Electric Furnaces

Complement Heat Treat

Requirements for Gears
Gear manufacturers find that furnaces heated by electric elements
routinely harden, anneal and stress relieve gears, while reducing
thermal processing costs.
By Bob Edwards and Vic Strauss

Furnaces heated by electric elements routinely harden, anneal and stress relieve
gears. Today's heating elements operate at higher temperatures, last longer and
offer gear manufacturers opportunities to reduce thermal processing costs.
Energy and environmental concerns should further expand the use of electric
furnaces.

Custom Electric Manufacturing Co., of Wixom, MI, designs original equipment and
replacement heating elements for electric thermal processing equipment. For the
past 40 years, it has worked with electric furnace builders and companies using
electric furnaces to heat-treat gears. Gear Solutions asked Custom Electric to
comment on the future rolE of electric furnaces in gear manufacturing.

Gas-Fired Furnaces vs.

Electric Furnaces

It was not until the 1950s that the United States

had a pipeline network and power grid sufficient
to allow natural gas and electricity to be the
primary energy sources for energy-intensive industrial
applications like heat-treating. Today, heat-treating
is a $20 to $25 billion industry serving more than
18,000 manufacturers. Gas-fired heat treat furnaces
outnumber electric furnaces in the U.S. because
natural gas is plentiful and, relatively speaking,
affordable. In many parts of the world, like the
Scandinavian countries, natural gas is scarce and
electric furnaces are more prevalent.
With respect to performance, both electric and
gas-fired furnaces do an excellent job case hardening,
through hardening, annealing, normalizing and stress
relieving gears, says Bob Edwards, President of
Custom Electric. However, there are characteristics of
electric furnaces which are becoming better appreciated.
For example, a uniform heat pattern is achievable with
proper element placement. Energy efficiency exceeds
90 percent; compared to from 60 to 80 percent with
gas furnaces. There is no need for expensive ventilation
systems and gas recuperators. Electric furnaces also
are quiet, safe and pollution free.
Todays electric furnace is a highly engineered
piece of equipment. It is tightly constructed, better
insulated and energy efficient. Electronics monitor
and control every stage of processing.
Not surprisingly, Edwards believes heating elements
are the most important components of an electric
furnace. Heating elements may only account for
about 10 percent of the costs to operate a large,
modern heat treat furnace, but they dictate or
influence the entire heat treat process, everything
from furnace operating temperature and heat cycle
times to maintenance costs and environmental
compliance.

Heating Elements
Heating elements are made from electrical resistance
metals (molybdenum, platinum, tantalum and

Fig. 1: Open coil plug/rack heating elements fabricated from Ni/Cr

operate at temperatures from 200 to 1700 F to anneal and stressrelieve a variety of metal components.

Fig. 2: Ni/Cr is the most commonly used element alloy for heat
treat furnaces. In high temperature applications, Fe/Cr/Al elements
are becoming popular for their long service life.

OCTOBER 2012

31

Cr. These alloys perform well over a

wide temperature range, tolerate different
atmospheres and have a long service
life in most applications. In recent years,
Strauss says Fe/Cr/Al is also becoming
a popular element alloy, particularly in
higher temperature applications.

Better Heating
Elements
Fig. 3: Fe/Cr/Al bayonet elements.

for heat treating high performance parts

on a production basis, according to Vic
Strauss, a Custom Electric Vice President
with 25 years of heating element design
experience. In fact, one material, Ni/Cr,
has been the dominant heating element
alloy for more than half a century.
The majority of heating elements
manufactured by Custom Electric are
made from 70/30 Ni/Cr and 80/20 Ni/

tungsten), electrical resistance alloys (Ni/

Cr, Ni/Cr/Fe and Fe/Cr/Al) and nonmetallic
materials (graphite, silicon carbide and
molybdenum disilicide). There are many
variations of these materials under
various trade names. The list is shorter

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Fe/Cr/Al elements have a long service life

at temperatures up to 2300 to 2400F.
This is attributable to the advent of the
Sandvik/Kanthal APM alloy, a powder
metal alternative to standard Fe/Cr/Al.
In many applications, Fe/Cr/Al elements
have a service life from two to 4 times
that of conventional alloys, often longer.
Manufacturing heating elements
from APM is a growing segment of our
business, says Strauss. We make
bayonet elements, immersion heaters,
plug/rack elements, rod overbend
elements and helical coil elements from
APM stock. Some customers switched

from Ni/Cr elements to APM elements when nickel prices soar,

but most are attracted by the material's long service life at
higher temperatures. Strauss described the experience of an
automotive transmission plant to illustrate the benefits of APM
elements.

