Brazing professionals know the challenge well: achieving strong, clean joints while managing the mess and complications that come with traditional flux-based processes. While flux remains essential for removing oxides and enabling proper metal flow, its drawbacks—from stubborn residue cleanup to environmental concerns—have manufacturers seeking better solutions. Enter onsite oxygen generators, a technology that’s transforming brazing operations by delivering cleaner processes with less flux dependency.
The Brazing Dilemma and the Role of Flux
Flux serves a critical function in brazing by chemically cleaning base metal surfaces, dissolving oxides that would otherwise prevent filler metal from flowing and wetting properly. Without this chemical cleaning action, even the most skilled brazer would struggle to create reliable joints.
However, traditional flux-heavy processes come with significant drawbacks. Post-braze cleanup often requires extensive washing and scrubbing to remove flux residue. Trapped residue can lead to joint corrosion or weakness over time. Environmental concerns arise from flux chemicals and the resulting wastewater, while operators face potential fume exposure during the brazing process.
Oxygen generators for brazing offer a modern solution by providing high-purity oxygen directly at the point of use, enabling cleaner brazing processes that reduce flux dependency while maintaining joint quality.
The Science of a Cleaner Flame: How Oxygen Impacts Brazing
Pure oxygen plays a fundamental role in achieving the high temperatures necessary for successful brazing. However, the purity of that oxygen makes a substantial difference in process cleanliness.
Traditional oxygen supplies, including cylinders, can contain impurities that lead to less efficient combustion, cooler flames, and increased residue formation. Using a PSA oxygen generator during the brazing process typically delivers consistent purity levels of 93% to 95% oxygen directly at the point of use.
This oxygen generator supplied oxygen creates a hotter, more concentrated flame with higher temperature and more efficient heat transfer. The result is faster heating of base metals and enhanced oxide removal that indirectly reduces the flux burden. A more concentrated flame helps mechanically break down oxides more effectively while allowing flux to work more efficiently, sometimes in smaller quantities. Faster heat input also means less time for new oxides to form before filler metal flows.
Oxygen Generators: Beyond Just a Gas Supply
An oxygen generator for brazing provides advantages that extend far beyond simple oxygen delivery.
- Consistent Supply: Unlike cylinders that deplete and cause pressure fluctuations, onsite oxygen generators provide steady, reliable oxygen flow throughout the entire brazing operation. This consistency translates directly to cleaner processes.
- Improved Quality Control: Uniform flame quality from start to finish ensures even heat distribution and better filler metal flow, reducing the likelihood of flux trapping.
- Optimized Pressure and Flow: Onsite oxygen generators also allow precise control over pressure and flow rates, tailored to specific torch types and brazing requirements. This prevents issues like excessive flame blow-off or insufficient heat that can lead to incomplete flux action or excessive residue.
- Reduced Contamination Risk: The elimination of cylinder changes reduces contamination risks by preventing the introduction of particulate contaminants or moisture into gas lines. This cleaner oxygen stream means fewer impurities enter the brazing process itself, contributing to overall process cleanliness.
How Onsite Oxygen Generators Impact the Brazing Process
The benefits of using an onsite oxygen generator manifest in several practical ways.
- Reduced Flux Consumption: Reduced flux consumption becomes immediately apparent as more efficient flames require less flux to achieve adequate surface cleaning. This directly translates to material cost savings on flux materials.
- Minimized Post-Brazing Cleanup: Post-brazing cleanup time decreases significantly when less flux is used, as there’s simply less residue to remove. Operations report reduced labour time, lower consumption of cleaning agents, and less wastewater generation.
- Improved Joint Quality: Joint quality improvements are equally notable. Cleaner surfaces achieved with less flux lead to better filler metal wetting, resulting in stronger, more ductile joints with improved aesthetics. The risk of internal corrosion from trapped flux also decreases substantially.
- Environmental & Safety Benefits: Environmental and safety benefits include less chemical waste from flux and cleaning agents, reduced operator exposure to flux fumes and cleaning chemicals, and an overall cleaner work environment.
Implementing Oxygen Generators for Cleaner Brazing
Successful implementation begins with assessing your current oxygen consumption, purity requirements, and flux usage patterns. This data helps determine the appropriate generator size and specifications you might need.
Choosing the right size and purity oxygen generator is the next step. Focus on PSA technology systems that can deliver the required purity and flow rates for specific brazing applications. Integrating onsite oxygen generators into existing brazing stations and gas lines typically requires minimal modifications.
Training operators is crucial for maximizing the benefits of oxygen generation for brazing. Technicians must understand how to optimize flame settings with generator-supplied oxygen to achieve the cleanest possible brazing processes.
A New Era of Brazing Cleanliness and Efficiency
While flux remains an important component of brazing processes, oxygen generators offer a clear path toward significantly cleaner and more efficient operations. By providing consistent, high-purity oxygen directly where it’s needed, these systems enable manufacturers to reduce flux dependency while improving joint quality and environmental performance.
At Advanced Gas Technologies (AGT), we provide PSA oxygen generators that are perfect for brazing processes. We have three decades of experience helping our clients lower their industrial oxygen costs by utilizing leading-edge technologies such as onsite oxygen generating systems. We also offer oxygen gas generator installation and maintenance services.
If you’re ready to explore how an onsite oxygen generator could transform your brazing operations, contact us today to discuss oxygen generator solutions tailored to your specific brazing requirements.