A laboratory furnace is an appliance that uses controlled heat to process various materials such as metals, glass, and ceramics to change their physical properties. These are widely used across different types of laboratories to entertain different applications. For example, these furnaces are commonly used to attain very high laboratory temperatures.
This ultra-high temperature is used to treat many elements in modern chemistry research. However, the concept of furnaces has moved rapidly, and now many high-tech furnaces make the entire process simple and fun. These laboratory furnaces are commonly available in every type, size and shape that makes them compatible with different users.
These modern machines provide better efficiency, low energy consumption, and a higher level of safety to the person operating them. There are three main kinds of laboratory furnaces: the box, the muffle, and tube furnaces. Here’s a quick overview of what they do and how they work!
- Box Furnace
A box furnace is a wide chamber that has thin metal walls lined with ceramic insulation on the outside to keep heat in. It operates by first heating up until the desired temperature inside the chamber is reached, then it maintains this temperature by continuing to supply fuel at regular intervals. A good quality box furnace can reach a high temperature of around 1,100 degrees Celsius.
Box furnaces are considered the easiest of the three types since it is easier to carry a box than wrestle with a muffle or tube furnace. It is recommended to have only one box furnace in any experimental laboratory. The wide chamber makes it possible for large-scale materials such as tubes and glassware to be placed inside the furnace while processed at high temperatures.
The primary use of box furnaces is for heat treatment of metals and glass, including annealing, hardening, refinement, and tempering stages. To attain these steps, two different methods can be followed depending on which metal or glass material is being treated: a reduction method and an oxidation method.
- Muffle Furnaces
Muffle furnaces are lab furnaces that provide a safe and efficient way to raise the temperature of various materials to maximum levels. When not in use, it looks like a small chamber that can be mounted on wheels. They are made up of ceramic brick and are heated by solid fuel combustion such as carbon monoxide or propane gas.
Muffle furnaces have an advantage over tube and box furnaces since they can be disassembled easily after use. Therefore, it is recommended to have two or three muffle furnaces in any modern laboratory setting. However, muffle furnaces have considerably higher energy consumption than other types of the furnace because they require more attention during operation since they get hot very quickly.
These muffle furnaces produce a working temperature of around 3,272 degrees Fahrenheit (1,800 degrees Celsius). A muffle furnace is used for heat-treating various glass materials, such as fusing, annealing, tempered glass, and soft metal materials. Muffled furnaces are located safely away from children and combustible materials.
- Tube Furnaces
Tube furnaces are also known as autoclave furnaces because they have the same basic capacity to hold liquids with certain trade names like Autoclave and IMS-2300. In addition, these tube-shaped heating units can withstand high temperatures coming from any direction, making them ideal for research in high-temperature processes such as metal and ceramic melting, hardening, and tempering.
Tube furnaces also operate on similar principles as muffle furnaces. As a result, they have been used for heat-treating a wide range of materials, including glass, metals, and ceramics. The primary difference is that the tube furnace has very thick walls. It can withstand extreme temperatures for long periods without giving off heat or losing any material stored inside the furnace.
The cavity inside a tube furnace (heating zone) reaches a maximum temperature of 1,100°C. Many more varieties of lab furnaces operate on a different principle and have increased efficiency than their predecessors. This tubular structure helps to hold the material together when it starts melting at seriously high temperatures.
Final Words
These furnaces all operate on the same fundamental principles of heat transfer, but each has a specific use that makes it unique. For example, induction furnaces can make it possible for an operator to change the temperature at any point during the operation of their furnace, and that’s the kind of versatility that lab furnaces provide to modern laboratories. In addition, these sophisticated lab furnaces have made the world better by providing safe and efficient heating methods using high-quality materials.