Year: 2018

The ongoing development of nanomaterials represents significant potential benefits to almost every established industry on the planet. Medicine, technology, and construction all stand to benefit from the application of nanomolecular structures with unique quantum properties distinct to their geometrical dimensions and physiochemical compositions. Photo-emissive nanocrystals have currently set the benchmark for organic photovoltaic (OPV) solar light absorption efficiency, with potential applications in targeted pharmaceuticals. Graphene, meanwhile, is routinely hailed as the miracle material of future construction and engineering, with ultra-high strength properties belying its thickness of a single micron. However, few nanomaterials exhibit the range of potential applications of carbon…

A tempering furnace is a type of industrial oven designed to heat treat a ferrous metal product and increase its toughness. In metallurgical terms, the toughness of an alloy describes its capacity for elastic deformation and energy absorption before the material fractures. It is part of a complex relationship between a metal’s ductility and its strength, with high toughness values requiring a delicate intersection of the two. Typically, high strength materials are not ductile – and vice versa – but heat treating certain materials in a tempering furnace can unlock beneficial values on both axes of this mechanical dynamic. How…

Electric heater plates are ceramic heating elements used in the manufacture of industrial ovens and furnaces. They are simultaneously designed to heat the internal chamber of an oven with good uniformity, while insulating the sensitive mechanics and the exterior of industrial equipment. This is achieved by combining high-strength metal wiring with thermally-efficient ceramic materials, enabling electric heater plates to operate at temperatures exceeding 1200°C (2200°F). Electric heater plates are most commonly manufactured as flat profiles with grooves of varying lengths and widths to accommodate electrical wiring or coils. These wires, or the conductive element of the electric heater plate, are…

Furnace suppliers for the aerospace industry must be intrinsically aware of the stringent specifications of aero and astronautic end-products. Raw materials for aircraft fuselages and interior structures must be suitably hardened through various heat-treating processes to ensure that all components withstand the staunch requirements of inner-atmosphere flight. Strict certifications and compliances are in place across the world to ensure that aerospace materials operate to the best possible standards. Qualified furnace suppliers operate to numerous international standards, including: AS 9100; EN 9100; JISQ 9100. These categories determine the minimal functionalities of aviation vehicles to minimize danger or risk relating to component…

The primary component of ceramic fiber insulation is high-temperature insulation wool made from synthetic minerals capable of withstanding consistent temperatures exceeding 1200°C (2192°F). Before application however, this synthetic material must be densified, treated, and machined for various purposes. This post will explore the process of manufacturing ceramic fiber insulation in more detail: Forming Alumina Silicate Wool Thermcraft’s ceramic fiber insulation products are formed using industry-leading refractory ceramic fibers made from alumina silicate. These are manufactured by melting varying ratios of pure aluminum (AL2O3) and silicon (SiO2) in an industrial furnace. The melt is made to flow through an aperture at…

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…

A fiber optic furnace is an industrial heater developed and manufactured for drawing glass composite materials such as silica (SiO2) into transparent optical fibers between 5 – 100 microns in diameter without cladding. These are instrumental for modern telecommunications due to their high strength, flexibility, and wavelength transmittance. Drawing glass fibers in a fiber optic furnace requires precise instrumentation with excellent temperature uniformity to optimize the end-products and ensure optical fibers do not crystallize or become damaged during the drawing process. The fiber optic industry requires furnaces designed to varying specifications, with an element of adaptability, as the chemical composition…