A heat treatment apparatus used in a process of recovering lithium carbonate from a waste cathode material and a lithium carbonate recovery apparatus using the same are provided. The heat treatment apparatus includes a heat treatment furnace having an inlet through which an object to be treated is input and an outlet through which the heat-treated object is discharged, a support section rotatably supporting the heat treatment furnace, a burner provided in the heat treatment furnace to supply combustion gas to the heat treatment furnace, and an exhaust gas re-supply device re-supplying a portion of the combustion gas discharged from the heat treatment furnace to the heat treatment furnace, wherein the heat treatment furnace is divided into a first region in which the inlet is disposed, a second region connected to the first region, and a third region connected to the second region and in which the burner is disposed.

An insulation element for the thermal insulation of an inductively heatable high-temperature treatment zone. A wall of the insulation element contains a flat material, the resistivity of which is ρF 10-5 to 10-1 Ωm and which encloses a hollow space extending through the insulation element and includes a discontinuity, in which the resistivity ρU is greater than ρF. The discontinuity extends from the external surface of the flat material into the flat material but does not interrupt the flat material over the entire cross section of the flat material.

A continuous process provides direct reduction of iron ore in a solid state. Briquettes of iron ore fragments and biomass are transported through a preheating chamber and preheated to a temperature of at least 400° C. The preheated briquettes are transported through a heating/reduction chamber that has an anoxic environment, and iron ore and biomass in the briquettes are exposed to electromagnetic energy in the form of microwave energy under anoxic conditions. Microwave energy generates heat within iron ore, and biomass acts as a reductant and reduces iron ore in a solid state, as the briquettes move through the heating/reduction chamber.

A combustion system includes a fuel and oxidant source and a flame holder. The flame holder includes a plurality of discrete slats arranged in parallel defining combustion channels between adjacent slats. Pairs of adjacent slats may be oriented to operate substantially as a V-gutter. The fuel and oxidant source outputs fuel and oxidant into the combustion channels. The flame holder holds a combustion reaction of the fuel and oxidant in the combustion channels.

Systems and methods for fabrication of ceramics from celestial materials using microwave sintering and mechanical compression for space mining applications are disclosed. In one aspect, a chamber for sintering loose mineral material into solid ceramic shapes includes a plurality of zirconia insulting plates configured to clamp the mineral material and forming a cavity in which the mineral loose material is contained, and at least one dipole array configured to generate microwave energy and apply the microwave energy to the mineral material.

A pressurized cavity is provided around at least a portion or all of a regenerator, within which gas such as flue gas is maintained at a pressure in excess of the pressure within the regenerator, to protect against leakage of gas through the walls of the regenerator.

A method can be used to burn and cool material in a parallel flow-counter flow regenerative shaft kiln having two shafts that are operated alternately as a burning shaft and a regenerative shaft. The material flows through a preheating zone, a burning zone, and a cooling zone to a material outlet. Fuel is supplied in or above the preheating zone, and thus fuel is heated in the preheating zone prior to entering the burning zone. Further, a parallel flow-counter flow regenerative shaft kiln for burning and cooling material may have two shafts that can be operated alternately as a burning shaft and a regenerative shaft. Each shaft has, in a flow direction, a preheating zone for preheating material, a burning zone for burning material, and a cooling zone for cooling material. A fuel inlet that admits fuel into each shaft is arranged above or inside the preheating zone.

A furnace system including an outer shell which comprises a top flange, an elongated body portion, and a bottom flange, wherein the outer shell is a pressure vessel, with no penetrations in the elongated body portion; a heater assembly which comprises (i) a single-piece annular shaped insulation layer, and (ii) a plurality of heaters embedded in the insulation layer, wherein the heater assembly is disposed within the elongated body portion of the outer shell; and an innermost layer disposed within the annular-shaped insulation layer, wherein the innermost layer is a baffle tube configured to force a natural convective flow, wherein each of the plurality of heaters is individually controllable and the plurality of heaters are configured to heat different zones within the furnace to different temperatures and/or at different rates. The system may be used to heat treat magnet materials, such as those formed of Bi-2212, therein.

An installation for melting a composition of raw materials, suitable for obtaining glass wool, textile glass yarns and/or flat glass, includes a melting chamber equipped with at least one submerged burner, wherein the melting chamber is defined by side walls made of refractory material and a bare metal bottom traversed by a network of pipes adapted for the circulation of a cooling fluid.

Provided is a high pressure heat treatment apparatus including: an internal chamber accommodating an object to be heat-treated; an external chamber including a housing and a partition plate partitioning the housing into a high-temperature zone accommodating the internal chamber and a low-temperature zone having a lower temperature than the high-temperature zone, the partition plate including a discharge hole for allowing the high-temperature zone and the low-temperature zone to communicate with each other; a gas supply module configured to supply a process gas for the heat treatment to the internal chamber at a first pressure higher than that of the atmosphere, and supply a protective gas to the high-temperature zone and the low-temperature zone at a second pressure set in relation to the first pressure; and a discharge module configured to open the discharge hole to discharge the protective gas in the high-temperature zone to the low-temperature zone.