"The effects of rust on the carburization behavior of AISI 8620 steel have been experimentally investigated. AISI 8620 steel samples were subjected to a humid environment for time of 1 day to 30 days. After the exposure, a part of the samples was cleaned by acid cleaning. Both cleaned and non-cleaned samples have been carburized, followed by quenching in mineral oil, and then tempered. To determine the effect of rust on gas carburizing, weight gained by the parts and the surface hardness were measured. Surface carbon concentration was also measured using mass spectrometry. Carbon flux and mass transfer coefficient have been calculated. The results show that acid cleaning removes the rust layer effectively. Acid cleaned samples displayed the same response to carburization as clean parts. Rusted parts had a lower carbon uptake as well as lower surface carbon concentration. The surface hardness (Rc) did not show a significant difference between the heavily rusted sample and clean sample. It has been observed that the carbon flux and mass transfer coefficient are smaller due to rust layer for the heavily rusted samples. These results are discussed in terms of the effects of carbon mass transfer on the steel surface and the resulting mass transfer coefficient."

La cémentation gazeuse à basse pression est un procédé de traitement de surface qui consiste à renforcer des pièces en acier par diffusion d’atomes de carbone provenant de la pyrolyse d’hydrocarbures gazeux. Une partie de l’hydrocarbure craqué est adsorbée sur le métal mais une autre partie réagit en phase gazeuse et conduit, entre autres, à la formation de HAP. Or, de nombreux HAP sont toxiques, voire cancérigènes, et les salariés en charge du nettoyage ou de la maintenance des fours de cémentation peuvent y être exposés. Des expériences de pyrolyse d’acétylène ont été réalisées à 900°C et 8 kPa, conditions proches de celles des procédés de cémentation gazeuse à basse pression. Un réacteur auto-agité par jets gazeux et des réacteurs tubulaires ont été utilisés. A la sortie de la zone réactionnelle, les produits de la pyrolyse ont été analysés. Entre autres, 16 HAP considérés comme des polluants prioritaires par l’Agence de Protection de l’Environnement aux Etats-Unis (US EPA) ont été observés. L’influence du taux de dilution du réactif en entrée et du temps de passage dans le réacteur a été étudiée. Les résultats expérimentaux ont été comparés à ceux obtenus avec un modèle cinétique détaillé. Ce modèle a été développé dans le but de décrire la formation des HAP lors de la pyrolyse d’hydrocarbures légers. Une attention particulière a été portée aux voies de formation des premiers cycles aromatiques et des 16 HAP de la liste de l’EPA. En plus des données expérimentales obtenues dans le cadre de cette étude, le modèle a été validé à partir de données expérimentales de la littérature. Le but de l’étude est de comprendre les phénomènes de formation et de croissance des HAP afin de trouver des conditions opératoires permettant de rendre plus surs les procédés de cémentation gazeuse à basse pression / Low-pressure gas carburizing is a heat treatment process used to harden surface of steel by enriching the metal with carbon atoms coming from pyrolysis of hydrocarbons. At the same time, a wide variety of molecules and radicals are also formed in the gas phase. They react together, leading to the formation of PAHs. PAHs are toxic and even carcinogenic, and activities such as furnace maintenance may thus represent a risk to workers. Experiments of acetylene pyrolysis were carried out in conditions close to low-pressure gas carburizing processes, at 900°C and 8 kPa. Two kinds of reactors were used: a jet stirred reactor and tubular reactors. At the outlet of the reaction zone, products of pyrolysis were analyzed. Among other products, 16 PAHs classified as priority pollutants by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) were observed. Influence of residence time and of reactant dilution was studied. Experimental results were compared to those obtained with a detailed kinetic model. This model was developed in order to describe PAH formation during light hydrocarbon pyrolysis. The focus was placed on formation pathways of the first aromatic rings and of the 16 EPA-PAHs. In addition to the experimental data obtained in this study, the model was validated using experimental data from the literature. The aim of the study is to understand the phenomena of PAH formation and growth in order to find operating conditions to make safer the low-pressure gas carburizing processes

