A laboratory electric furnace is a device that uses electricity as a heating source for conducting chemical or physical experiments in laboratories. It typically consists of refractory materials and electric heating elements (such as resistance wire, silicon carbide rods, or silicon molybdenum rods) capable of providing high temperatures, along with temperature control functions to ensure the stability and accuracy of experimental conditions. Laboratory electric furnaces are used to heat test tubes, reactors, crucibles, and other containers for various experiments, such as heating solutions, drying samples, or conducting chemical reactions.
In terms of classification, laboratory electric furnaces include experimental drying ovens, muffle furnaces, tube furnaces, Vacuum furnace and so on.
A frit furnace heats materials by placing them inside a specially manufactured high-purity fused quartz crucible. External resistance heating elements heat the crucible, transferring temperature to the materials inside and melting them into a molten or liquid state for subsequent industrial processing. This process is often complemented by rolling mills or quenching equipment.
The Frit(melting) furnace is typically used in industries such as the production of ceramic grinding wheel binders, testing optical glass compositions, and preparing frits, low-temperature glass melts, enamel for ceramics, and binders in laboratories for ceramic, glass, and enamel industries. Additionally, it can serve as production equipment for small-scale enterprises.
The frit furnace typically used for melting glass powder or ceramic powder, is referred to as a melting furnace. They are used in resistor furnace manufacturers for formulation experiments or industrial production, primarily to heat solid powder materials to a sufficiently high temperature to melt them into a liquid state for subsequent processing or shaping. Melting furnaces are typically designed with a specially made high-purity quartz crucible to contain and heat the materials, ensuring uniform and stable melting at high temperatures.
Vacuum sintering furnaces operate under reduced oxygen and gas conditions, effectively preventing oxidation, degassing, and chemical reactions of materials at high temperatures. They also offer more uniform temperature distribution and higher heating efficiency.
They are primarily used for sintering powder metallurgy materials, ceramics, and heat treatment of metal materials. Examples include sintering of precision ceramics, processing of high-temperature alloys, and production of hard alloys.
A vacuum sintering furnace creates a low-pressure vacuum environment, reducing oxygen and other gases inside the chamber to prevent oxidation and chemical reactions at high temperatures. Heating elements (typically resistance heaters) provide the necessary high temperatures to heat the samples to desired processing temperatures.