A heat treatment device includes a chamber accommodating a work substrate including a first organic layer, a heater part which is disposed in the chamber and heats the work substrate, an air supply part including a first nozzle which supplies an external air to the chamber, a second nozzle which is disposed in the first nozzle and supplies a process gas to the chamber, and a cover part provided through which an opening overlapping the second nozzle is defined and which is disposed at an end of the first nozzle, which is adjacent to an outlet of the first nozzle, and an air exhaust part exhausting particles in the chamber to an outside of the chamber.

The present invention relates to a process for cooling a metal component, the process comprising the step of cooling said component in a confined space, said cooling involving cooling by means of a gas, the gas being cooled by heat exchange with a cooling surface of a heat sink inside said confined space, wherein a low frequency sound wave is provided into said confined space in order to improve heat exchange both between the gas and a cooling surface of the at least one heat sink, and between the gas and the metal component, characterised in that the cooling gas comprises at least one protective inert gas. The invention further relates to an apparatus for performing the process.

Moving metal strips can be heat treated with any number or combination of dimensionally variable tempers across widths, lengths, or thicknesses of a metal strip. To provide dimensionally variable heat treatment, an apparatus can include one or more heating units suitable to increase the temperature of a metal strip moving proximate the apparatus to a heat treatment temperature. The apparatus can also include one or more cooling units positioned near the heating units to absorb heat and cool the metal strip to minimize the amount of heat transferred from a first region of the metal strip that is to be treated to a second region of the metal strip that is not to be treated.

Moving metal strips can be heat treated with any number or combination of dimensionally variable tempers across widths, lengths, or thicknesses of a metal strip. To provide dimensionally variable heat treatment, an apparatus can include one or more heating units suitable to increase the temperature of a metal strip moving proximate the apparatus to a heat treatment temperature. The apparatus can also include one or more cooling units positioned near the heating units to absorb heat and cool the metal strip to minimize the amount of heat transferred from a first region of the metal strip that is to be treated to a second region of the metal strip that is not to be treated.

A method of cooling a heating apparatus includes a heating chamber. The method includes accumulating condensate in the heating chamber, monitoring a pressure in the heating chamber, and controlling the pressure in the heating chamber by venting the heating chamber to thereby controllably permit vaporisation of the condensate that cools the heating chamber. The pressure is controlled to maintain a rate of cooling of the heating chamber within a predetermined range. A heating installation is configured to perform the method. A cooling unit may be connected to a heating apparatus to cool the heating apparatus using the method. A method may be used for retrofitting the cooling unit to a heating apparatus to form the heating installation.

A method of cooling a heating apparatus includes a heating chamber. The method includes accumulating condensate in the heating chamber, monitoring a pressure in the heating chamber, and controlling the pressure in the heating chamber by venting the heating chamber to thereby controllably permit vaporisation of the condensate that cools the heating chamber. The pressure is controlled to maintain a rate of cooling of the heating chamber within a predetermined range. A heating installation is configured to perform the method. A cooling unit may be connected to a heating apparatus to cool the heating apparatus using the method. A method may be used for retrofitting the cooling unit to a heating apparatus to form the heating installation.

A cooling assembly for a metallurgical furnace includes a cooling plate disposed inside of a furnace shell of the metallurgical furnace; a cooling pipe traversing a shell opening in the furnace shell and being connected to the cooling plate; and a compensator disposed around the cooling pipe for forming a seal between the cooling pipe and the furnace shell.

In order to provide ways for facilitating repair of a cooling system of the metallurgical furnace, the method includes at least the step of performing at least one cutting operation with a cutting device having a fixture and a cutting tool movably connected to the fixture for a guided movement with respect to the fixture. The fixture is mounted to the cooling pipe, whereby the cutting device is aligned with respect to the cooling pipe, and the cutting tool is guidedly moved while performing the cutting operation.

A shaft furnace, in particular a blast furnace, includes a metal jacket defining the furnace outer wall and a protective layer protecting the inner surface of the outer wall. At least one condition monitoring probe is arranged inside within the protective layer to monitor the latter. The condition monitoring probe is connected to a wireless module arranged outside the outer wall to transmit condition monitoring data. The wireless module is located inside a casing mounted to the outer surface of the metal jacket. The condition monitoring probe includes one or more conductive loops positioned at predetermined depths below the front face of the cooling plate body, or of the refractory lining, so that wear of the body, resp. refractory, can be detected by a change of an electrical characteristic of the loop(s) due to abrasion.

A cooling device for a metal plate includes a plurality of first nozzles and a plurality of second nozzles disposed on both sides of the metal plate, respectively, in a thickness direction of the metal plate across a pass line of the metal plate. The plurality of first nozzles form a staggered array in which a pitch in a width direction of the metal plate is Xn, a pitch in a longitudinal direction of the metal plate is Yn, and an offset amount in the width direction of a pair of first nozzles disposed adjacent to each other in the longitudinal direction is ΔXn. The plurality of second nozzles form a staggered array in which a pitch in the width direction is Xn, a pitch in the longitudinal direction is Yn, and an offset amount in the width direction of a pair of second nozzles disposed adjacent to each other in the longitudinal direction is ΔXn. The staggered array of the first nozzles and the staggered array of the second nozzles are disposed offset from each other such that, a center of the second nozzle is at a position offset by a shift amount S from a center of the first nozzle in the width direction, and the center of the second nozzle is positioned in a region defined by an oval having a semi-axis of ΔXn/4 in the width direction and a semi-axis of Yn/3 in the longitudinal direction. The shift amount S is expressed by S=m×ΔXn/2, where m is an odd number such that S is closest to Xn/2.

A processing apparatus includes: a plurality of process modules concatenated with one another; and a loader module configured to receive a carrier accommodating a plurality of substrates to be processed by the plurality of process modules, wherein each of the plurality of process modules includes: a heat treatment unit including a processing container configured to accommodate the plurality of substrates and perform a heat treatment on the plurality of substrates; and a gas supply unit disposed on one side surface of the heat treatment unit and configured to supply a gas into the processing container.