Month: April 2018

Sintering furnaces are widely available for a broad range of processing and manufacturing applications in which a material must be carefully densified through sustained stages of heating. Mineralogical deposits are commonly formed through natural sintering, where atomic diffusion causes particles in geological samples to fuse into high-density ore. Understanding of this reaction has informed modern powder metallurgy processes, allowing for the formation of finely-tuned compact metal products with elements featuring extreme melting points, such as tungsten (W). Working Principle of Sintering Furnaces Sintering furnaces for powder metallurgy most commonly use a solid-state sintering methodology, which involves compacting a metal in…

A conveyor furnace is designed for the rapid heat treatment of products in various manufacturing environments. They comprise an overarching tunnel-shaped heating chamber which is separated into different heating modules which integrate several heating processes into one continuous procedure, using a conveyor belt capable of withstanding extreme and fluctuating temperatures. The internal heating modules are typically separated into sections for pre-heating, heating and / or firing, and cooling products passing through the chamber. Each of these sections must perform to varying specifications, requiring exceptional thermal insulation and efficient heating elements capable of treating components or products at temperatures of up…

Industrial kilns have been a fundamental part of materials manufacturing worldwide for thousands of years, supplying raw compounds such as lime (CaO) and finished products like pottery through high-temperature, kiln-firing processes. This article will explore the history of industrial kilns in some more detail: Historical Industrial Kilns Mankind has been using kilns since approximately 6000BC, chiefly for the formation of ceramics and the smelting of ores – and though it was still thousands of years until this equipment was utilized on an industrial scale, even these earliest kilns were capable of producing temperatures exceeding 900°C (1652°F). Early pit-firing techniques were…

Industrial drying ovens are designed to simultaneously heat a material while withdrawing moisture from its surface, a process with many commercial, pharmaceutical, and industrial applications. These are primarily used for batch processes – though varying product or research requirements need vastly different mechanisms and components. However, there is a basic three-stage operating process which underlines the working principle of industrial drying ovens in all sectors. Initially a product or sample is placed within an industrial drying oven where it is heated to a required temperature to draw moisture from the substrate of its surface, then it is left immersing at…