Compare LABORATORY FURNACES. A laboratory furnace is for treating a product at high temperatures. Lab furnaces come as Box furnace, Bench, Chamber and Ashing furnaces which are all bench top design plus the Laboratory Tube Furnace.

Furnace temperatures can range to over 1500 C or 2700 F. To keep the outside temperatures of lab furnaces at a safe level, the insulation has to be thick which increases the outside dimensions. Because of the high furnace temperatures, the electrical energy consumed is high. Therefore the internal dimensions and internal shapes of the lab furnace are small and more closely designed to a specific application. Laboratory furnaces are divided into three groups

Box or Chamber Furnaces

Laboratory box or chamber furnaces 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

Ashing furnaces are bench top box furnaces with a maximum temperature around 1200 C. The furnaces have a vent at the top for convection air flow to remove vapors that are released in the ashing process.

Laboratory Tube Furnaces

The inside of tube furnaces is round and tubular in shape. The heating elements are outside the tube. This allows the use of reducing or oxidizing atmospheres inside the tube. The direction of the tube may be horizontal or vertical. Some models come with more than one temperature zone

Lab tube furnaces come in two designs. One is the whole tube furnace the other has the tube split lengthwise and the furnace opens like a clam shell. In both designs, the length of the tube and furnace structure is longer than the heated section of the tube