Austempering – Upton Industries

Externally Heated Salt Pot Furnaces

Upton Externally Heated Steel Lined Salt Bath Furnaces

Upton manufactures externally heated, inner lined salt bath furnaces designed for various applications. These furnaces can be constructed with a carbon or stainless steel pot liner materials as operating conditions warrant.

Externally Heating Method

The external heating method of these furnaces can be either electric by use of resistance type heating elements or gas fired utilizing the unique Upton “Hurricane” design which incorporates tangentially firing burners designed to minimize flame impingement to the inner pot salt containment pot. Combustion systems can be FM or IRI rated.

Upton Externally Heated Salt Bath Furnace Applications

Upton externally heated salt bath furnaces can be employed for service in a variety of high and low temperature, ferrous and non-ferrous thermal processing such as tempering, case hardening, caustic bath cleaning, paint stripping, solution treating of aluminum and vinyl/plastic curing. Externally heated furnace operation is ideally suited for intermittent service duties.

Custom Designed and Engineered

Our in-house engineering and manufacturing allows Upton to custom design furnaces and systems to a customers process and specification requirements, rather than attempting to provide to you standard pre-design equipment, as some of our competitors would attempt to do. Follow-up technical services are available for all Upton thermal process systems.

Our Engineered Thermal Solutions will allow for flexibility in your manufacturing productivity.

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Internally Heated Salt Bath Furnaces

Upton Internally Heated Steel Lined Salt Bath Furnaces

Upton manufactures internally heated, metallic inner lined salt bath furnaces designed for use with non-chloride based salt applications. These furnaces can be constructed from carbon or stainless steel materials as operating conditions warrant.

Immersion Heating Method

The immersion heating method of these furnaces can be electric by use of immersion heaters for lower temperature applications, or electrodes/transformer operation as either air or water cooled at elevated temperatures. Gas fired units employ FM or IRI type radiant tube firing.

Thermal Process Applications

Upton Internally Heated Salt Bath Furnaces can be employed for service in a variety of high and low temperature, ferrous and non-ferrous thermal processing such as tempering, case hardening, caustic bath cleaning, paint stripping, dip brazing solution treating of aluminum and vinyl/plastic curing.

Custom Designed and Engineered

Our Engineered Thermal Solutions will allow for flexibility in your manufacturing productivity.

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Mar-Ausquenching Salt Bath Furnaces

Maximum Quenching with Minimum Distortion

The Upton Mar-Ausquench Furnace design combination of a internal quenching shroud and variable speed propeller type agitator provides vertical lamellar flow to the workload. Maximum quenching with minimal distortion is assured.

Effective Chloride Removal

The Upton internal separation chamber allows for settling of chloride salts into screened baskets for periodic removal from the bath. Chloride separating chambers can also be designed with a continuously operating, mechanized chloride removal conveyor for high production or fully automated applications.

Air/Water Heat Exchanger Design

Air/water design of the tubular steel heat exchangers operate on water atomization and the latent heat of vaporization to maximize heat transfer while minimizing water usage requirements when compared to panel or flooded type systems. Upton units operate automatically by temperature set-point activation.

Heating Sources

Upton Mar-Ausquench Furnaces can be either electrically immersion heated or radiant tube FM or IRI type gas fired based on your utility advantage.

Ease of Maintenance

All internal components to the quench tank are removable for bath maintenance activities.

Custom Designed and Engineered

Our Engineered Thermal Solutions will allow for flexibility in your manufacturing productivity.

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Upton Mar-Ausquenching Furnace (U-QS)

Ceramic Salt Bath Furnaces

Maximum Work Space with Minimum Bath Area

Through the unique submerged electrode placement design, the electrodes do not occupy any portion of the bath. Only the active face comes in contact with the bath. This single exposed electrode surface minimizes bath size and increases electrode life over immersed electrode designs, while eliminating air/salt interface corrosion attack.

Convection Circulation Currents

The Upton submerged electrode placement gives more uniform bath temperatures and salt movement by natural convection currents. Heated salts rise in the bath while cooler salts fall to the electrode area for reheating.

Engineered Triple Ceramic Refractory Wall Construction

The Upton triple refractory wall construction is designed so that the temperature gradient through the wall will cause any salt penetration through the hardbrick bath liner to solidify within the intermediate castable refractory materials. This engineered refractory construction design limits initial salt absorption into the walls from 5 to 8 percent of bath volume, as opposed to 140 to 150 percent absorption experienced by some furnace designs using dual refractory wall construction with steel outer shells.

This engineered triple wall construction allows for the furnace to become a monolithic structure, sealing the refractories and minimizing the potential of outer wall distortion or furnace leakage.

Electrode Placements Give Clear Working and Cleaning Area

The Upton submerged electrode design creates a clear bath volume free of any protruding obstructions, allowing for maximum working area while providing for ease of bath maintenance.

Upton Ceramic Salt Bath Furnace Designs

Upton Ceramic Salt Bath Furnaces can be employed for service in a variety of ferrous and non-ferrous thermal processing in either air cooled or water cooled electrode and transformer designs.

Thermal Process Applications

Upton salt bath furnaces are used for various high temperature ferrous and non-ferrous thermal processing applications such as neutral hardening, Austempering, Marquenching, tempering, case hardening, and dip brazing.