulating layer 32. It has a three-layer structure. A metal seal 45 such as a steel plate is provided on the peripheral edge of the shutter 16 facing the carry-out port 15, that is, on the peripheral edge of the ceramic fiber layer 33. On the other hand, in the rear side wall 5b, a metal seal 46 such as a steel plate is provided on the outer peripheral edge of the carry-out port 15, that is, on the outer surface of the furnace shell layer 31. By bringing these seals 45 and 46 into close contact with each other, the carry-out port 15 is reliably closed. In addition, the peripheral portion of the ceramic fiber layer 33 of the shutter 16 is protected by the seal 45 to prevent the ceramic fiber layer 33 from being damaged.

  As shown in FIG. 2, each of the ceramic rails 20 </ b> A to 20 </ b> C is composed of a plurality of ceramic bodies 23 that are divided in the longitudinal direction, and is continuously provided in the front-rear direction at the lower portion in the furnace body 5. As shown, they are arranged in the left-right direction.

  Reference numeral 47 denotes a guide for preventing lateral vibration of the object to be processed W, which is provided on the outer sides of the ceramic rails 20A and 20C located on the left and right sides in the longitudinal direction. The object W to be processed is the ceramic rail 20A. , 20B, 20C.

  The ceramic rails 20A, 20B, and 20C are supported by refractory bricks 48 projecting from the floor at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the ceramic body 23 constituting the ceramic rails 20A, 20C, and 20C. The protrusions 49 provided in the longitudinal direction on the bottom surfaces of 20B and 20C are fixed by fitting them into the recesses 50 provided in the longitudinal direction on the upper surface of each refractory brick 48.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the heaters 22 </ b> A and 22 </ b> B are provided side by side on one side of the ceramic rail 20 </ b> A. The heaters 22C and 22D are provided side by side on the other side of the ceramic rail 20C. Each of the heaters 22 </ b> A to 22 </ b> D includes a substantially U-shaped radiant tube 57 and a gas burner 58 provided at the end of the radiant tube 57. In other words, the combustion gas is injected from the gas burner 58 and the combustion gas is supplied into the radiant tube 57 so that the interior of the furnace body 5 is heated. Further, a heat storage body is provided in the gas burner 58, and when the combustion gas is injected from one end side of the radiant tube 57, heat storage is performed on the other end side. The combustion gas injection and the heat storage are alternately switched between the one end side and the other end side of the radiant tube 57, and the heat efficiency can be improved by using the heat storage. Further, by supplying cold air into the radiant tube 57, the radiant tube 57 can be quickly cooled and the temperature inside the furnace body 5 can be lowered. Thereby, temperature fall can be performed more rapidly than an electric heater.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the oil tank chamber 3 includes a mounting table 61 on which the object to be processed W is mounted and an oil tank 62. Further, a carry-out port 63 for carrying out the workpiece W from the oil tank chamber 3 is formed, and a shutter 64 for opening and closing the carry-out port 63 is provided. A table 65 on which the workpiece W is placed is provided behind the carry-out port 63.

  Next, the process of the to-be-processed object W using the carburizing apparatus 1 comprised as mentioned above is demonstrated. First, at the start of the operation of the carburizing apparatus 1, the temperature inside the furnace body 5 and seasoning are performed in the heat treatment furnace 2 by heating the heaters 22 </ b> A to 22 </ b> D. Since the furnace body 5 has high heat insulating properties due to the heat insulating layer 32, the temperature rise can be efficiently performed. Further, since the amount of oxygen and water vapor released from the ceramic fiber layer 33 into the furnace body 5 is small, the atmosphere in the furnace body 5 can be quickly stabilized. Therefore, the time required for temperature rise and seasoning can be shortened. Furthermore, by using the heaters 22A to 22D using the gas burner 58, it is possible to efficiently heat compared with the case of heating using an electric heater, so that the time required for temperature rise and seasoning is greatly increased. It can be shortened and the cost required for heating can be reduced. The temperature in the furnace body 5 is about 850 ° C.

  When the temperature rise and seasoning in the furnace body 5 are performed, the object to be processed W is carried into the heat treatment furnace 2. First, the workpiece W is placed on the table 12, the entrance 10 is opened, the workpiece W is pushed backward from the front by a pusher (not shown), and the ceramic in the furnace body 5 is passed through the entrance 10. The workpiece W is moved on the rails 20A to 20C. Then, the pusher is withdrawn from the furnace body 5, and the carry-in port 10 is closed by the shutter 11.

  When the workpiece W is carried into the heat treatment furnace 2, the temperature inside the furnace body 5 is raised to about 950 ° C. And if the to-be-processed object W is fully preheated, the carburizing gas will be supplied in the furnace body 5, and a carburizing process will be performed. Subsequently, after performing a diffusion process, the temperature lowering process is performed while lowering the temperature inside the furnace body 5. Then, the inside of the furnace body 5 is set to about 850 ° C. and soaking is performed. Since the entire furnace body 5 has a structure including the heat insulating layer 32 and the ceramic fiber layer 33 even during the heat treatment such as carburizing, diffusion, temperature lowering, and soaking, the atmosphere in the furnace body 5 is reduced. Good temperature distribution can be maintained. Therefore, processing unevenness can be prevented. In addition, the heaters 22 </ b> A to 22 </ b> D using the gas burner 58 can adjust the temperature better than the case of heating using an electric heater. Therefore, the heat treatment time in the heat treatment furnace 2 can be shortened.