APM Element Case History

The transmission plant project began with replacing corrugated
330 stainless steel heating elements in one of eight AFC-Holcroft
austempering furnaces with APM bayonet elements and radiant
tubes. The furnaces worked side-by-side during a two-month
evaluation processing gears on the same schedule. Test results
were so impressive the plant expanded the conversion program
to include all eight austempering furnaces and 11 Lindberg gearcarburizing furnaces heated by the same style elements.
According to plant records, the average service life of stainless
steel heating elements in the 19 furnaces was 30 weeks. The
average service life of the replacement APM elements is four
years. This dramatically reduced the frequency and time required
to replace elements and contributed to a significant increase in
furnace productivity.
Over a period of four years, the 300 lb. x 8-ft. long x 10-in.
wide stainless steel elements in eight austempering furnaces
needed replacement six times, each replacement resulting in
six weeks of downtime. Based on a four-year service life, APM

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Fig. 4: Custom Electric has 40 years of experience manufacturing original

equipment and replacement heating elements for furnaces used to heattreat gears.

elements need to be replaced once, a task, which is completed

in one day. Over four years, this reduced element replacement
downtime from 1728 days to one day.
Stainless steel heating elements in the carburizing furnaces
needed replacement five times every four years. However, more
time was required to do the job, 3960 days over four years. By

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reducing element replacement downtime

in 19 furnaces, the plant gains more than
200 hours a year of additional gear heattreat capacity.
Other benefits of the new bayonet
element/radiant tube package included
higher carburizing temperatures (1922 F
compared to 1760 F), and a 50% reduction
in heat cycle times. When Custom Electric

totaled the benefits of upgrading heating

elements in 19 furnaces, the plant gained
gear heat treat capacity equivalent to 22
additional furnaces and avoided spending
$10 million on new equipment.
The transmission plant project
illustrates the benefits of updating electric
heating elements in older equipment, says
Strauss. Based on our experience, we

estimate element upgrading is justified in

about 20% of heat treat furnaces between
10 and 25 years old. After 25 years of
service, element upgrading probably is
justified 100 percent of the time.
The availability of longer life heating
elements is important to original equipment
manufacturers because the frequent
necessity to replace heating elements is
a common criticism of electric furnaces.
New alloys make element life and
element replacement requirements less of
an issue, says Strauss. If you compare
the costs to replace combustion control
hardware like burner tubes and nozzles, it
is probably no more expensive to maintain
an electric furnace then it is to maintain a
gas-fired furnace.

The Future of
Electric Heating
In speculating on future gear heat
treat practices, I would never suggest
electrically-heated furnaces will replace
gas-fired furnaces, says Edwards.
However, based on the many scenarios
being discussed, I do believe the use of
electric furnaces will increase.

Fig. 5: Heating elements can be shaped and placed

in an electric furnace to produce a heat pattern tailored to the workload.

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Fig. 6: An indication of Custom Electric's

confidence in the future of electric heat-treating is
its nearly complete expansion program that doubles
manufacturing floor space.

Environmental
Compliance
There is not a heat treat facility in
America not struggling to keep pace
with rapidly changing Federal and State
environmental regulations. Current rules
are tough. Pending rules are tougher,
particularly those pertaining to the
discharge of carbon dioxide. Depending
on which proposals become law emission
limits may be reduced 80 to 100, percent
by 2050. This scenario favors electrically
heated furnaces, says Custom Electric.

Energy Efficiency
Heat treat facilities consume huge
amounts of electricity and natural gas. In
todays Green world, this raises a red
flag. Some industry analysts suggest the
heat treat industry should reduce energy
consumption by as much as 80 percent
by 2020. This scenario favors electric
furnaces because they already are 90
percent energy efficient, says Custom
Electric.