The carburizing atmosphere during the case hardening process contains a large proportion of hydrogen. Due to the rapid diffusion of hydrogen a high amount of hydrogen can be absorbed by the carburizing component. The amount of absorbed hydrogen is dependent on some factors such as for example the carburizing time and component dimensions. Hydrogen diffused in material can then cause hydrogen embrittlement and in some cases cause cracking under a static load. This hydrogen must therefore be removed. High amounts of hydrogen diffuse out spontaneously at room temperature. Tempering accelerates the process. The aim of this study was to experimentally measure the amount of absorbed hydrogen after case hardening and hydrogen content after storage at room temperature and also after tempering. The effect of the enriching gas in carburizing furnace on hydrogen absorption was investigated in this study. Three steel grades with different content of alloying elements were used in this investigation. Steel samples were case hardened by gas carburizing and tempering. The hydrogen content analyses included the measurement of hydrogen content before case hardening, after case hardening and after tempering using Leco-RHEN602. Based on the results in this study it was concluded that all steel grades used in this investigation absorb hydrogen during case hardening by gas carburizing. A major part of the absorbed hydrogen is then released by effusion after being stored at room temperature and during tempering. Around 50% of the absorbed hydrogen content during gas carburizing is due to the presence of the enriching gas in the carburizing atmosphere. Around 50 % of hydrogen diffuses out of the steel specimens after one day. It is likely that all of free diffusible) hydrogen has diffused out of the specimens of two steel grades after one week at room temperature or after tempering. / Vid sätthärdning består den uppkolande atmosfären till stor del av vätgas och p.g.a. vätets snabba diffusion kan stora mängder av väte absorberas i komponenten. Halten av absorberade väte beror bl.a. på sätthärdningstid och komponentens dimensioner. Väte i materialet kan sedan leda till sprickbildning vid statisk belastning. Detta väte måste därför avlägsnas. En stor del av väte diffunderar ut spontant vid rumstemperatur. Vid anlöpning går processen fortare. Syftet med denna studie var att experimentellt mäta halten av väte som absorberas under sätthärdning, samt efter att metallen har lagrats i luft vid rumstemperatur. Dessutom mättes vätehalten efter anlöpning. Dessutom undersöktes effekten av ugnsatmosfärens tillsatsgas på mängden absorberad väte efter uppkolning. Tre olika höghållfasta och låg legerade stål sorter sätthärdades genom gas uppkolning. Mängden väte analyserades innan sätthärdning, efter sätthärdning, efter lagring i rumstemperatur och efter anlöpning med hjälp av Leco-RHEN602. Enligt resultaten i denna studie, absorberar alla av de tre undersökta stålsorterna väte under sätthärdning. En stor del av det absorberade vätet diffunderar ut efter att stålet har lagrats i luft vid rumstemperatur och under anlöpning. Omkring 50 % av den absorberade vätehalten under uppkolningen är på grund av reaktionen med tillsatsgasen i ugnsatmosfären. Omkring 50 % av vätet diffunderar ut ur proverna efter en dag. Möjligen all fritt (diffunderbart) väte har diffunderat ut ur proverna i två av stålsorterna efter en vecka i rumstemperatur eller efter anlöpning.

Devido a necessidade de redução do consumo dos derivados de petróleo, faz-se necessária a procura da substituição destes por outras fontes viáveis no processo de cementação. Este trabalho apresenta um estudo para viabilização da cementação gasosa através da dissociação do álcool etílico diluído com gás nitrogênio. Foram feitos estudos termodinâmicos, com base em análise química das amostras dos gases retiradas do forno, analisados por um infra vermelho. Com análise dos gases CO, CO2, CH4 pode-se determinar as atividades do carbono nos gases (ag) e o coeficiente de velocidade de transporte de carbono da atmosfera para a superfície metálica (&#946), nas temperaturas de 870ºC, 900ºC, 930ºC, sendo que as atmosferas cementantes nestas temperaturas foram diluídas com diferentes porcentagens de gás nitrogênio. Com os resultados foi possível concluir que as diluições não interferiram no potencial de carbono, mas foi a grande responsável na diminuição no tamanho das camadas cementadas. / Nowadays, due to the need of reduction of the consume of petroleum derivative products, the substitution of these products for others sources is really necessary. This work presents a viability study of carburizing dissociation of ethanol diluted in nitrogen study gas. Thermodynamics studies were carried out with chemical analysis of gas samples from furnace using infrared analyser. CO, CO2 and CH4 gas analysis were used to determine the gas carbon activity (ag) and the carbon coefficient of transport velocity from atmosphere to the metallic surface (&#946), for the temperature of 870°C, 900°C and 930°C. The carbuzing atmosphere for these temperatures were diluted with different percentages of nitrogen gas. With carbon potential, but it was the mean responsible for the size reduction of case carburized.

Devido a necessidade de redução do consumo dos derivados de petróleo, faz-se necessária a procura da substituição destes por outras fontes viáveis no processo de cementação. Este trabalho apresenta um estudo para viabilização da cementação gasosa através da dissociação do álcool etílico diluído com gás nitrogênio. Foram feitos estudos termodinâmicos, com base em análise química das amostras dos gases retiradas do forno, analisados por um infra vermelho. Com análise dos gases CO, CO2, CH4 pode-se determinar as atividades do carbono nos gases (ag) e o coeficiente de velocidade de transporte de carbono da atmosfera para a superfície metálica (&#946), nas temperaturas de 870ºC, 900ºC, 930ºC, sendo que as atmosferas cementantes nestas temperaturas foram diluídas com diferentes porcentagens de gás nitrogênio. Com os resultados foi possível concluir que as diluições não interferiram no potencial de carbono, mas foi a grande responsável na diminuição no tamanho das camadas cementadas. / Nowadays, due to the need of reduction of the consume of petroleum derivative products, the substitution of these products for others sources is really necessary. This work presents a viability study of carburizing dissociation of ethanol diluted in nitrogen study gas. Thermodynamics studies were carried out with chemical analysis of gas samples from furnace using infrared analyser. CO, CO2 and CH4 gas analysis were used to determine the gas carbon activity (ag) and the carbon coefficient of transport velocity from atmosphere to the metallic surface (&#946), for the temperature of 870°C, 900°C and 930°C. The carbuzing atmosphere for these temperatures were diluted with different percentages of nitrogen gas. With carbon potential, but it was the mean responsible for the size reduction of case carburized.