Customised laboratory furnaces

Special heat treating test furnace

• Designed to rapidly heat a compound to a liquid state in a ceramic crucible;
• Maximum operating temperature : 1100°C;
• To protect the heating elements and insulation from the aggressive characteristics of the liquid solution, an alloy liner extends the full length of the internal chamber to ;
• The system is designed for easy up/down movement of a vertical tube furnace - this allows for convenient insertion and removal of the fixed pedestal supported crucible from the furnace chamber;
• With the furnace in the lowered position, and the crucible and molten solution exposed, a second step in the process occurs when a metal block is inserted into the solution;
• A temperature monitoring thermocouple is then brought down into the metal block and crucible, at which point the furnace is again raised to heat the total load to the desired temperature.

Furnace for thermal testing of turbine blade materials

• Fully automated custom designed furnace system incorporating a two axis robot arm and mechanism which picks a single billet from a multiple storage tray and positions it on the furnace loading hearth;
• The sample is then raised into the furnace hot zone for a specified time and then removed;
• This thermal cycling system provides a fully automated process to calibrate thermal indicator paints of test samples in the simulation of temperature experienced by turbine blades.

Large bore split tube furnce

• Maximum operating temperature : 1200°C
• Large bore split tube furnace to accommodate 250mm diameter tube;
• Incorporates far-hinge vertical stand design for ease of use;
• Each furnace half can be opened completely away from the vertically supported tube;
• Split design allows fast cooling of process;
• A separate control cabinet is connected to the furnace with 2m conduit.

Three zone 1500°C split tube furnace

• Three zone 1500°C horizontal split tube furnace;
• 1000mm heated length;
• Divided into 3 equal zones;
• Zone barriers allow improved superior independent zonal and linear thermal control;
• All temperature and power controls are integrated into the framework below the furnace.

Laboratory top hat furnace

• Maximum operating temperature : 1100°C
• Wire elements embedded in vacuum formed fibre side walls
• Chamber dimensions : 400 (h) x 350 (w) x 350mm (d)
• Electrically operated raise / lower mechanism for furnace chamber
• Loading height with furnace in raised position : 500mm
• Power rating : 9kW
• Double skin construction for cool outer surfaces

Thermal cycling rig

• For long term thermal cycling at temperatures up to 1200°C to evaluate performance of new bond-coat/ceramic layers
• Vertical tube furnace with electrically operated hearth below it, which holds the coating samples for evaluation
• When the thermal cycle starts, the samples are raised into the hot zone and the furnace is heated to 1135°C
• After one hour at temperature, the samples are lowered into a quench area and cooled to 80°C; they are then automatically raised back into the hot zone and the cycle starts again
• Each thermal cycle lasts approximately 70 minutes and up to 20 cycles/day can be completed in 24 hours.

Split tube furnaces

• Vertically split furnace designed for tensile testing
• A 10mm wide slot on the split line of the two halves accepts an extensometer
• Working zone : 80mm diameter x 70mm heated length
• Maximum working temperature : 1600°C
• Heated by molybdenum disilicide 'U' tupe elements
• Single zone control
• Power rating : 1.4kW

Rotating tube furnace

• Specially designed tube furnace for powder processing
• Maximum operating temperature : 1200°C
• Heated length of 1000mm, divided into three independently controlled zones to allow a temperature gradient to be achieved
• Total work tube length is 1800mm
• Up to 5 litres of material can be processed at any one time under an inert atmosphere
• A rotating work tube, which can be tilted to control throughput, ensures there is minimal agglomeration
• The speed of rotation can be adjusted from 2rpm to 12rpm and the angle of tilt between 0 - 10° from horizontal
• Material is fed into the 75mm diameter work tube via a vibrating feeder equipped with a speed controller and five litre hopper

8-zone gradient furnace

• For the evaluation of refractories, tiles, sanitaryware, tableware and asscociated products
• Maximum temperature - 1600°C
• All zones reach 1250°C from ambient in 40 minutes
• Heated length - 800mm
• Heating is provided by 32 silicon carbide spiral cut elements (4 to each zone mounted vertically down both sides of the heated chamber)
• Maximum power 18kW

Double chamber furnace

• Two identical chambers for heating salt rings used in casting aluminium pistons
• Designed to reduce floor space & allow the unit to be positioned close to the casting station
• One chamber is used with the door being opened every few minutes to remove a salt ring, while the other chamber heats up a second batch of rings in preparation
• Maximum operating temperature : 1100°C
• Operating temperature : 700°C
• Each chamber is individually controlled and has a power rating of 7kW
• Chamber size : 235mm (h) x 240mm (w) x 400mm (d)