HEAT TREATMENT EQUIPMENT, HEAT TREATMENT METHOD, AND PROGRAM FOR HEAT TREATMENT EQUIPMENT

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide heat treatment equipment which can prevent a gas leak resulting from the long term deterioration of a furnace mouth sealing portion or pipe joint sealing or poor attachment at the time of maintenance by a simple arrangement without stopping the heat treatment equipment, and to provide a heat treatment method and a program for the heat treatment equipment. SOLUTION: The heat treatment equipment 100 comprises a furnace body 10, a gas supply section 50, a gas selecting section 60, a display 70 and a control section 20. The control section 20 introduces an inert gas into a process tube 12 after a work is enclosed in the process tube 12 by a floor plate 22 before work heat treatment. Subsequently, the control section 20 determines whether or not a pressure drop rate is not lower than a predetermined level in a predetermined period after pressure in the process tube 12 reaches a predetermined level within a range not exceeding the withstand pressure of a system, and notifies gas leakage without performing heat treatment if the pressure drop rate is not lower than a predetermined level. COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT