Laboratory furnaces are specially built apparatus designed to withstand a great deal of heat. Made from a high-temperature refractory material, these furnaces are built to last and can be running for an extended period. The choice of preferred laboratory furnaces can be dicey; however, factors such as general specifications, atmosphere, tube furnace features would help make choosing easier.
Types
Configuration
-Ashing is a process designed to help the furnace excavate matrix constituents that can tamper with analyte measurements.
-Box furnaces are also a great choice due to their structural design.
-Bottom loading furnaces are designed to allow samples to be fed to the furnace from the bottom chamber using a platform elevator. At the same time, the top loader is done from the top.
-Tube furnace heat tubes have a length of 50-100cm and 25-100mm in diameter. During usage, samples are loaded in metal or ceramic boats. To heat the sample, the tube is heated with a heating element which sometimes also features a thermocouple.
Specifications
Look out for the following specifications;
-Process temperature, the maximum temperature at which it can deliver optimum performance.
-Tube length and height
-Tube diameter
Features
The common atmosphere for laboratory furnaces are the salt bath, inert, air it oxidizing, and vacuum. With the option of two types of heating mode (single set point or programmable controller), laboratory furnaces' temperature can be monitored easily. Heat source choices include combustion, natural gas, electrical, microwave, or dielectric conduction, etc. Other laboratory furnace features include; application software, interface, temperature protection.
They can perform a wide ray of duties, but their features are also quite a number.
A laboratory must be big enough to contain and suit the needs of the heated samples, and this is why the size of a laboratory must come into consideration.
They come in different types ranging from the walk-in, Cabinet, and then benchtop, with walk-in being the nudes. Also, there are three different technologies that are used to regulate the temperature. The thermostat, which is the first featured technology, uses a switch that prompts the heater to maintain and continue with its temperature. Using PID, a lab scientist can calculate what level of energy is needed to keep at a specific temperature, considering it against heat loss. Using thermal insulation within the furnace will improve its efficiency and decrease the rate of thermal transfer. To avoid radiant heat from the oven exterior, the furnaces are made of steel.
Laboratory Furnace Overview Operation and Applications
The functions of a laboratory furnace in a lab are numerous, which makes it a very important part of the lab. Manufacturing and science industries cannot do without convection appliances.
Operations
As is expected, there is a heating source inside the chamber. The process used to heat the furnace is called convective heat transfer, and it works with either mechanical convection or gravity.
When using the gravity convection method, the warm air displaces the cool air, directing it to the heater until the whole chamber meets the required temperature. With this method, there is a longer preheat time and energy waste compared to mechanical convection. Mechanical convection heats up the chamber quicker, spreading the heat more evenly because blowers and baffles are used in the furnace chambers.
The functions of a laboratory furnace include drying, baking, and curing.
Applications
Solvent removal, evaporation, polyimide baking, and polymer curing are some of the applications; Another application is an annealing─a process where the malleability and the ductility of metal samples are improved on. They used for a wide range of things in the lab.
