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Laboratory furnaces are designed for continuous heating at high temperatures. These temperatures can range to over 1500 C or 2700 F. To withstand these temperatures requires special. refractory material. And to keep the outside temperatures of these furnaces at a reasonable level, these refractory insulation has to be quite thick which increases the outside dimensions. Because of the high temperatures, the electrical energy consumed is also high. Therefore the internal dimensions and internal shapes of the furnaces are small and more closely designed to a specific function or application than laboratory ovens. Laboratory furnaces are divided into two groups:
Box & Ashing These are general application furnaces with internal dimensions ranging from 0.1 cu ft to 3 cu ft. Larger furnaces would be floor mounted and fall into the industrial class. Ashing furnaces are bench top box furnaces with a maximum temperature around 1200 C with convection air flow to remove vapors that are released in the ashing process.
Tube Furnace The inside of these furnaces is round ar tubular in shape. The heating elements are outside the muffle. This allows the use of reducing or oxidizing atmospheres. The direction of the tube may be horizontal or vertical. Some models come with more than one temperature zone
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