What gases can be used in vacuum atmosphere heat treatment furnaces?

05-27-2025       Author: KJ technology

A vacuum atmosphere heat treatment furnace can be filled with various gases to meet the processing needs of different materials. Commonly used gases include:

1. Nitrogen (N ₂):

Nitrogen is one of the most commonly used inert gases, abundant in the atmosphere, easy to obtain, and cost-effective.

Nitrogen has relatively stable chemical properties and is not easily reactive with other elements. Therefore, it is widely used to protect materials from harmful effects such as oxidation and nitridation during heating, and to maintain the purity and performance of materials.

Suitable for processes such as heat treatment and oxide protection of oxygen sensitive materials.

2.Argon (Ar):

Argon gas is a rare gas with extremely high chemical stability and almost no chemical reactions with any elements.

In vacuum atmosphere heat treatment furnaces, argon gas is commonly used for inert protection of material surfaces, especially in situations where higher purity environmental protection is required at high temperatures, such as precision ceramic sintering, metal alloy heat treatment, etc.

The use of argon gas can effectively prevent adverse changes such as oxidation, decarburization, or carburization of materials at high temperatures.

3. Hydrogen (H ₂):

Hydrogen is commonly used in the treatment of certain materials, such as sintering under reducing atmosphere conditions, which can reduce metal oxides to metals or reduce the degree of oxidation on metal surfaces.

Hydrogen can also be used for processes such as annealing and removing oxide films.

It should be noted that hydrogen has flammable and explosive properties, and safety operating procedures must be strictly followed when using it.

4. Oxygen (O ₂):

Although oxygen is often considered an oxidant, it is also necessary in certain specific material processing processes, such as oxidative sintering.

However, in vacuum atmosphere heat treatment furnaces, the use of oxygen usually needs to be carefully controlled to avoid excessive oxidation of materials.

5. Mixed gas:

Sometimes it is necessary to adjust the oxygen content or other components of the atmosphere, and mixed gases such as nitrogen and hydrogen mixtures, nitrogen and argon mixtures, etc. can be used.

By adjusting the mixing ratio, the desired atmosphere environment can be obtained to meet the processing requirements of different materials.