Renewable Energy
To protect the environment and lower
oil imports, Washington politicians could
mandate that 80 percent of Americas
energy come from renewable sources by
2050. The plan is to replace or supplement
electricity produced from fossil fuels with
electricity generated by wind turbines, solar
panels, hydroelectric turbines, biomass
and heat trapped beneath the surface of
the Earth. This scenario is ambitious and
will be enormously expensive, but favors
electric furnaces, says Custom Electric.

Supply and Demand

All fossil fuels used to generate electricity
are under attack. Coal is dirty. Oil is
imported. Oil shale is relatively new. Nuclear
power plant construction is at a standstill
because of safety concerns. Decades will
pass before alternative energy sources
dramatically change electricity-generating
methods. Meanwhile, the demand for

OCTOBER 2012

37

electricity continues to grow. All supply/

demand scenarios indicate the cost of
energy, gas, and electricity will increase.

Preparing for Change

Manufacturers of heat treat furnaces and
electric heating elements are acutely aware
of the challenges facing energy-intense
manufacturing processes, says Edwards.
Our industry is ramping up efforts to provide
solution. Energy consumption and energy
costs, furnace design and construction and
methods to reduce process cycle times
and production costs top the agendas of
organizations like the Industrial Heating
Equipment Association, Metal Treating
Institute, International Federation for Heat
Treatment and Surface Engineering and the
ASM Heat Treating Society.

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Conclusions
Short term, heat treat facilities with a
history of using gas-fired furnaces will
continue to use gas-fired furnaces and
facilities with a history of using electric
furnaces will continue to purchase electric
furnaces, predicts Edwards. Long term, I
expect increased use of electric furnaces
because all nations are converting to energy
produced from renewable resources. Also,
the $20 to $25 billion gear industry is an
important market to electric furnace and
electric heating element manufacturers,
Edwards said. I am confident furnaces and
elements manufacturers will develop the
technology necessary to support future
gear manufacturing requirements.

about The authors:

Bob Edwards is the President of
Custom Electric and has been with
the company for the past 34 years.
Contact him at bob@custom-electric.
com. Vic Strauss is vice president
of Custom Electric with 25 years of
heating element design experience.
Contact him at vics@custom-electric.
com. For more information, contact
Custom Electric Manufacturing Co. at
248-305-7700 or visit www.customelectric.com.

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gearsolutions.com

A Brief History of Electric Heating

Three men launched what today is the electric thermal processing industry, German physicist Georg Ohm, British physicist James Joule and
American metallurgist Albert Marsh. In 1827, Ohm demonstrated current and voltage in an electric circuit is controllable by varying the size,
shape and material of a resistor, i.e. a heating element.
In 1841, Joule discovered electricity converts to heat when passed through a resistor. In 1905, Marsh patented the first practical heating
element material, an 80/20 Ni/Cr alloy. Ohms Law and Joules Law continue to dictate the design of electric heating elements. Ni/Cr is an
excellent and widely used heating element alloy.

High Performance Heating Element Alloys

70/30 Ni/Cr

80/20 Ni/Cr

Fe/Cr/Al

Widely used in air, vacuum and controlled atmosphere furnaces. A maximum operating temperature in air of
2250 F provides broad application flexibility. Heating elements made from 70/30 Ni/Cr have excellent oxidation
and carburization resistance. Exposure to sulfur, chlorine and salt should be avoided. Other characteristics
include good formability, good mechanical properties in the hot state and long service life.
This Ni/Cr alloy provides good performance in clean, dry air at operating temperatures up to 2150 F. It also is
suitable for use in inert and reducing atmospheres and vacuum furnaces. Exposure to sulfur, chlorine and salt
should be avoided. Good oxidation and carburization resistance contributes to long service life.
Fe/Cr/Al elements provide greater flexibility at temperatures up to 2350 F. This is due to higher electrical
resistivity and lower density than Ni/Cr alloys. A major attribute of Fe/Cr/Al is resistance to sulfur contamination.
This material is not recommended for use in reducing atmospheres other than hydrogen. APM is a lightweight
Sandvik/Kanthal Fe/Cr/Al powder metal alloy with superior hot strength and form stability at high temperatures.
APM elements perform well in most furnace atmospheres and have excellent oxidation resistance. In many
applications, element service life is from two to four times longer than other heating element alloys.

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