FastHeat^™ Fluid Bed Furnaces

QED continues to lead the industry in design and dependability with our FastHeat™ Fluidbed Furnace. Built to last with a rugged structural frame and heavy gage retort walls, these furnaces offer rapid heat-transfer to the wires in a low maintenance package. They incorporate the latest in fluidization and combustion technologies and benefit from a 20 year continuous improvement program. Our wide customer base, spanning six continents, is testament to their popularity and positive reputation. The furnaces are custom built and range in production from 1.5 tons/h to over 8 tons/h with wire speeds from DV= 120 to over DV=240. With a quick response time and wide range of stable operating temperatures, our furnaces can be successfully used in many wire heat-treating applications. And, like all our equipment, each QED FastHeat™ Fluidbed is custom designed to suit your special production requirements.

• Annealing
• Austenitizing
• Tempering
• Stress Relieving
• Diffusion
• Quenching

General Description

In the QED FastHeat™ Fluidbed multiple strands of continuous steel wire are heated by passing horizontally through a bed of fluidized aluminum oxide particles. Air and gas are introduced through a bottom mounted special burner arrangement and combustion occurs within the sand bed. Perfectly uniform fluidization and excellent heat-transfer is assured through a proprietary interlaced air/gas distribution manifold. Our fluidbeds are designed for high wire speeds with the latest generation mass-flow control providing optimum air and gas flow rates. With the development of our labyrinth seal threading slot we have simplified operations and minimized maintenance and heat losses. QED’s dedication to quality assures that every detail has been considered right down to pneumatically operated doors, designed to save heat and operator’s time. Our engineers and programmers have developed a sophisticated and precise control system with the most user-friendly interface in the wire industry. Using the latest generation Siemens PLC’s and touchscreens our control panels are networked and ready for integration in your plant systems

Construction

The sand bed is contained between special corrugated retort walls of high nickel alloy steel that are designed to withstand the stresses of high temperature and thermal cycling. The furnace frame is solidly constructed of welded structural steel sections and heavy gauge steel panels. We use layers of ceramic fiber material to insulate the internal walls of the fluidbed, providing a low skin temperature and efficient operation.

Advantages

Decades of design refinements have advanced the QED Fluidbed to the definitive industry leader. From our low maintenance designs (pilot cooling, wire protection devices, sand return components) to energy efficiency (proportional mass-flow control, pressure feedback, thermal insulation) to ease of operation (visual flow indication, pneumatic end doors, simplified threading) and process management (networked PLC, data logging) the QED fluidbed is the best in the industry.