Patent ID: 8268094

Claim:
A method for activating an atmosphere contained by a reactor chamber comprising an at least partially metallic work load of a controlled-atmosphere reactor, the method comprising: supplying a first gas into an activation chamber from an elevated pressure source; generating electrical discharges between a first electrode located within the activation chamber and a second electrode having a ground potential with respect to the first electrode by connecting the first electrode to a power supply that provides an average output voltage of at least 1 kV and an average output current that is less than 10 A; exposing the first gas to the electrical discharges wherein at least a portion of the first gas forms an electrical discharge activated stream; discharging the electrical discharge activated stream into the reactor chamber through an outlet formed in the activation chamber; maintaining a pressure of no less than one millibar in the reactor chamber while the electrical discharge activated stream is being discharged into the controlled-atmosphere reactor chamber; maintaining a temperature of at least 90 degrees Celsius in the reactor chamber while the electrical discharge activated stream is being discharged into the reactor chamber; and heat treating the at least partially metallic work load within the reaction chamber wherein the heat treating step is at least one selected from the group consisting of a carburizing, nitriding, carbonitriding, nitrocarburizing, boronizing, bright annealing, oxide reduction, brazing, soldering, sintering, neutral carbon potential annealing and inert annealing.