Nitrogen atmosphere heat treatment is a process that utilizes nitrogen-based atmospheres to perform various heat treatments on metal parts, offering benefits such as energy-saving, safety, and environmental protection. This method can be applied to almost all heat treatment processes, including quenching, annealing, carburizing, carbonitriding, soft nitriding, and carbon re-carbonation. The treated metal parts are comparable to those treated using traditional endothermic atmosphere methods.
Nitrogen is considered inert when used at temperatures below 1800°C, as it displaces oxygen and prevents oxidation. Although nitrogen is not a noble gas and can react with oxygen under specific conditions to form NOx gases, it is a cost-effective alternative to argon for creating inert atmospheres in heat treatment processes. Nitrogen-based atmospheres can be prepared with varying compositions, depending on the specific heat treatment requirements. For example, lean nitrogen-based atmospheres (97.1% N2, 1.7% CO, 1.2% H2) are used in massive, semi-continuous, and continuous annealing treatments, while rich nitrogen-based atmospheres (75.3% N2, 11% CO, 13.2% H2, 0.5% CH4) are applied in iron powder sintering.
A pure nitrogen atmosphere can be used to blanket the part being heat treated, purge the existing atmosphere, or serve as a carrier gas for carbon-controlled atmospheres. Nitrogen is typically delivered at a dew point between -75°F and -110°F and can be mixed with hydrogen in a 90/10 blend. The use of hydrogen-blended gas to achieve an inert atmosphere should contain 3% or less hydrogen.
In summary, nitrogen atmosphere heat treatment is a versatile and environmentally friendly method for performing various heat treatments on metal parts, offering comparable results to traditional endothermic atmosphere methods while providing additional benefits such as energy savings and safety.
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