Embodiments of the disclosure provide a system including: an enclosure having an interior sized to enclose and the workpiece and form a vacuum and pressurized atmosphere within the interior. A plurality of thermal applicators may be in thermal communication with first and second portions of the interior. First and second thermal applicators may independently heat and cool the first and second portions of the interior. The first thermal applicator may apply a first thermal treatment to a first portion of the workpiece in the first portion of the interior. A second thermal applicator may apply a second thermal treatment to a second portion of the workpiece in the second portion of the interior independently of the first thermal treatment.

Disclosed are a continuous heat treatment device and method for a sintered Nd—Fe—B magnet workpiece. The device comprises a first heat treatment chamber, a first cooling chamber, a second heat treatment chamber, and a second cooling chamber continuously disposed in sequence, as well as a transfer system disposed among the chambers to transfer the alloy workpiece or the metal workpiece; both the first cooling chamber and the second cooling chamber adopt a air cooling system, wherein a cooling air temperature of the first cooling chamber is 25° C. or above and differs from a heat treatment temperature of the first heat treatment chamber by at least 450° C.; a cooling air temperature of the second cooling chamber is 25° C. or above and differs from a heat treatment temperature of the second heat treatment chamber by at least 300° C. The continuous heat treatment device and method can improve the cooling rate and production efficiency and improve the properties and consistency of the products.

Disclosed are a device and method for continuously performing grain boundary diffusion and heat treatment, characterized in that the alloy workpiece or the metal workpiece are arranged in a relatively independent processing box together with a diffusion source; the device comprises, in successive arrangement, a grain boundary diffusion chamber, a first cooling chamber, a heat treatment chamber, and a second cooling chamber, and a transfer system provided between various chambers for delivering the processing box; each of the first cooling chamber and the second cooling chamber uses an air cooling system, and the cooling air temperature of the first cooling chamber is above 25° C. and at least differs by 550° C. from the grain boundary diffusion temperature of the grain boundary diffusion chamber; the cooling air temperature of the second cooling chamber is above 25° C. and at least differs by 300° C. from the heat treatment temperature of the heat treatment chamber; and the cooling chamber has a pressure of 50 kPa to 100 kPa. The device provided by the present invention can increase the cooling rate and production efficiency, and improve product consistency.

Provided is a multi-chamber type heating unit which occupies a small installation space and can effectively perform a heating process of a blank. The multi-chamber type heating unit to heat a blank comprises: a lower housing unit; an intermediate housing unit installed in an upper portion of the lower housing unit; and an upper housing unit installed in an upper portion of the intermediate housing unit. A plurality of intermediate housings are stacked to form the intermediate housing unit, and a heating unit to heat a blank is installed in each of the intermediate housings. Moreover, the intermediate housings are formed in the shape in which upper and lower portions thereof are opened, and an opening is formed in the front for a door to be inserted thereinto.

An integral high pressure rapid quenching vacuum furnace utilizing an electrical isolation transformer in the blower motor power control system in order to isolate the motor windings, reduce the possibility of gas ionization and eliminate ground faults, particularly when quenching in argon gas, is described. In order to achieve the desired mechanical properties of certain metal alloys being quenched using argon gas as a quenching medium in the high pressure gas vacuum furnace chamber, a 600 HP460 Volt motor is required. A 460 Volt primary460 Volt secondary [delta-delta] isolation transformer, having input and output windings separated by an electrostatic shield connected to ground is placed between the power source and the gas blower motor in the quenching chamber filled with argon gas. The 460 Volt power source is connected to a variable frequency drive (VFD) and the VFD is connected to the primary transformer winding. The secondary transformer winding connects 460 Volts to the blower motor windings. The full electrical isolation of the transformer secondary winding results in zero ground fault voltage.

An apparatus for separating and recovering the components of an alloy, particularly a noble alloy, including a high vacuum chamber housing at least one crucible for the alloy to be separated; at least one heating element arranged, during use, around the crucible; at least one condensation device, which faces, during use, an upper mouth of the crucible. The particularity of the present invention resides in that the condensation device includes at least one cold element and at least one deflector that is adapted to divert the flow of the aeriform substances derived from the melting and evaporation of the alloy toward the cold element. The invention also relates to a process for separating and recovering the components of an alloy, particularly a noble alloy.

An integral high pressure rapid quenching vacuum furnace utilizing an electrical isolation transformer in the blower motor power control system in order to isolate the motor windings, reduce the possibility of gas ionization and eliminate ground faults, particularly when quenching in argon gas, is described. In order to achieve the desired mechanical properties of certain metal alloys being quenched using argon gas as a quenching medium in the high pressure gas vacuum furnace chamber, a 600 HP-460 Volt motor is required. A 460 Volt primary-460 Volt secondary [delta-delta] isolation transformer, having input and output windings separated by an electrostatic shield connected to ground is placed between the power source and the gas blower motor in the quenching chamber filled with argon gas. The 460 Volt power source is connected to a variable frequency drive (VFD) and the VFD is connected to the primary transformer winding. The secondary transformer winding connects 460 Volts to the blower motor windings. The full electrical isolation of the transformer secondary winding results in zero ground fault voltage.

An apparatus for separating and recovering the components of an alloy, particularly a noble alloy, including a high vacuum chamber housing at least one crucible for the alloy to be separated; at least one heating element arranged, during use, around the crucible; at least one condensation device, which faces, during use, an upper mouth of the crucible. The particularity of the present invention resides in that the condensation device includes at least one cold element and at least one deflector that is adapted to divert the flow of the aeriform substances derived from the melting and evaporation of the alloy toward the cold element. The invention also relates to a process for separating and recovering the components of an alloy, particularly a noble alloy.

A furnace for thermal treatment with gaseous atmosphere quenching having a bell inside which there are provided a rotor regulating the gas atmosphere flow, a heat exchanger regulating the temperature of the gas atmosphere and a thermal chamber configured for thermal treatment and the following gaseous atmosphere quenching. The thermal chamber has at least a surface positioned on a side adjacent to the heat exchanger and at least a surface positioned on an opposed side to the adjacent one to the heat exchanger and wherein at least a surface has a plurality of screens which connect the inside of the thermal chamber with the inside of the bell to allow the passage of the gas atmosphere from the thermal chamber to the bell, wherein the screens are adjustable to modify the passage section and so the flow of the gas atmosphere in function of the temperature required by the thermal treatment.

Systems and processes for use in heating articles include passing a carrier loaded with an article through a vessel inlet and into a first vessel portion and moving the loaded carrier in a first direction through the first vessel portion away from the inlet. During at least a portion of the movement through the first vessel portion, the article is contacted with a first fluid medium. The loaded carrier is moved carrier in a second direction opposite the first direction through a second vessel portion toward a vessel outlet. During at least a portion of the movement through the second vessel portion, the articles is contacted with a second fluid medium. In certain implementations, each of the first direction and the second direction are vertical.