  When the soaking process is completed in the heat treatment furnace 2, the carry-in port 10 and the carry-out port 15 are opened, a pusher (not shown) is entered from the carry-in port 10 into the furnace body 5, and the workpiece W is pushed from the front to the back by the pusher. The workpiece W is moved from the furnace body 5 to the oil tank chamber 3 through the carry-out port 15. And the mounting base 61 which mounted the to-be-processed object W is dropped, the to-be-processed object W is immersed in the oil tank 62, and oil quenching is performed. Thereafter, the object to be processed W is pulled up from the oil tank 62, the carry-out port 63 is opened, the object to be processed W is unloaded from the oil tank chamber 3 and moved to the table 65. Thus, a series of processes in the carburizing apparatus 1 is completed.

  At the end of the operation of the carburizing apparatus 1, the heating of the heaters 22 </ b> A to 22 </ b> D is stopped in the heat treatment furnace 2, and the temperature in the furnace body 5 is lowered. The furnace body 5 has a structure using the ceramic fiber layer 33 having a smaller heat storage amount than bricks, and can be quickly cooled by the heaters 22A to 22D using the gas burner 58. Can be quickly cooled.

  According to the carburizing apparatus 1, the brick 5 is not used for the furnace body 5, the furnace body 5 is made of a metal furnace shell layer 31, the heat insulation layer 32 provided inside the furnace shell layer 31, and the inside of the heat insulation layer 32. Compared with the case where brick is used, the front side wall 5a, the rear side wall 5b, the left side wall 5c, the right side wall 5d, the ceiling part 5e, and the floor part of the furnace body 5 are configured by the ceramic fiber layer 33 provided on the floor. The thickness of 5f can be reduced. Therefore, the volume in the furnace body 5 can be increased. Therefore, the heaters 22A to 22D using the gas burner 58 can be disposed without increasing the size of the furnace body 5. Moreover, the volume of the to-be-processed object W which can be carried in in the furnace body 5 can be increased, and processing capacity can be improved.

  Further, by supporting the ceramic rails 20A, 20B, and 20C by the refractory bricks 48 at intermediate portions other than both ends, it is possible to eliminate cracks in the middle of the ceramic rails 20A, 20B, and 20C. Further, since the rails 20A, 20B, and 20C are made of ceramic, deterioration thereof can be prevented.

  Furthermore, by using the heaters 22 </ b> A to 22 </ b> D using the gas burner 58, it is possible to quickly increase or decrease the temperature as compared with the case where heating is performed using an electric heater. Therefore, the heat treatment time in the heat treatment furnace 2 can be greatly shortened. Moreover, compared with the case where it heats using an electric heater, it can heat efficiently and can reduce the cost which heating requires.

  In the heat treatment furnace of the present invention, for example, as the heat insulating material of the heat insulating layer 32, for example, a ceramic block made of a silica-based material (for example, Microtherm (manufactured by Nippon Microtherm Co., Ltd.)) is preferable, and the thickness is 75 to 150 mm, preferably The thermal conductivity is 80 to 120 mm and the thermal conductivity is 0.01 to 0.03 kcal / m · h · ° C., preferably about 0.02 kcal / m · h · ° C.

The ceramic fiber layer 33 has a thickness of 50 to 100 mm, preferably 100 mm, and a thermal conductivity of 0.04 to 0.08 kcal / m · h · ° C., preferably 0.06 kcal / m · h · ° C. is there. When a ceramic block having a thickness of 100 mm and a ceramic fiber having a thickness of 100 mm was combined, the heat storage amount was 26.4 MJ / m ² and the heat dissipation amount was theoretically 384 W / m ² . The thickness of the ceramic block (heat insulating material) and the thickness of the ceramic fiber are not as good as possible in order to increase the heat insulating property. It has been found that increasing the thickness of the heat insulating material increases the surface area of the furnace shell, increasing the absolute amount of heat dissipated, and worsening the energy efficiency. According to the present invention, the above-mentioned thickness range is preferable.

The cross-sectional area (furnace space) in the furnace of the present invention is preferably 0.16 to 2.25 m ² . More preferably from 0.64~1.44m ^2. It is preferable to apply the heat insulating material and ceramic fiber layer having the above specifications to the cross-sectional area, and the energy efficiency is also optimum. Moreover, 1.5-15m is preferable and, as for the length in the furnace of this invention, More preferably, it is 2-10m.

  By combining the heat insulating material having the heat conductivity and the heat storage amount and the ceramic fiber layer (refractory material) having the heat conductivity and the heat storage amount, a furnace having excellent heat insulating properties and durability can be obtained. Can do.

