Solar Manufacturing Sells Vacuum Furnaces To Hitachi Metals North Carolina Ltd.

Solar Manufacturing Inc., Souderton, PA, announces the sale of vacuum furnaces to Hitachi Metals North Carolina Ltd., China Grove, NC.  These furnaces will be used for very unique applications for the processing of rare earth magnet materials.

The furnaces are Solar Manufacturing Models HFL-4252-6IQ. The requirements on each furnace include the incorporation of a specialized gas backfill and flow control arrangement supported by gas reservoir tanks. The furnace insulation includes a Flexshield carbon fiber reinforced graphite foil hot face backed by three (3) layers of ½” graphite felt insulation all housed within a 304 stainless steel support ring.  The furnaces also include an internal gas cooling system capable of operating positive pressure for expediting cycle times.  A Stokes Model 412J/615HR mechanical pump/booster package is provided on each furnace for operation in the 10-3 Torr range.  A SolarVac 5000™ PC-based interactive control system is provided for control and monitoring of all furnace functions.  The control system consists of a Proface industrial operator interface with a 15” color touchscreen and Wonderware integrated operations software features recipe storage, alarm management, data acquisition and reporting functions and much more.

Pete Reh, VP of Sales for Solar Manufacturing states, “We are honored to be favored with the confidence Hitachi Metals has placed in our Company.  We will support HitachiMetals as a strategic partner as they set-up their new manufacturing operation in China Grove to produce their NEOMAX rare earth magnets.” Pat Barton of Hitachi Metals NC noted, “We are excited about using the Solar furnaces and we’re happy to find equipment that will be produced locally in the US.”