An apparatus useful in treating a carbon fibre precursor material under predetermined conditions of temperature and gaseous environment. The apparatus includes a housing, and a reaction chamber disposed within the housing. The reaction chamber is elongate and has an entry port at a first end and an exit port at a second end. The entry and exit ports are configured to allow passage of a carbon fibre precursor material into and out of the reaction chamber respectively. A heater or heating system is configured to heat a wall of the reaction chamber. In use, a precursor material is passed through the reaction chamber and is thereby heated.

An apparatus useful in treating a carbon fibre precursor material under predetermined conditions of temperature and gaseous environment. The apparatus includes a housing, and a reaction chamber disposed within the housing. The reaction chamber is elongate and has an entry port at a first end and an exit port at a second end. The entry and exit ports are configured to allow passage of a carbon fibre precursor material into and out of the reaction chamber respectively. A heater or heating system is configured to heat a wall of the reaction chamber. In use, a precursor material is passed through the reaction chamber and is thereby heated.

This invention relates to a device for drying at least one object containing a liquid, in particular a dental restoration object (12). Said device comprises a means for generating thermal energy acting upon the object and sufficient for increasing the temperature of the object to the boiling point. Moreover, the device includes an impingement area for impinging on the object with thermal energy and a control device (24) that is characterized by the fact that a temperature detection element (20) of the device (10) measures the temperature of the object (12), and upon reaching a trigger temperature that is at the boiling temperature, somewhat below or somewhat above thereof, emits a signal to the control device.

An infrared heating unit with a furnace includes a housing that accommodates a process space, and a heating facility, whereby the process space is bordered, at least in part, by a furnace lining made of quartz glass. In order to provide, on this basis, an infrared heating unit that enables energy-efficient and uniform (homogeneous) heating of the heating goods by infrared radiation to temperatures of even above 600 C., the heating facility is formed by at least one heating substrate that includes a contact surface in contact with a printed conductor made of a resistor material that is electrically conductive and generates heat when current flows through it, whereby the heating substrate includes doped quartz glass, into which an additional component that absorbs in the infrared spectral range is embedded and forms at least a part of the furnace lining.

An infrared heating unit with a furnace includes a housing that accommodates a process space, and a heating facility, whereby the process space is bordered, at least in part, by a furnace lining made of quartz glass. In order to provide, on this basis, an infrared heating unit that enables energy-efficient and uniform (homogeneous) heating of the heating goods by infrared radiation to temperatures of even above 600 C., the heating facility is formed by at least one heating substrate that includes a contact surface in contact with a printed conductor made of a resistor material that is electrically conductive and generates heat when current flows through it, whereby the heating substrate includes doped quartz glass, into which an additional component that absorbs in the infrared spectral range is embedded and forms at least a part of the furnace lining.

The infrared baking device includes: a furnace chamber having an opening openable/closable by an opening/closing cover and allowing an internal space thereof to be tightly sealed; a baking object placement portion on which a baking object is to be placed and which is extractable/insertable through the opening; a heater lamp for heating the heating object by infrared rays; and a thermocouple provided at the baking object placement tray. A furnace wall of the furnace chamber is configured so that infrared rays from the heater lamp are collected and radiated to the tray. The thermocouple is provided in a contactor to contact with the tray. The tray and the contactor are made of the same material which absorbs the infrared rays.

An improved cartridge structure that both heats the materials contained therein and provides for enhanced structure such that the bypass leaking of the low viscosity heated components is avoided. The cartridge is preferably formed from a rigid material such as reinforced fiberglass tubing. The wall of the cartridge is then wrapped in a flexible heating element or has a heating element cast directly in the wall thereof. The heating elements preferably heat the interior contents and epoxy cartridges to between 150 degrees and 180 degrees Fahrenheit. The wall structure may be of single wall construction with the heaters embedded therein or of a double wall construction such that the heaters are contained between an inner and outer wall. Further the wall construction is preferably formed to withstand the pressures applied when spray applying the epoxy contained therein to prevent the tube wall deformation and resulting blow by leakage.

An infrared emitter is provided. The infrared emitter includes a substrate made of an electrically insulating material. The substrate includes a surface that contacts a printed conductor made of a resistor material that is electrically conducting and generates heat when current flows through it. The electrically insulating material includes an amorphous matrix component into which an additional component is embedded that absorbs in the spectral range of infrared radiation. At least a part of the surface is configured with a cover layer made of porous glass, whereby the printed conductor is embedded, at least in part, in the cover layer.

An infrared emitter is provided. The infrared emitter includes a substrate made of an electrically insulating material. The substrate includes a surface that contacts a printed conductor made of a resistor material that is electrically conducting and generates heat when current flows through it. The electrically insulating material includes an amorphous matrix component into which an additional component is embedded that absorbs in the spectral range of infrared radiation. At least a part of the surface is configured with a cover layer made of porous glass, whereby the printed conductor is embedded, at least in part, in the cover layer.

One embodiment is directed to an apparatus comprising a firing furnace comprising a heating chamber configured to fire a metallization layer of photovoltaic devices and a cooling chamber configured to cool the photovoltaic devices that have been heated by the heating chamber. The cooling chamber comprises lights to light anneal the photovoltaic devices to reduce light induced degradation as the photovoltaic devices are cooled in the cooling chamber. The cooling chamber of the firing furnace is configured to use residual heat from heating performed in the heating chamber of the firing furnace as heat for the light annealing of the photovoltaic devices. Light annealing is not performed in the heating chamber of the firing furnace.