  Examples of the heat insulating material having the above-mentioned characteristics include a silica-based ceramic block, but the heat resistant temperature is approximately 1000 ° C. For example, the heat resistance at the carburizing temperature is considered not to be a problem even if the heat insulating material is used alone. . However, in view of durability during long-term use of the heat insulating material, it was found that it was necessary to cover the refractory material of the ceramic fiber layer having a high heat resistance temperature with the surface, and the above combination was found.

  Moreover, the combination of the heat insulating material of the said thickness and a ceramic fiber layer is preferable. If the heat insulating material and the ceramic fiber layer are made thicker than the above ranges in order to improve the heat insulating property of the furnace, it becomes difficult to control the temperature drop in the furnace temperature, and the surface area of the furnace body becomes large and the amount of heat dissipated increases. .

  Considering energy efficiency and furnace size (installation space efficiency), it has been found to be disadvantageous to make the insulation and ceramic fibers thicker than the thickness within the scope of the present invention. On the contrary, if the heat insulating material and the ceramic fiber layer are thinner than the above ranges, the heat insulating effect cannot be sufficiently obtained.

  The preferable material of the ceramic rails 20A to 20C is SiC, and the refractory brick that supports the ceramic rail has a thermal conductivity of, for example, about 0.1 kcal / m · h · ° C.

In an example of such a heat treatment furnace, the heat input is about 100,000 kcal / h, the heat treatment is about 46.8%, the heat dissipated from the furnace surface is about 35.7%, and the heat dissipated from other parts. Was about 17.5%, the furnace surface wall temperature was 83 ° C./m ² , and the heat dissipation was 708 kcal / h · m ² . On the other hand, for example, in the combination of 115 mm of refractory brick, 65 mm of silica-based heat insulating material, and 50 mm of ceramic fiber from the furnace shell side of the conventional heat insulating structure, the heated product is 32.5% and the heat dissipated from the furnace surface is 59.1. %, The heat dissipated from other parts was about 10%. That is, compared with the present invention, the energy used for the processed product is small, and the high energy efficiency of the present invention can be seen.

  In the configuration of the furnace of the present invention, heat radiation from the lower refractory bricks is large, and soaking is difficult. Therefore, in the heat treatment furnace of the present invention, it is preferable to make the heat insulating layer and the ceramic fiber layer 10% to 50% thicker than the side walls and the ceiling. In addition, forced agitation is performed by a fan, and the heater is placed below the ceramic rail. Furthermore, the length of the SiC rail is 400 to 800 mm or less, and the use of refractory bricks is reduced. Also, use a refractory brick having a height of 200 to 300 mm, a width of 60 to 120 mm, and a length of 90 to 210 mm. Especially, by setting the height within the above range, the gap between the heat insulating material and the ceramic rail is reduced. It is preferable to take enough so that the atmosphere in the furnace can be sufficiently stirred with a fan. By setting it as the said structure, the temperature distribution of the atmosphere in the furnace body 5 can be maintained favorable.

  As mentioned above, although an example of the suitable embodiment of the present invention was shown, the present invention is not limited to the form explained here. For example, in the present embodiment, the heat treatment furnace 2 is described as performing a carburization process, but the present invention can also be applied to a heat treatment furnace performing a nitriding process.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used in a heat treatment furnace that performs a carburizing process, a nitriding process, and the like of steel materials.

It is a schematic sectional drawing of a carburizing apparatus. It is a longitudinal front view of the heat treatment furnace of the present invention. It is the sectional view on the AA line of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Carburizing treatment apparatus 2 Heat treatment furnace 3 Oil tank room 5 Furnace body 5a Front side wall 5b Rear side wall 5c Left side wall 5d Right side wall 5e Ceiling part 5f Floor part 10 Carry-in port 11 Shutter 12 Table 15 Carry-out port 16 Shutter 20A Ceramic rail 20B Ceramic rail 20C Ceramic rail 21 Fan 22A Heater 22B Heater 22C Heater 22D Heater 23 Ceramic body 31 Furnace shell layer 32 Heat insulation layer 33 Ceramic fiber layer 41 Seal 42 Seal 43 Graphite packing 45 Seal 46 Seal 47 Guide 48 Brick 49 Convex part 50 Concave part 57 Radiant tube 58 Gas burner 61 Mounting table 62 Oil tank 63 Unloading port 64 Shutter 65 Table W Workpiece

Claims (3)

A heat treatment furnace for heating and processing a workpiece,
The ceiling, floor, and side walls of the furnace body are configured by a furnace shell layer, a heat insulating layer provided inside the furnace shell layer, and a ceramic fiber layer provided inside the heat insulating layer, A heat treatment furnace provided with a plurality of ceramic rails on which an object to be processed is placed.   The heat treatment furnace according to claim 1, wherein the ceramic rail is divided into a plurality of portions in the longitudinal direction, and each of the ceramic rails is supported by the floor portion via a brick.   The heat treatment furnace according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a heater using a gas burner.

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