Ask the Experts Metals

	Rob Edwards Heat Treatment Specialist

That depends on your process. Nitrogen based atmospheres for metals processing have been successfully proven over many years, and due to the enormous range of requirements in furnaces for various materials and surface needs, the use of gas mixtures is now an industry standard. Different products can tolerate differing concentrations of oxidising components in the furnace atmosphere due to additional reducing or reactive components in the blend. For this reason, the use of on-site generated nitrogen with residual amounts of oxygen can be tolerated. By understanding your oxygen tolerance levels we can help you reduce your costs.

The paper below will give you an overview of the different systems for nitrogen generation and the appropriate oxygen concentrations for different products and materials in furnaces. For most materials, although free oxygen is not tolerable, some oxidising impurities may be permitted. In these cases, the on-site production of high purity nitrogen for the heat treatment of very sensitive materials may be commercially viable. Examples and descriptions of these systems will also be provided in the paper. Click here to view our expert paper.