Effective Way of Carbon Emission Reduction During Heat Treatment of Steel Parts

Effective Way of Carbon Emission Reduction During Heat Treatment of Steel Parts Edward Rylicki and Chris Pedder Ajax TOCCO Magnethermic Corp. Michael Aronov IQ Technologies, Inc. Abstract Carburizing of steel parts is an extremely energy intensive and time-consuming heat-treating process with a big carbon footprint. The use of a single-part processing intensive quenching (IQ) technique coupled with induction through heating method allows a full elimination of the carburizing process when applied to parts made of a) standard medium carbon and low alloy steels, and b) limited hardenability steels that have a very low amount of alloy elements and are usually used for gear products. Applying of a batch IQ process to parts made of standard carburized grades results in reduction of the carburizing process duration by up to 40%. The paper presents data obtained by IQ Technologies, Inc. and its parent company Ajax TOCCO Magnethermic Inc. that prove effectiveness of both above approaches for reducing of carbon emissions during steel heat treatment, while improving of part mechanical properties and performance characteristics at the same time.