Types of Industrial Furnaces

Industrial furnaces, or furnaces especially used for industrial process, come in two basic types: electric furnaces and vacuum furnaces. This article focuses on these two basic types of industrial furnaces most commonly used in different industries.

Electric furnace

Electric furnaces are furnaces or heating devices that make use of electric charges and electricity in producing and processing heat. An example of this is the electric arc furnace, which is a kind of electric furnace that originated in France.

It was originally used for smaller and simpler purposes, but it is now widely used in several big industries such as the steel industry. Made up of special devices like electrodes and a refractory-lined vessel, electric arc furnaces are mainly used in steel making. They make use of heated charges formed from charged materials and electrodes.

Electric arc furnaces are capable of producing several grades of steel. They make distinctive bar quality grades which are essential in oil and automotive industries.

Vacuum furnaces

While electric arc industrial furnaces are mainly used in steel industries, vacuum furnaces are industries that involve aging, ceramic firing, brazing, sintering, hardening, annealing, vacuum heat treatment, and stress relief.

Vacuum furnaces provide the advantage of uniform heat and controllable temperature. Products or objects heated through vacuum furnaces can be heated easily compared with those heated with electric furnaces. They also allow for the reduced oxidation process by allowing users to remove oxygen.

Other equipment mechanisms include ashing, muffle or box furnaces, top and bottom loading furnaces, tubes, batch furnaces, pusher furnaces, truck-in or walk-in furnaces.