EXPERIMENTAL STUDY AND QUANTIFICATION OF EMISSIONS IN CONTROL ATMOPSHERE BRAZING PROCESS

The work explains how the dynamics of the release of water vapors from flux during the Control Atmosphere Brazing influences the process conditions important for the quality of the brazed product. The process involves sequential events such as continuous ramp-up heating, flux and filler melting, reactive flow, isothermal dwell and rapid quench solidification performed under the controlled atmosphere. During this complex process effluents are released. Some effluents are detrimental for the product quality (water vapor) and some are harmful for the environment (HF). We selected to study water vapor emissions with an objective to quantify these emissions and to consider their influence on the manufacturing process. Experiments were conducted using different fluxes. Findings are presented to compare the vapors released in each case. The objective is not necessarily to develop a metric for sustainability, but to understand the kinetics of an effluent release. A simple predictive model has been devised to approximate experimental data behavior. The data from the TGA analysis obtained from other sources, and the dew point temperature history from the controlled atmosphere brazing experiments performed in course of this work, have been used for the purpose of comparison and analysis.