Thermal Processing Services & Solutions

Thermal processing refers to controlled heating and cooling treatments applied to metals and materials to alter their physical and mechanical properties. These processes—including heat treatment, boronizing, aluminizing, and nitriding—create protective surface layers or modify the internal microstructure of components to enhance hardness, wear resistance, corrosion protection, and overall service life in demanding industrial environments.

Boronizing is a prime example of a thermal process. In this treatment, components are exposed to a boron-rich environment at high temperatures, causing boron atoms to diffuse into the metal surface and form an ultra-hard intermetallic layer. VaporKote's boronizing achieves RC75+ hardness equivalency (1,500 Knoop), making treated parts significantly harder than tungsten carbide and dramatically extending their operational lifespan.

The two primary categories of thermal processing are surface treatments and bulk heat treatments. Surface treatments—such as boronizing, aluminizing, nitriding, and PVD coatings—modify only the outer layer of a component to enhance wear and corrosion resistance. Bulk heat treatments—such as annealing, quenching, and tempering—alter the internal microstructure of the entire part to improve mechanical properties like strength, ductility, and toughness.

VaporKote provides thermal processing solutions for a broad range of industries, including oil production, petrochemical refining, aerospace, mining, agriculture, pulp & paper, and heat exchanger manufacturing. Our processes are designed to meet the performance demands of these sectors, where component failure, corrosion, and wear directly impact operational efficiency and safety.

By forming hardened, corrosion-resistant surfaces through processes like boronizing and aluminizing, thermal processing dramatically extends component service life—reducing replacement frequency and unplanned downtime. VaporKote clients routinely report savings of hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in maintenance costs because thermally processed parts outlast untreated materials and less advanced surface treatments by a significant margin.

VaporKote adheres to ASTM, ASME, SAE, API, and other recognized engineering codes and practices. This commitment to industry standards ensures every thermal processing treatment is performed with consistent quality, traceability, and metallurgical integrity. Clients in regulated industries such as oil & gas and aerospace can rely on our documentation and certification of diffusion coating processes.

Boronizing diffuses boron atoms into a metal surface to create an extremely hard layer (RC75+ equivalency) that excels against mechanical wear, erosion, and abrasion. Aluminizing diffuses aluminum into the surface to form an intermetallic coating that provides superior resistance to high-temperature oxidation and corrosion. Both are thermal diffusion processes, but they target different failure modes and are selected based on the component's service environment.

Yes. VaporKote's Anaheim facility is equipped with state-of-the-art furnaces capable of processing large components up to 68 inches in diameter. This capacity allows us to handle oversized industrial parts—such as heat exchanger tubing, reactor screens, pump impellers, and structural assemblies—that exceed the capabilities of most thermal processing providers, making us a preferred partner for heavy industry applications.