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Home » Equipment

Plasma Arc Melting (PAM)

Retech is the industry leader in the production of PAM (Plasma Arc Melting) furnaces.

Photo of a plasma arc torch inside a melt chamber heating a pool of molten titanium.

The PAM Furnace uses an electric arc between a water-cooled torch and the material to be melted in a non-reactive furnace environment (usually argon or helium). Because the furnace atmosphere is relatively close to atmospheric pressure, loss of volatile elements is minimal. These furnaces melt both reactive and and refractory metals.

Titanium, titanium alloys (including titanium intermetallics), and many specialty metals (such as nickel alloys, cobalt alloys, and silicon), melt at high temperatures. Pure titanium melts at 1668°C (3034°F). In order to melt these specialty metals, a sealed melt chamber is required. Otherwise the specialty metals will be contaminated and not be usable in high performance applications. One way to melt these metals is to use a Plasma Arc Melting (PAM) furnace system.

The PAM furnace melt chambers are sealed and evacuated (the air is taken out). The furnace melt chamber is then refilled with inert gas such as helium or argon to insure the high purity processing conditions that specialty metals require. The plasma arc torch is then used to melt these materials in specially designed water cooled copper containers (hearths).

A plasma arc torch is designed to generate extremely high temperatures within the arc column. These temperatures are hotter than the surface of the sun which is over 5500°C ( 9932°F). Typically, a large PAM system will use three or four plasma arc torches in order to melt and refine the incoming specialty metal which is then solidified to form an ingot within the chamber.

Larger PAM systems produce ingots or slabs. For example, titanium ingots weighing 8-10 tons (7 - 9 t) can be produced this way. Laboratory scale PAM systems produce buttons weighing about 5 pounds (2.37 kg) or ingots up to about 500 pounds (237 kg).

Recent work with metallurgical grade silicon uses a plasma arc torch to remove trace contaminants from the metallurgical grade silicon and produces a grade of silicon which may be pure enough to use as a photovoltaic solar cell.

Plasma Arc Melting systems improve the properties of conventional and otherwise impossible-to-melt alloys. This allows for qualification and production of titanium used for rotating parts in aviation and land based turbines. Learn more about Plasma Technology.

Plasma Welder, Makes Electrodes From Titanium Sponge

Retech maintains a two torch plasma hearth furnace for demonstration and customer supported alloy development activities.

 

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