High temperature furnaces are heat chambers that are used in industrial applications to heat treat or melt metals and alloys. They are found in foundries, forgeries, metallurgy facilities, steel service centers, metal fabricators and recycling centers, among other places.
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High temperature furnaces are used for many purposes. For example, in scrap recycling facilities, high temperature furnaces are used to melt scrap down before it is formed into other products. They can also be used for heat treatments like annealing, tempering and sintering. These processes alter or improve the material's properties like ductility, softness, hardness, density, internal stress, chemical, water and heat resistance, cold working ability and formability. Molten metal created in a high temperature furnace is used to make molds for die casting, billets and performs, as well as the material used to fill molds in the casting process to produce 3 dimensional metal products. Glass tempering and strengthening processes are also accomplished with a high temperature furnace. These furnaces create a controlled atmosphere with extremely high temperatures, up to over 3000° F. High temperature furnaces are mainly used to melt metals with high melting points, including tungsten, titanium, nickel and the metalloid silicon. Furnaces meant for small runs are usually of single chamber design and are manually loaded and unloaded with various tools to lift crucibles full of molten metal or heat treated products. Larger volume furnaces have automated conveyor systems that allow many parts or products to be treated at a time.
High temperature can be reached using a variety of different furnaces. Melting scrap metal down to form new parts and products is best accomplished with an electrical arc furnace or an induction furnace. These use electricity and an arc or coil to conduct it to the metal material. The conductor comes in direct contact with the metal, which is positioned within a crucible. The current generated produces such high heat that the metal turns to liquid very quickly. Other furnaces are chambers that are meant to heat treat or form certain metal parts. They are mostly gas powered and use natural gas or propane as fuel. These are popular in the steel industry and produce large amounts of nitrous oxide. Recently, however, oscillating combustion technology has been used to reduce emissions when using natural gas-fired furnaces that produce high heat. Every high temperature furnace is equipped with a digital readout and controls located on or near the front of the furnace.
