A well-maintained heat treatment furnace or kiln prevents costly premature replacements while improving your company's productivity and profitability.
However, to achieve these goals, it is necessary to provide proper care and maintenance to ensure optimal performance and prolong equipment lifespan.
In this article, we will address some recommendations that you can consider to improve the performance of your furnaces and kilns.
Tips to extend the lifespan of your heat treatment furnaces & kilns
One factor that usually plays a part in the degradation of this type of equipment is the lack of proper care and attention to calibration.
Poor combustion can lead to several problems – from excessive energy consumption to thermal insulation wear, even in the performance of equipment peripherals.
Furthermore, an incorrect calibration procedure can lead to temperature deviations, which can affect the quality of the treated products and compromise the efficiency of the process.
Below we share three tips to prolong the lifespan of your equipment and make the most of your investment.
1. Conduct regular monitoring
Regularly monitoring process variables in heat treatment furnaces and kilns, such as temperature and internal pressure, is crucial. This periodic monitoring allows the detection of certain behaviors, so knowing the typical parameters of your equipment’s operation will enable you to identify variations and take timely preventive actions to avoid future problems.
It is essential to have specialized professionals who can evaluate the general condition of the equipment, which will guarantee quality performance and early detection of possible problems.
There are three types of maintenance that you can integrate into your heat treatment furnace regime:
- Predictive Maintenance. This helps in the early detection of equipment failures, aiming to prevent unforeseen damage.
- Preventive Maintenance. Regular equipment inspection to prevent breakdowns and to minimize wear and tear on furnaces and kilns.
- Corrective Maintenance. This involves repair to the equipment after a failure has occurred.