Our Engineering Process

Clearly application engineering is a great strength of CEC in the areas that we serve; namely heat treatment and processing of metals and composite materials. We have been providing service to manufacturers of the world we have heated everything from pies to spaceship components since 1959. An applications engineer will talk you through the type of equipment you need and make suggestions about state of the art combustion equipment, controls, fans, automation and other machine features.

The applications engineer will then work with a CEC project engineer to analyze the application. Often times CEC will create a Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) model of the customers product load. The load is matched with a preliminary furnace design that include many of the machine features. CEC will then match a fan and heating system that is optimally compatible with the load configuration. CEC has an AMCA (Air Movement & Control Association) type fan development and testing chamber to assure the flow, pressure drop and BHP for the furnace design. CEC has built hundreds of fans for furnace application during the last two decades. This critical step allows CEC customers to be assured with clear testing that their convective heat processing applications will be realized.

CEC has a product development lab and R&D facility that allows us to replicate many of our customers’ heat treatment parameters. We have performed testing on thousands of metal parts to optimize and often minimize heat treatment times, temperatures and quenches.

CEC uses:

  • SolidWorks
  • AutoCad
  • FEA-SolidWorks simulation
  • Ansys Fluent
  • MathCad
  • RISA
  • SigmaNest (Cad to Mfg)

These software products allow CEC to develop and design a specification, budget and delivery for your applications efficiently. Airflow and fan design is at the center of all CEC furnaces. We have taken the steps to develop state of the art AMCA type fan testing centers at CEC.


As result of these tests we verify that our fans ensure:

  • temperature uniformity
  • even heat-up of product
  • even airflow and temperature distribution over the product
  • meets or exceeds military and mill specifications


During CEC’s Inquiry Review process, the applications and future project engineers clarify with a CEC sales person the exact machinery requirements. The requirements are written in a clear, formal and contractual offer to our potential customer. The offer includes details on components, installation, warranty, delivery, payment terms and many more details. The machinery offered by CEC is typically free of charge to our potential customers.

Call today and arrange a “Go to Meeting” conference, a site visit or a trip to our facility to see more about why our middle name is Engineering.